Simon dice...

Last night at the dinner table I played Simon says (dice) with the kids in the house. It was a lot of fun and reminded me of my childhood days. I just find it so cool that they play the same games that I used to play.

Semana Santa is next week and it is a very big deal here. I have been lucky enough to be able to watch some of the practices of the pasos for next week. The pasos are walks around the city carrying different representations of Virgens and they are carried by costaleros - men who stand underneath the costal. The costal is a huge platform that has the Virgen on top and weighs a significant amount. For instance, the one that I was watching weighed almost 3000 pounds and was being carried by about 50 men (I'm not exactly sure how many people carry it, but will find out). Everything seems to be really secret. We had to secretly knock on the church door to be let in to watch, and their practice was going forwards and backwards in a space of about 100 feet or so, just to make sure that everything on top was stable. I don't have any pictures at this time, but definitely will by this time next week!

On another note, I spent the weekend in Lisbon, Portugal. It was completely different from what I was expecting because of the similarities to San Francisco. There is a giant red bridge, many many hills, and a trolley system that is easy to use once you know the system. :) We had a very interesting Friday, with a few mishaps. First things first: it helps if everyone you are travelling with gets off the metro at the correct stop. However, during rush hour it becomes a little more difficult. We were trying to get off when a mob of people blocked the way and by the time we were at the doors, they were closing and would not open back up. Two people got off and the rest of us were on our way to the next station. Luckily, with a quick turn around we were all together again. It also helps when you ask someone for directions, they know where they are going. We were finally on the correct trolley and asked another American girl what stop we had just passed. Well it turns out she didn't really know, so we got off the trolley when we didn't need to and then proceeded to walk around the city for about an hour in search of our hostel. Keep in mind we didn't have a map.....speaking of maps, it's always a good idea if more than 1 person has a map, because when you leave the only map you have at the lunch table, navigating the city becomes a little bit more difficult. All things aside, it was a really good learning experience about travelling.

Sunday we visited a city called Sintra, which is on the outskirts of Lisbon. It has by far been one of the prettiest places I have ever been in my entire life. The highlights of the trip were the Regaleira Palace and Gardens and the Pena National Palace, along with the coastal views of the Atlantic on the drive back to Lisbon. It was by far the windyest day ever - I thought I was going to get blown off the top of the Palace, but it made pictures interesting! :) Hope you enjoy these pictures...

Next stop: Morocco for 6 days!