Lucky Comedy of Errors

The last few days of our trip have been a comedy of errors with very nice results.
On Wednesday we left Braga and headed to Vigo to pick up my friend Fran. We left late which was already a problem. It was pretty obvious that we changed the border into Spain. There was a stark difference because northern Portugal isn't as bustly as southern Galicia. Anyway we stayed on the road to Vigo and suddenly ended up right where we needed to be in the middle of Vigo. It was so shocking that I thought that we were in the wrong place. We didn't see Fran so we turned off the roundabout to double check. On the way back up we saw Fran walking down the street. So we grabbed her and headed off to Santiago de Compostela.
The cathedral in Santiago is amazing. I don't know if I'll be able to post pictures for a bit, just trust me that it was beautiful. The three of us spoke in a hybrid of English, Spanish, Galego and Portuguese. The nice thing is that we understood each other the whole time.
After we got to the hotel Fran and I decided to go on a walk and look for more yogurt since the amount we'd already had that day just wasn't enough. But as we were leaving, the receptionists at the hotel told us that it was 10pm. I looked at my watch and said that no, it was 9pm. They smiled and said, no, son las diez. Did you know that the time changes from Portugal to Spain? Hmmph. Fran had been waiting for two hours, not one. I felt terrible. But this also meant that we'd been off by an hour all day. So funny. A little bit later I dropped her off in the middle of the city with a friend of hers and said goodbye. It was sad. She's the bomb.
The next morning (Thursday) I had tons of cheese and yogurt for breakfast. Clark makes fun of me for this. I eat on average 3 yogurts a day. Today I had more.
Anyway, Dad and I headed to Bilbao which was a LONG drive. But it was GORGEOUS. We drove along the Bay of Biscay for most of it. Oh my was it beautiful. We finally got into Bilbao and then drove around and around and around and had no idea how to get down to the Guggenheim. We gave up. It was a mess. So we decided to find our hotel which was in a neighboring city. We couldn't find the exit, but we did see an exit for Gernika-Lomo. Most of you have heard of this place because of the painting of the terrible bombing by Hitler's forces in 1937. So we decided to take a detour. We were happy to see that the city was a normal small town. So we doubled back and then finally found the city that had our hotel. But we couldn't find the hotel. We drove and drove and drove and drove in circles and more circles. We asked people, they told us and then we drove and drove and drove around this really nice, small Basque town. We finally stopped at a restaurant that was closing, but the owner still fed us anyway. I had calimari. Yep, I ate squid. But I didn't eat the pig's face. Nor did Clark. It still had hair on it. Blech. The owner, José, was wonderful. He and his girlfriend led us to the hotel later. So wonderful.
The next morning we tried to get to the freeway toward Vitoria. [We changed our plans and bagged France. :'( ] But we couldn't figure out how to get to the other side of the freeway. Then suddenly we were at the Guggenheim. So our comedy of lucky errors continued and we got to see the Guggenheim. So funny. This is how our whole trip has been.
Then we left for Zaragoza. But then I convinced Dad to push a little bit more to Lérida. By now I was driving and I told him that we might as well head to Barcelona. So we're here now. I'm very happy. I like it here a lot. This is going to give us more time in Barcelona, so I'm glad I was able to convince Clark that driving for 2 days in a row would be worth it. This has turned into an Iberian road trip. I think I'm enjoying it more than he is, though. Well, at least the driving.
I'm sure that there's more to report. But he's waiting for me downstairs and he's really hot because it's nice and muggy here: just the way I like it. :D
I'm really happy. Hopefully I'll get to post more pictures soon.
Love you all.
J'aime l'Espagne!!!!

2 minutes to do this

Found my friend Fran. Almost by chance, actually. It was great to hang out with her. She's the bomb.
We made it to Santiago de Compostela via the back roads which was cool. The cathedral is AMAZING. We hung out, went to some old tombs that don't exist anymore. Went back to the cathedral. I bought a book and a Galego-Castillano dictionary. Came back to the hotel. Then realized that time changes from Portugal to Spain. We were an hour off all day. Who knew.
We've changed our travel plans. I'll write more later.
Gotta go. Time's gone
love you all!!!

Conference

The conference went well. I got nice compliments on my poster. I made some good contacts. I went to Staples twice today. It was fun. I got my first European fountain pen. Hopefully I'll be able to find a Waterman. Today's was a Parker. But it's nice. I want a Waterman, though. I also got a Portuguese notebook that I'll use for a journal, maybe.
There's the guys that's sat next to us the last two nights at dinner. He's a motivational speaker. He loves to talk. He's from Mozambique, but fled after the fall of the Portuguese gov't in '74 when the Mozambicans were allowed to control their own country. He lived in South Africa for a while. His English is great. He talks and talks and talks. Tells the funniest stories and does accents.
I really like our car. I know that I've said that before. But really, I do a lot. I taped my camera to the dashboard today and videotaped the drive from the university to the hotel. I really like the drive a lot. It's excellent.
Dad went bumming around Braga all by himself today. I was proud of him. He got to see tons of cool stuff.
I'm going to miss learning things at the conference. What I really learned was that I don't know anything about anything. But now I get to enjoy the next week and a half of travel. :D
Have fun!!!
Oh, to the Emilys: thanks for the comments. Yes the pastéis came from the Belém place. Yum. To assuming she's undone: fish, i know. weird.

Some decisions

I really like our car. So I decided to keep it. As some of you know, my car died a couple of weeks ago, so I've been in the market for a new car. I found it here in Portugal. So I was trying to figure out how to get it back to the States. But today this problem became moot when I decided to stay in Braga, Portugal. I really like it here. I really like driving around here. It's a match made in heaven. So after we're done touring around the Iberian Peninsula, I'm gonna come back here and stay. I just need to find a way to get money, oh and be legal. Dad said that I could just defend my thesis via the telephone.
Today when the conference was out for their really long lunch break, Dad and I went on a little pilgrimage to Bom Jesus do Monte. It was really pretty. Walking up the initial path there are scenes from the last fews hours of the Savior's life done in life-size terracotta. Then as you walk up the criss-crossing steps there are statues of the 5 senses with water coming out of the various examples of the senses, as well as the 3 virtues (faith, hope, charity), along with lots of statues of famous Biblical people. Then you arrive at the cathedral which is the most important Christ sanctuary in Portugal.
Oh, and here's a statue of Herod doing the Hula. Actually, he's just passing the buck by pointing to Pilate.
So Clark and I have gone on a few pilgrimages so far, we'll hit up another one on Wednesday and then maybe a few more after that.
Oh, I got so excited by a few of the things discussed today at the conference, that I had already come up with a few ideas for some research for the future, as well as a few things that I could change in my thesis to make it stronger. Now I have to wait a few weeks to be able to work on it :(

oh, and how about this shirt?

Gobbleygook

My dad and I have been speaking three languages. Today I spoke to him in Galician just for added confusion. We speak hybrids within the same sentence, or one sentence this, one sentence that. We're gonna be in big trouble when we get back to the states.
Lisbon is practically impossible to drive in, just so you know. Hence I didn't get to go to church today. Supposedly there's a church building near Belém, but I don't know if I really believe that.
So instead my dad thought that going to Fátima would make up for it. There was a pretty cool service for the sick going on. It was really loud. That church has some pretty awesome subwoofers and loudspeakers for the outdoor processionals.
We kept on driving and ended up in Braga where my conference is. We had no idea where our hotel was, so we just turned on roads. Eventually we ended up at Bom Jesus do Monte. But we couldn't spend the night there so we went back to the city center and ran into a HUGE festival for São João, or John the Baptist. Today was the day and the streets were PACKED FULL. What a thing to run into. Anyway, there's nothing like a Festa Junina. That was pretty cool.
Dad made me ask a cop where the hotel was, at least the basic idea of the address. After the cop explained it to me three times with lots of hand motions and explaining, I was able to figure it out. Then he asked me if I were a Brazilian. Uh huh. I said more or less yes to avoid any confusions. Then we easily found the hotel. The people in the north can be so hard to understand.
I ate fish tonight, bytheway. It was Hake. I don't know what that is. But it tasted good. Yes. I just wrote that. I got fish and liked it. No need for everyone to go crazy.
Anyway, that's the news. I'll be at the conference for the next couple of days. Have fun whereever you are...

Not in a million years

I ran into my cousin, Chance, well Elder Krainik. He's serving in the Lisbon mission. I didn't know that he was in the city, or I would've tried to see him. Didn't have to. I ran into him. Dad and I were walking around the Alfama tonight, which is windy as all get out, waiting for a specific Fado restaurant to open when Dad noticed a couple of guys dress in white shirts, but didn't think they were elders. They were and one was my cousin. So I called out his name and he turned around trying to figure out why someone would even know his first name. Needless to say, he was surprised. Who expects to run into their cousin? Anyway, I've got picture proof:

LISBON!!!!

Olá from Lisbon.
We arrived yesterday. Life's great. My dad's loving this city and he tells me so about every half hour. He wants us to speak in Spanish so that we don't stand out as Americans. My guess is, though, that we just look and sound like two Americans speaking Spanish with a bad accent. But whatever. On Friday we arrived and got our car. Clark drove and I navigated. We got on the street, but wrong direction, so we got turned around and then Belém wasn't too hard to find. Belém is an area of Lisbon that's to the west of the city. There's a cool tower there.
There's also this awesome monument called O Padrão dos Descobrimentos. I loved it. Absolutely loved it.
Then it was off to the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Jeronimos Monestary). They had some beautiful gold work inside the church at the monastery. I think G & K's opa would've appreciated it. While my dad and I were sitting outside waiting, Cristiano Ronaldo walked by with a bodyguard or two. It was sorta surreal. Very unexpected. He's the most popular soccer player right now in Portugal. His hair was done really funny.
We found some great pastéis to eat and then we went back to the hotel. To do this we had to drive around and around until I figured out where we were. Because of this we ended up in the Alfama. It's a cool part of Lisbon. Eventually we found the hotel. Nothing else happened last night because I fell asleep.
Today (being Saturday) we decided to wander around Lisbon. We went to the middle of the city and walked thru it. Then we went to the church of the Carmelite order that had its roof destroyed in the great earthquake of 1755. From there we walked to the municipal center where there's a big arch and a statue to João or José or Pedro. I've lost track. We decided to go back to the Alfama (where I am now) and go to the Sé, Lisbon's main cathedral built after the reconquest in 1150 or so. Later we found a great store that had tons of Azulejo (Portuguese tile). The women there were excited that a tourist knew their language. I had fun talking to them. They told us about a great place to go eat where you can hear fado. Clark really wants to hear fado, so that's where we headed tonight.
So there you go. Our first two days in Portugal. I'll update again later.
Tchauzinho de Belo Portugal!!

The part that I forgot

Tonight (being Wednesday the 21st) I will be spending the night at my sister and **favorite** brother-in-law's house. And I will also be smuggling him a live monkey back from Portugal.

Itinerary

Clark and I fly into Lisbon on the of the 22nd of June, a Friday. We'll be in Lisbon and environs until Sunday mid-dayish when we drive to Braga.
From Sunday the 24th thru the morning of Wednesday the 27th we'll be in Braga. That's where my conference is and my whole excuse for this trip. Although I think my dad is going to go to Porto for those two days of conference and tour around.
We're leaving Braga on the morning of the 27th and driving to Vigo to pick up my friend Fran and then we're off to Santiago de Compostela to see the cathedral where St. James' bones are supposedly laid to rest. (Truth be told, they're not even male bones, but female.) S. de C. is the end of a major pilgrimage trail.
On the morning of the 28th, a Thursday, we drive along the northern coast of Spain to Bilbao and the Guggenheim museum.
I convinced my dad to drive thru southern France on Friday the 29th, just so I could see it. We'll spend the night in Perpignan, France, near the Mediterranean.
On Saturday the 30th we'll drive to Barcelona where we'll see La Sagrada Familia, Montserrat hopefully, and who knows what else.
We'll be in Barça until Monday, July 2nd, when we start the drive to Madrid. We'll go to the Prado, maybe the Post Office, I'll maybe go the the temple, and tons of other stuff.
On Thursday we'll drive thru Toledo and Badajoz on our way back to Lisbon, where we'll spend the night and fly out on Friday the 6th and arrive in the U.S. late Friday night.

Bumming around Iberia

I've set up this blog for my trip to Europe. Clark and I will be flying out on Thursday, June 21. I have no idea how often I'll be able to post while I'm in Portugal, Spain and France. But I'm going to try. I'll for sure post pictures and stories when I get back. But it can't hurt to check every once in a while on the off chance that I found a computer.