Last Mintue Changes in Portugal;

Little Lisbon shocked me in many ways, it's architecture, growing wealth, beautiful harbour side location and trams, just to name a few. Whilst my first day in Portugal was lost to sleep, in an attempt to make up for the night train experience, my other 4 days were jam packed with beaches, clubs and Portuguese food and drinks.

The long white sandy beaches across the harbour from Lisbon are a nice relief from the rock sized sand grains that cover the Biarritz shores.

The water is about 4 degrees colder than that of Biarritz and the moment I dived in I noticed something very different; it felt fresh and clean. I had actually become so used to the water in Biarritz that I had stopped noticing how polluted it was. I swam, and tanned, and swam, and tanned until I fell into the deepest of sleeps, and drooled. After being woken by the searing heat, Carolina, Mafalda and I headed up to the little beach side restaraunt; to be treated to a slab of fresh Melon and a local beer Sagres.

There are two 'real' Portugeuse beers, one being Super Bock and the other Sagres, and I am deffinatley a greater fan of the later. Another Portuguese drink that I loved, that I have to get the recipe of; is a mixture of; cut limes; sugar cane; ice and an alcohol, which I've forgotten.

On Thursday night, we headed to Lisbon's most stylish club, Looks.

The three story port side club, boasts the best views of any club in Lisbon. With it's third story being an open air bar, overlooking the Port. With all drugs being 'decriminalised' in Portugal it wasn't a surprise to see joints being passed around most groups. The club has definatley been built with style in mind, and when you reach the third story and see it's lighting it shows;

Before entering the club I was told that I was not aloud to speak English as the people here didn't like 'tourists', it was 12 euro entry and I was not keen on spending my night outside the club, so as told I kept my mouth shut. As we approached the door this 30 year old good looking women asked me for I.D, as I grabbed out my passport and waited to be rejected for being a 'tourist', she looked me up and down;
'really cute, where are you from?'
'Australia' I mumbled; she handed me back my passport.
She turned to the other bouncer;
'Australian ! Only 18! He's really cute, can we invite him?'
So after all the 'no english' talk; because I was Australian I could in for free and skipped the 12 Euro fee; stoked.

The monuments that line Lisbon's shores and the Bridge linking one side of the port to the other; are both well worth a visit. And on my last night in little Lisbon before flying out to Barcelona; I dragged my little touristy self down to the waterfront to get some shots;

The largest monument is dedicated to the famed Portuguese explorers; who could easily be considered amongst the greatest.

With a large map of the world at the base of the monument; dating the Portuguese colonies that spanned the globe.

This would have to be the best monument I've seen on my trip; a shame it is almost impossible to see the world as those first explorers did.

On Sunday morning; I got up early and headed to the airport; Carolina had become extremely nervous about the trip over the past couple of days and in the last 24 hours decided she would give it a miss. Ohwell; c'est la vie!....
I'm now chilling in Barcelona; learning Spanish and hooking up work in an Australian bar; I'm flying down to Tunisia for a week or two on Friday; which will be a sweet little adventure; and I can finally get back to eating cous cous, drinking mint tea and speaking a bit of Arabic, even if it is Egyptian Arabic;

Garrett in Barcelona, Spain