Bem vindo a Portugal

Well Portugal certainly is a culture shock after Morocco! It's weird to be back in a place with rules, order, and regular trash pickup. And also - this is the toughest part so far - no one even cares that I'm here! I have walked by hundreds of shops and not a soul has tried to force me to come in, unroll his carpets, or offer me mint tea. It's funny how you miss that a little when it's not there anymore.

The food here is pretty boring, and surprisingly similar to British food: lots of sausages and fish, eels, sandwiches covered in gravy, stuff like that. No wonder all the British come here! Me, not so impressed. But oh well. I'm headed to Lisbon by train this afternoon and hoping a bigger city will offer more "colonial food" as the Portuguese did have some interesting colonies. No more fish for me, please! I realized how little Portuguese I knew when last night for dinner I inadvertently ordered a ham, cheese and hot dog sandwich. Not that it was bad...it just didn't make any SENSE. Kind of like peanut butter and bacon...it may be delicious, but who's the crackhead who thought to try it??

Porto is a cool town, but it is very compact and there isn't a ton to see. I went to the cellars where they age port wine (cool), a cathedral (kinda cool), the Ribeira district (cool), and now I'm out of things to do that don't involve eating, drinking or shopping. And I'm out of room in my luggage, so that leaves eating and drinking. I tried to reserve a river cruise yesterday, and the site said wait for an email with details which never came...so I went to the train station where they meet, and nothing. At least I hadn't prepaid...oh well, wasn't meant to be I guess. And today it's pouring so even a short river cruise is out of the question.

Portuguese is a very strange language, is sounds kind of like Spanish with a very noticeable lisp and/or speech impediment. There are lots of unexpected vowels, and a lot of "sh" and "zh" sounds. It's fun to speak but it totally feels like I'm doing it wrong!

I'm on the 3:45 train to Lisbon this afternoon and am really looking forward to it. I think I've seen all I want to see in Porto. And from what I hear Lisbon is a much more exciting city. This country is dirt cheap too; my ticket was only about $30 for an express train (2 1/2 hours)...compare that with a similar trip on Amtrak! Coffee is less than one euro, and most meals are between €4-8 euros, even at the touristy places. Other than all the shopping this really has been a cheap trip!!

I guess I'd better shower and check out...it's hard to get motivated in this weather. Will post soon from Lisbon!!