Friday, October 6th, 2006

Today Heidi and I packed a picnic lunch and headed to downtown Lisbon to the roundabout called Praca da Espanha where we met up with some fellow university students Peter, Martin, and Dusan. From there we headed to Sintra, which has become my favorite area here in Lisbon as it is a small historic town nestled in the hills along the coastline.

Once in Sintra, we met up with Terence and Bobb & Bri at the train station. We made sure to stop in at a local pastry cafe and tasted the almond pastry that the town boasts as it's very own specialty item. Mmm...always a healthy start to the day! We then headed off to visit the Castelo dos Mouros (Moorish Castle) built by the Arabs in the 8th century. From the castle we were able to take in breathtaking sights and enjoy the fresh air brought in from the breeze off the ocean. There were numerous boulders to climb in and around, as well as along the outer wall of the castle.

From there we headed out of the castle area and found a picnic table to enjoy lunch and each other's company!

Our last stop for the day was the Palacio Nacional da Pena (Pena National Palace). This palace reflects Portuguese romantic architecture dating back to 1840 and was built on the early 16th century ruins of an ancient convent of Hieronymian friars. The palace was a bit disappointing as the exterior was in dire need of a paint job!

Heidi, Peter, Dusan, Martin, and I parted ways with Bobb, Bri, and Terence as we were headed opposite directions home. Peter, Martin, and Dusan lived in a part of Lisbon that we had not yet seen, so before we dropped them off they quickly became our tour guides and took us to a monestary near their home. They also were eager to show us the beach where they have taken up some surf lessons. They explained that early in the morning and at dusk, fishing boats will pull out and return soon after with their load. A few nights earlier, they had watched the fisherman and picked up a few fish of their own that had been discarded, but were still good to eat. What was exciting was we stumbled upon a fishing boat just heading in and got to watch them tow in their nets and sort through their catch! They had caught numerous kinds of fish along with squid and jellyfish.

Then to top it off, our three guests that day blessed us by making us a fish dinner (from the fish they had picked up from the fisherman the previous night!)! As Peter made dinner Martin showed us pictures from a recent trip of his to Norway....beautiful! Dusan showed us pictures from Slovakia and also showed a few of his family! Peter proved to be a great cook and we enjoyed our meal of fish and potatoes!

This day was a blast and a great chance to get to know some of our fellow classmates outside of the class setting. Thank you for your prayers and keep praying much as we live life here and seek to share Jesus with whomever we come in contact with!

Tomorrow, Saturday, is our college age kick-off ministry in conjuction to the church that we've committed to here in Portugal. We, Heidi and I, will be partnering with the missionary couple, Ron & Dalia Fairbanks to help with the college age ministry. I am looking forward to this time with the students and would appreciate YOUR PRAYER as I begin to build relationships with these Portuguese students!

Have a great weekend!