Different perspectives, living in Lisbon.

Yesterday I met a Korean teacher here in Lisbon.
Finding my Korean blog very informative,
she wondered who I am.
So she contacted me
and asked me to meet her in person.

She has been here for two years,
teaching Korean in a college.
As she works during weekdays,
she was only available on weekends.

Right before I met her, it was broad daylight

After I met her, it was as dark as this.

We talked over five hours about living here in Portugal.
Pros and cons of her life here in Lisbon.
She used to teach Korean in Hungary,
so it was more interesting to see her perspectives

Living and traveling are somewhat different as far as I know.
I have been to Hungary but just as a traveler, not as a resident.
So what she told me about Hungry was very intriguing.
That's for another time.
Now let's get back to Portugal.

Well, what she loves most is friendly Portuguese.

And technology is way better than in Hungary.
(Of course, not as good as that of Korea.
The progress of high tech in Korea is unparalleled.)

Paper work takes a long time as in most of European countries.


Two things we agreed on emphatically.
(1) The food and climate are the best here in Portugal. 
Portuguese are very proud of their food
and they are right.
Sunny skies and beautiful weather make me happy all the time.

(2) Not enough publicity. 
There are many, many wonderful museums and exhibitions
but not many people go there due to lack of advertisement.
Websites are hard to find
and sometimes the official contact info on websites are all wrong.
So when I tried to send an email asking for info,
it returned to me, saying the email address is not correct.

Mafra Palace

As most Koreans don't speak Portuguese,
they usually send an email, instead of a phone call.
Through my Korean blog,
more and more people got interested
in places they had never heard of.

Mafra palace and Queluz palace are just cases in point.
With a Lisboa card, they know Mafra palace exists
but the transportation to the palace is a different story.
Only a few people who rented a car have been there.
What a shame.

In case of Queluz palace, a doctor in Korea asked me
if I had a special pass to take pictures.
I just took pictures and posted them on my blog
so I couldn't understand his question.

Queluz Palace, with no one around. 

It turned out that in my pictures
there were no people blocking any views.

In Europe, most of palaces are filled with travelers,
so when you take pictures,
most of them are with faces of strangers getting in your way.

Inside Queluz Palace, also no one around. 

Some Koreans have been to or know of Obidos
but almost all Koreans have never heard of Caldas da Rainha.
If you get to see Koreans in Caldas da Rainha,
probably they are there thanks to my blog.