Lisbon, Portugal

Hello from Lisbon,
Its a beautiful country with lots of colors....I really expected it to be much hotter here but I think with the breeze from the river....it has been kept bearable

I flew from Oslo and had been staying in the city center for two days and am now located at a hostel on the outskirts of town near the very large river...It is the newest part of town built for the Expo 1998 that was held here...its really new and trendy...

I tried to tour around the city center and see some monuments the first day on my own but ended up getting nowhere...so yesturday I took a guided walking tour...it was much better...I got to see alot and get some history in as well...

We visited this beautiful white stone port that looks like a castle in the water...I wish I could send pictures but the net cafes I am writting from dont allow me to...Also a giant church all made out of stone material which is now a monestary...the sailors who ventured out to discover the world used to gather there for prayer from the priests and monks...

A friend of a friend took me to his university two nights ago for dinner...we got a full meal for only about $2! Lisbon is much cheaper than the rest of Europe but I havent quite got the nerve to go out to eat at a nice restaurant alone....tomorrow I am planning to travel to a nearby town that was developed by one of the former kings who imported exotic trees and plants from all over the world...it is now a unique town that has its own eco system...Lisbon may be hot while that town (Sintra) is over cast and cold...it looks like there are many palaces to visit..and maybe I will get to see a ballet or opera!

The intersting thing about Lisbon is that it has a great public transport that was just implemented five years ago with the aid of the European Union...in two years they will stop recieving money from the EU and I am curious whether things will go down hill again or not...the tour guide said that money coming in just happens to disapear into the hands of the government leaders and never really reaches the economy...though the least corrupt of the four Latin countries in the EU.