Lagos my Lagos...

The first thing that should be stated is that though I thought it would be interesting to go to Portugal, I have never had the country on the tip-top of my list of places to go. Granted, it probably would make the top twenty-five countries, but certainly it wouldn't have made the top ten (No offence so anyone who loves Portugal... because you will come to see that I love it too! I just didn't know it).

So when my friend suggested that we take a trip from her home in Huelva, Spain to Lagos, Portugal, I was interested but didn't do very much research about the area. I was on my holiday and I was just along for the ride.

I will admit though, that I LOVED PORTUGAL. It was amazing and warm and beautiful.

The weather was warm and I spent my time there in skirts, sleeveless shirts, sandals, and dresses. This was a huge contrast from the icy cold wind and rain in London, England.

My friends and I began our time in Lagos trekking the short distance from the bus station to our hostel. We checked in, asked the concierge where the best place to eat was, and went to her favorite locals restaurant. This trip was all about adventure, so I ordered squid. The dish was not what I expected. There were piles upon piles of squid on the plate that they delivered to our table. Not even a third was eaten even though I did try and make an effort... I think grilled squid is an acquired taste.

Then we spent the afternoon lying on a beach. I spent a good half an hour or forty-five minutes floating around in the Atlantic ocean and it was amazing! I just kept thinking: "Gosh! How lucky am I to be here, right now, in this moment?" I could have spent days floating in that water or laying in the warm sun on the beach.

Wow, Portugal was Amazing! I certainly need to go back!

Location: Lagos, Portugal

Acabo de relajar en España...

It was an odd journey to begin with. My flight wasn't until 7:10am on Wednesday the 22nd of October, but with the ridiculousness of the Stansted Express (the train that carts passengers from Central London to Stansted Airport) I had to leave my house at 21:15 (9:15pm) on Tuesday. I geared myself up for an all-nighter at the airport by taking a three hour nap in the afternoon and by buying a magazine to flip through during the tedious long hours I was going to have to spend sleeping on Stansted's floors.

When I got to the airport, however, I realized that I was not the only one with the idea of spending the night at the airport. The floors were lined with travelers. At one point during the night, around 2:ooam, I counted 27 sleeping travelers in the area surrounding me.

The airport began to bustle at about 3:00am. My flight was short and when I got to Spain, I realized that this was my first solo adventure in a country where I wasn't fluent in the language. It was both an exciting and a frightening realization.

I went through customs and headed off to find a taxi to Sevilla. The taxi driver was kind, but neither of us understood each other fully. He dropped me off at the Sevilla bus station, which began a whole new troublesome journey.

I bought my ticket, went to the platform, and waited. I asked a man:

"¿Es esta la parada de Huelva?" and he said "Si." He told me that he and his girlfriend were going to Huelva too (this was in Spanish, of course).

Once in Huelva, I waited at the bus station for my friend, who I would be staying with during my time in Huelva.

I didn't spend my time doing much in Huelva. I just relaxed, took siestas, hung out with my friend when she wasn't at her teaching job, went walking...

...went to see "Eagle Eye" in Spanish (my friend had to do a bunch of discreet translating for me during the film)...

...went bowling...

...in general it was a pretty laid back time.

Huelva was an okay city, but most certainly not my favorite Spanish town. The best part of Hueva was hanging out with friend and having time to relax away from work. I don't know if I'd go back to Huelva, but I certainly feel that the experience was worth it.

Location: Huelva, Spain