Eu gosta de Portugal

Eu falo Portuguese. (I speak Portuguese)

Well, kind of. According to Duolingo I'm 37% fluent. Which is pretty great considering I didn't speak it at all a month ago.

Today, my first day ever in Portugal, I feel like I got 90% of the Portuguese experience. I ate cheese and cooked kabasa or chorizo or whatever it's called, drank wine, and listened to live Fado.

What is Fado you ask? Well, it's an old tradition of "saudade" (nostalgic + melancholic) singing with the accompaniment of 2 instruments: an acoustic guitar and a Portuguese guitar (which is a 12-string cousin of a sitar).

Not exactly dancing music, but it's absolutely beautiful to sip wine to. Just be careful you don't fall asleep. Seriously, I nodded off a few times, but I blame it on the jet lag… and all the wine.

Tonight I had "Vinho Verde" which translates to "Green Wine". I was so excited to drink wine that was green, and was pretty disappointed to find out it was really just white wine. It's name coming from the fact that the grapes are green… Lame.

As I said in my last post, I'm staying in an all female dorm of the hostel I'm at. Destination Lisbon Hostel to be exact. It's really lovely. Leafy plants and trees everywhere. Hammocks, bean bags, lounge chairs, and all kinds of instruments strewn about throughout the room.

I met a group of really lovely ladies. Mostly from North America actually. Two other Canadians, two Americans, and one Dutch. We went for dinner and Fado and had the loveliest time. I've acquired the nickname Munchie, highlighting my inability to stop eating throughout the night. The food was just too good to let it go to waste.

It was really a lovely time, and it felt so safe. Two thumbs way up for my first night abroad.

The city is beautiful. Day or night. The people are lovely. The food is great. I can see why some people have stayed.

Not me though, Lisbon can't contain me.

That's it for tonight

AML