Portugal

I arrived in Lisbon just in time to meet David, a friend from DC. We spent a week in the capital and in a super-cute small town in the mountains called Sintra. I also fit in a few other towns on both ends of David's trip: Porto, Leiria, and Lagos.

Lisbon felt like the "San Francisco of Europe." It's located in the hills near the ocean, complete with streetcars and a bridge painted in a strange reddish hue. We needed several days to explore all of the neighborhoods and watch the Portugal vs. England football match. The highlight was joining the victory party along the main avenue and monument. Porto was one of my favorites -- a riverside town from the Middle Ages filled with Baroque architecture also famous for its Port wine.

A few days in Spain also worked into the itinerary, including Salamanca, a small university town near Madrid, and Seville. Morocco here I come!