if you are reading this blog without reading the post below it, than you are missing out on some new photos and an entry that i just posted today--just letting you know!
saturday, we woke up early to head off to portugal. we all boarded the bus in the center of town at 9:00 am. about 35 or 40 people went from the center, and it took several hours to drive across the border. the spanish/portuguese countryside looks a lot like the greek countryside--lots of olive groves and rolling hills. i tried to stay awake for as much of the ride as possible, but i definitely fell asleep. around 1:00 pm portugal time (we lost an hour when we crossed the border) we arrived at a small port. all of us hopped aboard a small ferry boat and headed across a shallow bay to the small island of tevira. tevira was absolutely beautiful! the island was really small and basically all it had was the beach, some bathrooms, and a few restaurants and snack bars. there were lots of locals on the beach, and the weather was perfect! it was breezy and comfortable on the beach, but warm enough to wade in the ocean. the ocean was FREEZING! it seriously felt like an ice bath whenever i stepped into the water. either way, it was incredibly beautiful and i spent a good chunk of the afternoon lazing around on my towel looking out at the sea.
at the hotel, everyone showered and got ready to head out to cabo de san vincente en sangres. this point was about an hour away and, during the time of columbus, everyone thought it was the end of the world. once i got out there, i could totally understand why. there aren´t words to describe how beautiful it was! large rocky cliffs plunged down into the ocean, and a functioning lighthouse sat at the edge of the cliff. the colors of the sunset were beautiful (even though we got caught in traffic and actually missed the actual sunset--it was a really big bummer), it was still immensely impresionate (impressive). we spent an hour hanging out in the wind and the salt, talking pictures and enjoying the cool climate (the atlantic breeze made the temperature about 10 or 15 degrees color). i honestly can´t describe how beautiful it was, so i´ll post pictures, but even my pictures don´t do it justice!
saturday, we woke up early to head off to portugal. we all boarded the bus in the center of town at 9:00 am. about 35 or 40 people went from the center, and it took several hours to drive across the border. the spanish/portuguese countryside looks a lot like the greek countryside--lots of olive groves and rolling hills. i tried to stay awake for as much of the ride as possible, but i definitely fell asleep. around 1:00 pm portugal time (we lost an hour when we crossed the border) we arrived at a small port. all of us hopped aboard a small ferry boat and headed across a shallow bay to the small island of tevira. tevira was absolutely beautiful! the island was really small and basically all it had was the beach, some bathrooms, and a few restaurants and snack bars. there were lots of locals on the beach, and the weather was perfect! it was breezy and comfortable on the beach, but warm enough to wade in the ocean. the ocean was FREEZING! it seriously felt like an ice bath whenever i stepped into the water. either way, it was incredibly beautiful and i spent a good chunk of the afternoon lazing around on my towel looking out at the sea.
during the afternoon, chelsea and i took a walk down the beach and explored the pier at the end of the beach. off of the pier, people were fishing, and there was a group of young kids taking sailing lessons! it was fun to watch them sail, and i was pretty impressed by their skill. after
walking to that side of the beach we walked all the way down the other side of the beach. as it became less crowded, we began to encounter lots of nude sunbathers. europe is really lax when it comes to beach wear, and i was definitely surprised to see people just hanging out, naked, on a public beach. all of them were so tan everywhere, which totally made my entire body hurt. after walking for quite a ways, we turned back and just spent more time kicking it on the beach. around 4:00 pm, we took the ferry back to the mainland and hopped back on the bus. we drove for another hour before arriving at our hotel in the city of lagos. our hotel wasn´t anything special. in fact, the rooms, though clean, were pretty shabby, but it was in a beautiful location! the buliding was set up against the cliffs with a short walk down some stairs to reach a beautiful beach. the beaches in lagos are surrounded by gorgeous rocky cliffs, and lagos is known for it´s beautiful grottos.
walking to that side of the beach we walked all the way down the other side of the beach. as it became less crowded, we began to encounter lots of nude sunbathers. europe is really lax when it comes to beach wear, and i was definitely surprised to see people just hanging out, naked, on a public beach. all of them were so tan everywhere, which totally made my entire body hurt. after walking for quite a ways, we turned back and just spent more time kicking it on the beach. around 4:00 pm, we took the ferry back to the mainland and hopped back on the bus. we drove for another hour before arriving at our hotel in the city of lagos. our hotel wasn´t anything special. in fact, the rooms, though clean, were pretty shabby, but it was in a beautiful location! the buliding was set up against the cliffs with a short walk down some stairs to reach a beautiful beach. the beaches in lagos are surrounded by gorgeous rocky cliffs, and lagos is known for it´s beautiful grottos.
at the hotel, everyone showered and got ready to head out to cabo de san vincente en sangres. this point was about an hour away and, during the time of columbus, everyone thought it was the end of the world. once i got out there, i could totally understand why. there aren´t words to describe how beautiful it was! large rocky cliffs plunged down into the ocean, and a functioning lighthouse sat at the edge of the cliff. the colors of the sunset were beautiful (even though we got caught in traffic and actually missed the actual sunset--it was a really big bummer), it was still immensely impresionate (impressive). we spent an hour hanging out in the wind and the salt, talking pictures and enjoying the cool climate (the atlantic breeze made the temperature about 10 or 15 degrees color). i honestly can´t describe how beautiful it was, so i´ll post pictures, but even my pictures don´t do it justice!once we returned from cabo de san vincente, we all gathered together and wa
lked into center of town. the walk was pretty long, about 30 or 40 minutes, but the center of town was so cute! it had lots of cute restuarants, shops, and bars. we picked a seafood restaurant for dinner, and i enjoyed a delightful vegetarian pizza (because i don´t really like seafood). the food was good, and i enjoyed spending time chatting with chelsea and getting to know some new friends (there were 5 of us total who went to dinner together). afterwards, we explored the center of town a little bit before headed back up to the hotel. the walk back to the hotel took about an hour because, of course, we got completely lost. finally, we found a portuguese man who spoke english and he gave us good directions. we arrived back at the hotel in time to fall into bed, completely exhausted.
lked into center of town. the walk was pretty long, about 30 or 40 minutes, but the center of town was so cute! it had lots of cute restuarants, shops, and bars. we picked a seafood restaurant for dinner, and i enjoyed a delightful vegetarian pizza (because i don´t really like seafood). the food was good, and i enjoyed spending time chatting with chelsea and getting to know some new friends (there were 5 of us total who went to dinner together). afterwards, we explored the center of town a little bit before headed back up to the hotel. the walk back to the hotel took about an hour because, of course, we got completely lost. finally, we found a portuguese man who spoke english and he gave us good directions. we arrived back at the hotel in time to fall into bed, completely exhausted.i woke up the next morning around 8:45, and we had to grab breakfast and gather all of our things. we checked out of the hotel, loading our bags onto the bus for storage, and headed down to the beach. the beach was, again, incredibly beautiful. it was surround by rocky cliffs and jagged rocks. the day was really hot, so the frigid water actually felt pretty good, though i never did get more than my legs and torso wet. chelsea and i walked up and down the short beach and explored for a while. after a time, we decided to get lunch at one of the restaurants, and w
e ended up spending 2 hours eating lunch! this wasn´t by choice--things in portugal just run a little bit more slowly, i guess. we finally left and headed back to the beach, where we hopped in a boat for a tour through the grottos. our boatdriver was completely CRAZY! he kept saying ridiculous things in english (which he did speak) and he kept pointing out all of the nude beaches and making fun of the people on them. everytime we passed another boat or a group of kayakers, he definitely hollered at them saying who knows what (in portuguese). the grottos were so impressive! some of them have very distinctive shapes, and our guide told us their names (little elephant, the titanic, kissing lovers...). it was really cool. at one point, our guide told us to duck down into the boat. at first, we though he was joking, but the he took us through this incredibly small opening into this gorgeous cave. it was beautiful, with the light filtering down through an opening at the top, turning everything this luminescent green. i totally saw my life flash before my eyes, but it was worth the scare.
e ended up spending 2 hours eating lunch! this wasn´t by choice--things in portugal just run a little bit more slowly, i guess. we finally left and headed back to the beach, where we hopped in a boat for a tour through the grottos. our boatdriver was completely CRAZY! he kept saying ridiculous things in english (which he did speak) and he kept pointing out all of the nude beaches and making fun of the people on them. everytime we passed another boat or a group of kayakers, he definitely hollered at them saying who knows what (in portuguese). the grottos were so impressive! some of them have very distinctive shapes, and our guide told us their names (little elephant, the titanic, kissing lovers...). it was really cool. at one point, our guide told us to duck down into the boat. at first, we though he was joking, but the he took us through this incredibly small opening into this gorgeous cave. it was beautiful, with the light filtering down through an opening at the top, turning everything this luminescent green. i totally saw my life flash before my eyes, but it was worth the scare.we returned from the boat ride in time to grab our things and climb on the bus. i slept on the drive back to sevilla, and we ended up arriving home around 10:00. after a phone conversation, dinner, and homework, i had a pretty late night last night, making class this morning really difficult. tomorrow, i have my first exam (yikes!) and a paper due (double yikes!), so after this blog, i´m dedicating myself to homework all afternoon long. later this evening, chelsea and i are going out with some friends for tapas, and i´m pretty excited. i have been pleasantly surprised by the food here, as i didn´t really like it the first time i came to spain. i think i like it so much because my host mom is a really good cook and she always prepares food that is healthy and tasty.
well, i miss everyone and boise a lot. it´s hard for me to believe that i still have another 94 days here--it feels like i´ve already been here for so long! i´m working with friends to make travel plans to barcelona, granada, cadíz, madrid, liboa (lisbon, in portuguese), and pretty much anywhere else the wind will take me! i hope you enjoy the pictures of my travels... until later!
m
Posts
1 comment:
You should seriously think about saving all of your blogs/photos. Priceless as time goes by. A great read!
Dad
Post a Comment