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Lisbon is a city that has a little something for everyone. Sure, there's your typical tourist attractions and shopping, but there are also tons of outdoor activities like surfing or hiking, or those lesser known gems, like the circus-themed sardine shop. Artists, whether street or professional, also thrive in the city. The local government actually encourages graffiti and street art by setting up certain places around the city that are meant to act as outdoor exhibits. Professional artists set up booths in the squares and under colonnades that tourists can view as they walk by. Fun Fact: Salazar Slytherin from Harry Potter was named after the Salazar who led the dictatorial regime in Portugal until 1974. J.K. Rowling spent some time teaching in Portugal during the late 1980s, so some parts of the HP universe have been influenced by Portuguese history, cities and culture. Portugal is the westernmost country in Europe and, as such, it has a long history of exploration. With the ocean bordering about half the country, why wouldn't you want to see what else is out there? Vasco da Gama, one of the most famous explorers of all time, is actually entombed in Jeranimo's Monastery which we were able to visit on Friday. Da Gama is known for finding a sea route around the southern tip of Africa and opening trade and commerce with Asia (and arguably facilitating colonialism). I was pretty amazed that we were able to see the tomb of a guy that lived 600 years ago and we had learned about in our history classes. The monastery's design is somewhat simple, but the beauty is in the details. We got there right at sunset, and the whole courtyard lit up with a beautiful amber glow that slowly faded as the sun went down. While everyone in the States was eating Thanksgiving leftovers, we were being initiated as Freemasons. I'm joking, but we did visit a Freemason initiation site that doubled as a summer home in the mountains on Saturday. The Freemasons are a secret society that no one knows much about, but our guide seemed pretty well versed in Freemason rituals and practices. According to him, the Freemasons have some connection to the Knights Templar another semi-secret society that started during the Crusades. Maybe the Knights Templar joined forces with the Freemasons or maybe they died out, but the fact is that the Freemasons replaced them as the one of the most powerful secret organizations in the world. He name-dropped some alleged Freemasons who have played a role in the history of the world like Disney, J. Edgar Hoover and several kings of Portugal. Our mock initiation didn't include any high profile members, but it was still pretty cool. The guide led us to an upside-down tower hidden inside a rocky outcrop in the side of the mountain. The tower descended nine stories into the ground, symbolizing the descent into the nine circles of hell, as in Dante's Inferno. (FYI the Freemasons are big on symbols.) At the bottom was a cross overlain by a compass (two more symbols), where our guide positioned the eight of us around each one of the eight points of the compass. He stood in the middle and explained that this is where person being initiated would stand. The person would then do a trust fall, and his "brothers" would catch him and lower him to the ground (symbolizing his death), where he would lay until the leader decided he could get up (which could be hours later). With the initiation complete, the new brother was reborn as a member and led out through the very spooky and dark tunnels below the mountain. We paralleled their rebirth by making own way through the tunnels, hopped across a pond and found ourselves back in daylight. While I may or may not be a Freemason now, I can confirm that Lisbon is a city worth visiting.