Lisbon, Lisbon, Lisbon

Sleep is something I am gaining so much of this trip. I woke up when I was told to by my body and I then migrated to the living room where I eventually created a delicious bowl of cereal, and a movie was watched where I happened to drift off back into sleep. That was when I really did take a nap. You may think I'm lazy, but don't forget this rarely happens in my everyday life back in Texas. (& I don't go to bed 'til late here anyway) 

Moving around the house in my pajamas, I went back to my room where I sat down with Jesus. I sat and read over Galations 5, and reread and read some other parts of Galations, and journaled... It was good. The very fact that the Creator of it all wants to set me free from my burdens and to give me freedom in who I am in Him is one of the most satisfying things ever. The fact that I can live my life according to what is righteous and I can bare fruit from the Spirit is such a beautiful blessing. I have not been aware of this said freedom in a long while, and with the reminder of what Jesus can bring for me, I rest in knowing that I can be the fruitful branch I was intended to be.

After having some time, the boys were ready to go off into the heart of the capitol of Portugal; Lisbon. We continued on with what seemed to be our recent routine. We put coins in for our train tickets and we waited for the fast train to get us to Lisbon. Once arriving I finally was able to indulge in a lemon Calippo (backdrop story: I had been searching many stands & they had all been out of supply) and we walked on through to get to the good parts. The streets where created to go up and down the hills, there were trolley's sliding through the streets, and the setting reminded me a lot of San Francisco, but more ancient and rustic looking. 

We walked through the port's main square where there were giant statues and royal buildings surrounding it, and we realized we had made it to the most historic section. This is where the Queen of England would walk into and underneath this enormous bridge with intricate designs embellished on it. We continued to pace ourselves up the hill and eventually ran into a really large cathedral that we stepped into. The place had an odd stench to it. Yet, it was still really neat to be in especially since it housed 10 tombs of the saints and that the very church was the church that basically originated Christianity in that segment of the country. 

After gazing at all the detailed work and the amazing pieces we stepped out to continue up the hill to eventually make our way to the Castle of São Jorge. We stopped at a couple scenic areas to 1. catch our breath and 2. glance below to all of the houses and the way the city was created. Once getting up a large hill, we glanced over and saw that there was an outdoor urinol that was designed for a man to go behind the not-so-big wall and to use the bathroom. Inevitably Jeff wanted to try this out, and after some families and other tourists walking by with their mouths dropped, he considered it a great success! Hilarious. 

Realizing that you had to pay to get into this huge castle, we realized that maybe it wasn't worth the 30 minute wait just for the ticket into it and we headed back down all of the hills to get to where we had started. Stopping to watch a street performer, we were automatically sucked into his entertainment. Which wasn't even good... But, essentially this guy was screaming in English, dressed in a weird black clowns outfit, and showing how he could juggle knifes and get on a large unicycle. It was odd, but he ended up with a large audience (including us, sadly.) He kept talking and building up and I think the only reason we stayed was because there was another drunk man who was bickering with him the whole time and we legitimately thought he may push him off of is unicycle that he happened to take 20 minutes getting onto. Well... We eventually made it and we jumped back on the train to S. Pedro where our home was located. Before making it back through the apartment doors we did stop and get a handful of pastries and a pizza for the hungry boy, Jeff. With the breeze blowing on us we walked back and hung out in the apartment. Luana eventually came and snagged me so we could go over to the Brownings (YL Committee family) to have a late dinner and watch Penelope. 

I maybe should've reconsidered going due to the fact that it was already late and had yet to pack with our flight leaving for Paris in the morning at 8:10. Whoops... but, I went anyway and enjoyed sitting around the dinner table outside eating a good home cooked meal and having delightful family conversations going around. We eventually topped it all off with brownies and Saniti's gelato, and made it in to watch Penelope. 

Tomorrow, I will be in Paris, France. 

Putz grila ...