Reflections and Croissants

So I decided to start sort of reflecting on the countries. In my classes
we always talk about what we saw or felt about the ports on our first
day of classes after a country. I have already been to 3 of my 10 (plus
France) so I will do it in groups. So I'll give this a try. And I guess
while I am at it I will rate croissants (1 to 5), since we have one in
every country.

London England:
I only had a day here, but I still loved it like I did the first time.
The city is so clean and for the most part everyone is really friendly.
It is like a cleaner version of New York, but with funny accents. I love
their accents. Even taking the tube (their version of the subway) was
good. It wasn't scary and dirty like it is in our cities. We walked
around and everything is so old and beautiful. It is nice seeing all of
the different buildings and old landmarks instead of skyscrapers.
Croissant rating - 2

Lisbon, Portugal:
I loved Portugal way more than I was expecting to. I did not know what
to expect, but I really liked it. The streets and quarters of the city
were so nice and small. It was like walking around a little old town
that you read about or something. The people were friendly and many
spoke English. I did learn some Portuguese though. The homes and
buildings were really colorful and I loved the brightness. I was also
fascinated and in love with the tile work and the insanely detailed
ceilings and buildings. I wish I could post pictures, but these emails
can't handle attachments. I really liked wandering around Lisbon and
finding new hidden things down old small streets. There was a lot of
history in the city and it was cool seeing things that had been around
since the 13th century. The one thing I did notice that I did not like
was all of the cigarette smokers. Almost everyone. And what I hated even
more is how they just threw them on the ground and dropped them
everywhere. I also liked how the older women (like grandma age) had
their hair dyed like blue and purple. It was interesting. Croissant
rating - 4

Bilbao, Spain:
I liked Portugal way better than Spain. It was not the country that I
had imagined, but I guess because I was in Basque Country and not the
cities. It was not a scenic by the port but once you got into Bilbao it
was really nice. The buildings were really old and close together. It
sort of reminded me of London. It was quieter and there wasn't as much
to do as the other places. It had a bunch of little streets and shops. I
had a lot of trouble eating in Spain. I could not get used to their meal
times (like dinner at 9-11). When we were hungry for dinner, it was hard
to find a meal. We usually could only find tapas. For the most part I
did not like the tapas. I am not a seafood eater so it was harder for me
to find food. I also hate mayonnaise which they seemed to use a lot of.
The rest of the area was really nice. It was very mountainous and had
tons of greenery and really great views to look at. Croissant rating - 3

Biarritz and Saint Jean de Luz, France:
Saint Jean de Luz was not that exciting and basically everything was
closed. This is also were we got lost in France. Compared to Biarritz it
was not very great. So Biarritz, was awesome. Everyone loved it. it was
basically a beach town and the views were insane. There were tons of
huge rocks out in the ocean and tons of little downtown-ish and beach(y)
shops and places to eat. Compared to being in Paris before, it was such
a huge difference to city. I really liked it there a lot and it was nice
to see a different part of France. Croissant rating - 5