i was taking photos of our home away from home and then decided it'd just be easier to do a video - inspired by my Video Guru - Jacob:)

please excuse the fact that he's in his knickers at 4PM:)

so this is where we've been climbing stairs back to day after day. And we've come to find it so comfy and homey. We are going to miss it but looking forward to what's to come:)

late night snacks:)

after all our walking today, we decided on desert out on the town:) It was between that or more pizza...and now I'm hungry again;)

UP i had a teeny glass of wine, that I wasn't even able to finish cause it was SO potent. Boo:( BUT it was great to have a quick reunion with one of my most favorite friends...Wine:)

UP and again Jacob with the camera. Am I grateful that he's catching some things on film...YES. My motto IS 'it's all about the memories'...but I would love to be aware that he's taping ME. Dork;)

another great night to add to the books. We're nervous and excited to see what Seville holds. Lisbon has been amazing but I think it can be topped!!! (THINK;). Lisbon is quite a large city and from being here only a few short days...we've already decided that we're excited to get a taste of a smaller city/town. We like the hussle and bussle but getting offered weed/hash/coke 8 times while sitting at that small table eating desert...by the same 4 dudes. I mean...COME ON....nope, didn't want weed from your bare hands 3 minutes ago. STILL GOOD!.

I'd like to visit a city with a goat or sheep that walks by our table 8 times. THAT I think I would enjoy;)

and a reminder...here's where we are headed: Hotel Alcantara

We should arrive at 530PM tomorrow - about 930AM your time:)

until then!!!!

and then we walked:)

today was a bit more walking...and more walking...and you guessed it...MORE walking!!!!

but I'm not complaining. It feels great!

we were also quite productive. Found our way to the bus station and purchased our tickets to Seville tomorrow - 8 hr. bus ride, leaving at 9AM tomorrow morning:) And by finding the bus station, that allowed us to figure out the Subway route there...so we are all set to leave at 8AM tomorrow!

below are just a few random photos of our day:)

UP/DOWN the subway took us straight to the bus station, which was right across the street from a mall...which was right across another street from the Parque Das Nacoes - the Expo Site. Just a lot of modern buildings and such to look at.

UP/DOWN we also decided to take the air tram type dealio. So fun...and high...and scary:) But a great view of the things we had just seen walking around.

UP okay...the video seems kinda long at 1-1/2 minutes...but Jacob's discovered the video mode and there're really no stopping him;)

UP louis says..."if Madonna comes...she goes here":)

UP/DOWN after the Expo stuff...we just came back to our local area and did some walking there. Always beautiful:)

UP i've been craving NOTHING but desert...and fruit. I'm not sure which is worse for me at this point. But we've already had ice cream twice and tiramisu tonight. Totally worth it though:)

UP i want to shop my face off at most times of the day...BUT I'm staying in check!!!

after taking a rest...we headed back out for some wine and desert (tiramisu for me - french fries for Jacob;). We also wandered a bit more, as it's our last night in Lisbon.

adeus (good bye) Lisbon:)

pizza night bitchessss:)

after returning from the castle we decided to have Pizza!!! I've been craving brownies, chewy sprees AND pizza. Unfortunately, pizza was the only one we could cross off the list at this point:(

BUT we're gonna work on the rest:)

it was a great night and an equally great restaurant with fantastic food and views right out to the street!

and a quick video to let you know that we are indeed still alive, very much in love and actually having a good time:)

seeing as it's 11PM here...I'm hitting the hay. Another castle is on the agenda for tomorrow:)

castle day:)

okay...not going to lie. The days are getting better. Today was the greatest so far and it even started with me sorta-kinda crying (yes...it's possible to sorta kinda cry: that's where you tear up and people can tell you're about to lose it BUTttttt you pull your shit together right before the actual tears fall...just so you know;).

i seem to get that way when we're 'lost, turned around, getting NO help from locals'. Luckily for me, Jacob isn't scared and he just moves forward and it's not like he's got to put my crazy crying ass in his backpack in order to keep me going...my sorta-kinda cry passes in a mere minute...

POINT: like most humans...I get a wee bit home sick ONLY when I'm scared. And that hasn't happened too much. And I thank Jacob for that:)

today though...turned into a fantastic day:)

UP started at the train station...where we were turned away cause they couldn't understand us...we couldn't understand them...FRICK! Luckily Carlos came to our rescue:)

UP/DOWN some of the beautiful buildings and tile:)

UP even after Carlos 'rescued' us....we got on the wrong train, which took us to the wrong town. This is where things started to get better! YES, better:) Luckilyyyyy, we're both pretty chill and this didn't feel like the end of the world. SO we first checked out the Tourist Help and then bummed for a bit before we decided what to do:)

SIDE NOTE: the entire point of this day was to get to the Castle - Quinta da Regaleira in Sintra, Portugal. BUT we got off the train in the wrong town.

UP me chillin' with ice cream while Jacob got the info. on where we needed to actually be.

DOWN and then the bumming begins:) Jacob checking out the sites!

UP/DOWN this adorable town turned out to have some gems for shopping. I found Zara, a store that I've been loving for quite some time. That JUST started shipping to the US. So I held out on buying anything but did try a few things on and took photos and mental notes for the future:)

AND we found THE.CUTEST. little baby shop where we spent wayyyyy too much on THE.CUTEST. little 'bebe' outfit. OMG.

is crying in front of the owner of the baby shop weird?! It just seemed like such a monumental moment:):)

UP/DOWN another beautiful beach in this small town. Much, much smaller than the first one we went to.

FINALLYyyyyyy after another hour of bumming, one more 40 minute bus ride and a 30 minute walk. We FOUND the castle!!!!!!

UP jacob says "take a picture of your heart posing with a heart":)

Quinta da Regaleira

it was such a beautiful place and even better for walking around. We were able to just wander where ever...take little hidden trails and stair ways. It was so fun to explore:)

UP just so excited, he couldn't hide it;)

UP the sun was PERFECT for some amazing photos on the way back down the hill!

DOWN eeeeeekkkkk...ran right into a Post Office on the way back from the Castle - our lucky day...and yours too...in a week...maybe?! Not sure how long they'll take to arrive but for some of you...they're COMING!!!!:)

and the day was not even done at this point!

- we got on the CORRECT train on the way back and went Straight back to our B&B...literally dropped a block from it. YAY!

- after grabbing a jacket (the breeze can get quite chilly for me:), we headed straight back out for dinner. Pizza:)

more to come!!!

boat day:)

every day is another adventure! One big old...scary...exciting...confusing...ADVENTURE;)

i think each day that we get through without having anything stolen...I count as a success;)

And it's not that there are a shit ton of freaky people. BUT after being warned 100 plus times about being robbed, being aware...we're SO aware that the little old lady that comes awkwardly close to us on the bus...BACK OFFFFFFF!!!!;)

but for real. It's all good. 2 days in and it's all good:)

today we got up and enjoyed our complimentary breakfast and socialized with some of the others staying at Zuzabed:) Great way to start the day. Then we changed into our suits and headed towards the water. Before we got there...we wandered a bit and found some other pretty thing. Impossible not to:)

UP we ran smack into this arch that was hidden between 2 buildings. Gorgeous and nice that we weren't the only ones clicking away:)

DOWN this is the other side...

we do wish that we KNEW what these things were or signified?! Arg. Nothing really says...so we're not sure if it's just a beautiful thing...or if it really is SOMETHING. But we're happy to see it anyhow:)

UP/DOWN the middle of the square from a distance

PS. we were offered hash/weed and coke (not cola;) in that square. FOR REAL! Kept walking...quickly.

UP the boat we took across the river to Cacilhas. The area that we drove through to get to the beach had us wondering where the hellll Carlos was sending us. It was pretty sketchy. And smelled heavily of b.o. Yum. BUT the beach was amazing and totally worth checking out:)

UP/DOWN views from the boat (both photos courtesy of Jacob - he's been amazing about taking photos...even pulls the camera out of my hands to get some:).

today was an amazing day....as of right now - it's 8PM in Lisbon and 2PM in Wisconsin:), we're sitting in bed after taking a nap earlier and may now head out to get some ice cream and take a walk to some gardens that Carlos suggested:)

life is good:)

our lisbon start.

as promised....some photos from the few hours we browsed Lisbon. A TEEEENNNNYYY tiny part of this enormous city!

we had planned to go walk around for a short while, grab some food and then be back and in bed around 8PM. It is now going on 10PM. Crap!

BUT totally worth it. We've meet Carlos. He works here at ZuzaBed and he's amazing! He's a local and has been showing us around. He's about our age and so he's very relatable and giving us some great tips and showing us things we would have walked right by unknowingly!

And I gotta tell ya, he's pretty adorable AND we feel 100 times more safe walking around with someone who know's what's what:)

here's a bit of what we've been up to tonight!

UP the whole city is gorgeous but it's all in the details!

DOWN cut us some slack on this photo...we were going on NO sleep and we're trying to work our way up to asking others to take our photo. Just need to pick the kinds of people that won't run in the opposite direction with our camera:)

UP uh, oh..there's an H&M here too:) Although, I have no plans to make purchases that we could be making at home...no worries!

UP/DOWN dinner at Secura's. It's directly outside the door of our B&B and since we've been hounded every time we walk in or out..we figured we'd give it a shot on the first night to be friendly:) And it was great! Great location/view/service/food:)

UP right down the hill from our B&B:)

DOWN close up of the castle Jacob is obsessed with. We are hoping to take a tiny electric car up there tomorrow. Carlos is hooking us up:)

today has been a fantastic day. Started a bit nerve-filled but after meeting Louis and Carlos...we feel much more at home! Now to try to get to all the amazing things they are hoping we can do while we're here!

more to come:)