Woke early dreaming of coffee shop in Portland. The relaxed feeling stuck with me even as I realized the room was nearly empty, and it was probably nine o´clock or so and I WAS IN PORTUGAL, not near my coffee shop AT ALL. At that I smiled.
I was later than others for breakfast at the hostel, but it was leisurely and loud. Over coffee, baguettes, fruit, chocolate, and milk, I talked with three very nice Brazilians who are traveling separately, Sebastian, and two girls from Vietnam who have been studying in Belgium for seven (7!) years. They had visited the US for 5 months last summer, from Virginia to Massachusetts, and were very enthusiastic about my country. They really loved the US and the people there, which made me feel good. (There was no mention of Barack Obama.) They are from northern Vietnam, Hanoi, and told me I should go there and take a day trip south on the bus. They told me hostels in Cambodia are only a euro. They also said I should take the bus from Bangkok to Vietnam, that the bus would be nice, but I asked them if they had done it and they said, no.
Today I walked. I went to the Train station, got my pass validated, and I visited the castle de Sao Jorge. It was built on the highest of the hills in Lisbon by the first King of Portugal, after he came, marauded, and defeated the Moors. I believe this was in 11th or 12th century. The views of the city were quite good. Many many cast iron cannons decked the top. It was neat to see the parque de Marques Pombal, which is the landmark for the hostel.
I started to wonder if by the end of the trip I will know what the point of traveling is. Sure, some will say, experience, some will say, change, some, gain perspective, and some will say it all depends on the time you´re going. For me, I want an answer to that question that satisfies me, by the end of the trip. Perhaps it is, to open yourself? To show yourself a bit?
Tomorrow I´ll leave, go to Porto, in northern Portugal, with Sebastian. He is very smart. He´s been traveling for a while. For example, he helped me figure that since the cost of the train ride is only about 15 euros, and that is about half the average cost of the train rides I already paid for as part of my Eurail pass (520 USD /15 passes = about 30 euros per train ride) then it might be better for me to save one of my 15 Eurail passes tomorrow and simply pay for the ticket. It´s only a three hour ride, and I will stay the night there and then decide when to go to Madrid.
Kings of Leon tickets in Barcelona on Feb 14 are sold out. Slightly bummed out about that. I know you´re all really feeling bad for me about that too.
