Expo 98

We are alive and well in Lisboa. We took a night train where we learned that all Eurail pass people get put right next to the engine; not a very good night sleep. We will be taking the same train back to Madrid on our way to Barcelona after our stop in Lagos.

Yesterday we walked around the city and enjoyed the winding streets and tight sidewalks, the city is obviously very old. It has a whole lot of character, and a few parks and one nice wide modern street. The streetcars here are the main attraction and are on every painting. Our accomodation was only 25 euros; The place however smells like old people, and that is because it is run by two very cute grandparents.

Today we took the Metro to the grounds of Expo 98. The buildings there are the opposite of the old town. They are modern and very creatively built. It is essentially like a Yaletown except the residential housing is behind a layer of public building and numerous bars. We were very impressed. We made a stop at the Oceonario (Dasha had not been to the Vancouver Aquarium yet), and it was very impressive. They have 4 main areas (Antarctic, Atlantic, Pacific, Indian), and they are all connected to a huge main tank and the fish are free to swim wherever they want (As they said illustrating the idea of One Ocean). It was pretty educational. Tonight it is diner time.

Portugal has been pretty good to us, the city is nice, the people are somewhat helpful, but we have learned that portugese is not the same as spanish. We will be on our way to the beach town of Lagos tomorrow morning where we will stay for 3 nights. Porto was cut out of the plan because apparently there isnt too much more than Port there (I know that a good enough reason for Dad to visit). We are then off to Barcelona which has won off San Sebastian (because it is closer to Southern France) and Zaragoza (where we might have gone to see Expo 08 but Lisboa has satisfied that).

Chat with you later!