U.S.A. (chant, repeat)

Great to be back in the States. Arrived in Newark this afternoon after an eight hour flight and my parents surprised me at the airport, so I am in Philly tonight and enjoying myself before heading back to NYC tomorrow.

Has been a great three months of travel. Some stats from the two trips:

42 cities/towns visited (either on a day trip or at least one night spent in the location)
16 countries visited
9 different languages encountered

3,400+ miles traveled by train in Europe
3,100+ miles traveled by bus in South America

3: average daily count of gelato consumed in Rome
2: times I was a victim of fly-by pigeon droppings
1: times my debit card was eaten by an ATM (digested whole, successfully recovered)

Thanks to all who were able to meet up abroad with me at some point , and to everyone for all the support over the past few months. My trips were that much better because of all of you. Was a fantastic experience, but it's always nice to come home. Until next time.

JH

Lisbon Finale

Have had an enjoyable weekend in Lisbon to put the finishing touches on my Euro trip. This city is pretty and unique in its own ways, though I think its up there as one of the hardest to navigate by foot because the maps are crappy, the street layout is a mess, and the street names themselves are, not surprisingly, in Portuguese which makes them very hard to correctly pronounce when asking locals (and they seem to enjoy watching tourists get lost and wander around their hilly streets). First on my tourist attraction list yesterday was the Castelo do Sao Jorge and it took me about two hours to find the place, and its not that far from my hostel. Youd think that a giant castle on the top of a hill would be easy to find but you would be wrong. After many wrong turns, dead ends, and much huffing and puffing I found the place and it was very cool and provided some great views of the city.

Lisbon (first and second pictures)

Last night a bunch of us from the hostel got dinner then went to an outdoor fado show. Fado is traditional Portuguese music which is a bit melancholy in its original form but we went to a local street party in the Alfama neighborhood that had a lively fado singer and a dance beat and everyone danced for hours. Was a lot of fun and combined with the street fair gave us a good feel for how Lisboas citizens get down on a Saturday night. Then we hit a club afterwards called Lux that was a cool spot but had lame music. Oh well, overall the night was a good one. Also, our group from the hostel for most of the night had two American guys, one Australian girl, one French girl, one Brazilian guy, and one guy from Estonia. Keeping it diverse.

Moorish Castle at Sintra

Today a few of us took the 40 minute train ride north to a town called Sintra which is very pretty and has its own castle that dominates the one in Lisbon. Awesome views, nice little cafes, and some Moorish history lessons all mixed together. A good day for my last full one on the road before I fly back to the States tomorrow. Hard to believe that I left for Rio de Janeiro three months ago, but I am very excited to come home.

Madrid

Spain´s night life is helping me convert to siesta culture in a hurry. These people know how to party, and I have a string of late nights in Barcelona and now Madrid to confirm the hype that I had heard about these places. Arrived in Madrid yesterday and walked around a bit in the afternoon then took a solid nap. Last night went out with a guy from my hostel and his buddy who lives in Madrid, then we met up with some other hostel people from all different nationalities and went dancing at this Latin club til the wee hours. Good stuff, and this town is growing on me.


Today I went to the Museo del Prado and saw some great Spanish art. Saw the Royal Palace as well and in between enjoyed a nice lunch of paella, some steak, and red wine. Again, the Spanish know how to enjoy themselves as they take super long lunches in the early afternoon. Not sure how people actually have jobs here but then again I don´t have one. Will definitely be coming back to Spain to spend more time at some point.

As for now I´m about to head out for my overnight train to my final stop: Lisbon. Hard to believe the travels are almost coming to an end, but I am psyched for a weekend in Portugal.

Barcelona

Not surprisingly, FC Barcelona's colors and gear line every major street in this pretty town. Arrived here Tuesday morning after a 14 hour overnight train ride from Milan. Was not too bad of a ride though our sleeper car was hot as hell for the first couple of hours.

Barcelona has been awesome so far, and reminds me of a more cosmopolitan Rio de Janeiro. Strolled down La Rambla (the main avenue in Central Barcelona) with a couple people from my hostel mid-day yesterday and walked down to the beach. Very pretty, and very clean. Made it over to La Sagrada Familia in the afternoon - Gaudi´s masterpiece of a cathedral that was started in 1882 and is still being worked on today...on schedule for a 2030 finish. Unique structure, especially as far as cathedrals go.

La Sagrada Familia

Our hostel hosted a sangria party last night then a big group of us went out to a local club until 4:30a. When we left, the place was still bumping (with mostly American music - I was feeling the Flo Rida). But Club Roxy closes early on Tuesdays at 5:30a. Spain knows how to party.

Today I visited the Museo Picasso which was one of my more enjoyable museum experiences. The museum is put together well with stages of Picasso´s life explained (in Catalana, Español, and English) in the front of each room then a series of paintings from that period in his life. Was very interesting to see how his style of painting drastically changed throughout his lifetime. I am a big fan. Also, the guy painted a TON.

Strolled a bit more around the city and enjoyed the sun, and had a nice tapas lunch. Now it´s time for a late afternoon siesta.