A Very Long Day

Taken from a window in the Igreja (church) de Sao Vicente de Fora

View from our apartment in the Alfama, a neighborhood in Lisbon, Portugal

                                

                                 Taken from another window in Igreja de Sao Vicente de Fora

After 21 hours of travel, the Wall Family finally made it to Lisbon, or Lisboa, Portugal. We drove to O'Hare Airport in Chicago, then took a plane which was supposed to go to Philadelphia, but ended up in Pittsburgh for about 4 hours. After getting into Philly at about 11:30 local time, we got on a plane that left around 1:00 AM and got into Lisbon at around 1:00 PM local time. We exchanged some of our dollars into euros, and got on our way to our apartment which was located in the Alfama neighborhood of Lisbon. We found that our apartment is a great mix of old and new furnishings and is going to be a cozy place to call home for the next few days! After settling in, we headed a couple hundred feet to a restaurant across the street and got some lunch. Much to our dismay, hamburgers are not made the same around the world! Both Trevor and I ordered one, and found that a Portuguese "hamburger" consists of a burger with ham and eggs on top. Not exactly what we expected... We also found out, or Trevor did rather, that Portuguese people don't like being spoken to in Spanish. The years that they spent under Spanish control doesn't make them love the Spanish people and language. You're supposed to speak in Portuguese, English, French, or a lot of other languages besides Spanish. After lunch, we strolled around the neighborhood, which has twisty, turny cobblestone streets that are very steep. It's a great place to visit! We went into an old cathedral as well, Igreja de Sao Vicente de Fora, which had a sweet observation tower at the top where you could see alot of the city. After the church we started heading back home so we can get a good night's rest and get ready for tommorow!

-Ryan