Faro and Lisboa, Portugal

After barely making our night train into Lisbon (our metro station in Madrid was closed for some reason), we got very little sleep on the 10 hour train ride over to Lisbon. When we got there, we found out that the hostel that we were hoping to stay at was full. So we randomly decided to get on a train and travel 4 hours south to Faro which is a beach town in the very southern part of Portugal. We took a boat ride out to an island where there was a huge beach. We got to swim in the Atlantic (the water was quite warm!) and see the town. Really neat tile streets and shops. I really like the alleyways and can't get enough pictures of it.

The following day we took the same train in the morning back to Lisbon because there was room at the hostel we wanted to stay at. And let me tell you that apart from Lisbon being the best city I've been to so far, the hostel is the nicest place I could even imagine staying. I've included a couple pictures. For 20 euro per night, you get to stay in what used to be a 4-story mansion. Sweet patio out back, dining room, kitchen, luxurious bathroom, super clean, nicest staff, really neat people, and free internet! For 5 euro you can have a homemade dinner cooked here by "mom" who is the portuguese cook here. Incredible. We're here for another two days.

On July 4th we head back to Madrid to catch a train to Valladolid, Spain (where Cal Poly's exchange program goes), and then San Sebastian, and then Pamplona where the bulls will begin running on the 7th. We already have all of our train tickets booked and we're set to go. Today we're going to enjoy this amazing hostel, Lisbon, and probably go to the beach later where we could maybe surf the Atlantic.

Neat people that we're meeting too, and some pretty sweet opportunities to share the gospel with them. Praise the Lord!

Until next time!

Brian and me in Faro. Notice the ginormous bird nests right above my head!

Really cool tile streets all over Portugal!

This is the bay just inside the beach in Faro.

This is our hostel in Lisbon. The most incredible hostel I've ever seen.

To give you a taste of what it's like, here's just the "hangout" room with free internet!

Awesome views from the tops of the hills in Lisbon.

Really cool fountains and squares in Lisbon.