Surfing, Couchsurfing

I will say it again, I am a Californian that has never been surfing. Quite a shame. Yet I have been metro surfing and most recently Couchsurfing for the first time. Couchsurfing is this really cool interchange website for travelers where you can search for people wherever you are visiting and either bum a night on their couch or just have a cup of coffee. Well the main attraction for travelers is that it offers a free couch, provided that you extend a good impression on your host via couchsurfing messaging. Here is the website to check it out for further information: www.couchsurfing.org

Anyways, my cousin Beth came to visit my sister and I in Sevilla. We took the weekend to go to Lisbon, Portugal and found a very nice guy to host us for three nights in a beach town 20 minutes outside of the city. Complete with live and authentic fado music (traditional to Portugal), a castle with a terrific view and some feisty peacocks, and plenty of beautiful balconies in the hilly city, us three relatives had a great time.

We were skeptical at first how the experience would go, but it turned out to be a great way to see a big city without having to get lost every ten minutes. More than that, it was an invaluable exchange of culture where we were able to learn more about Portugal and discuss the differences between theirs and ours.

I love these kind of things. In Germany when I was visiting my good friend Anne, we had a dinner with two german guys, a French couchsurfing girl, and three Berkeleyans. Another night to remember, here is a photo that expresses my contentment

Goes to show how genial it is to meet new people from around the world.