We left for Portugal by bus Thursday night at 11:59 PM and arrived in Lisbon at around 7:00 AM. I was in charge for booking the hostel for Lisbon, so I had to figure out directions from the bus station to the hostel. We had to take a metro to get to the hostel with all our luggage, but the metro system in Lisbon was so small that it was really easy to navigate, especially when no one was around at 7:00 in the morning. The hostel we stayed at was called Lisbon Lounge Hostel and was probably the cleanest and most well-kept hostel across Europe. I am not exaggerating when I say that every aspect Lisbon Lounge was clean and germ-free. At first our group had a great impression because we really felt like we were getting our money's worth, but unfortunately the cleanliness came with a down-side in that it was mostly an older crowd and young families (with very little kids) that stayed there. Leann, Kirsten and I shared an 8-room dorm with a family of 4 and one girl who was probably five or six years older than us. Even though the hostel wasn't exactly what we were looking for fun-wise, we still made the most of it and certainly got good night's sleep and excellent breakfasts with crepes every morning.
We were really happy Carly was able to come on the trip because she has a distant relative who lives and works in Lisbon. He was 23 and his name was Jonathan. He was so helpful and nice the whole weekend, we spent practically every free minute we could with him. He showed us how to navigate the city in search of key destinations and took us out two nights while we were there as well. When we first met up with him, he walked us down to an area called El Roccio, which was a big plaza with the government building and fountains right in the center. He then directed us to the famous Belém neighborhood right outside the center of the city, where we went and saw the famous monument and Monosterio de dos Jerónimos. We got some very good pictures, and were able to ride the famous Lisbon trams which are small yellow cars that go every which way around the city. Some people avoid paying for the trams by grabbing onto the back of them and riding it to wherever they need to go in the city. Apparently Portugal loses billions of dollars each year on public transportation because so many Portuguese cheat the system by not paying. No wonder Portugal is in one of the biggest economic crisis of the world.
That night Jonathan met us up at a local spot looking over the city for "wine and cheese". You would have thought he had done this a million times before because he came entirely equipped with knives, cheese rolls, crackers, and bottles of wine and cups to pass. Later, he took us to Barrio Alto, which is the most popular place in Lisbon to go out. There were so many people in the streets, you could have gone down any street in that neighborhood and found people hanging out. The next day, we went to the "thieves market" in the Alfama neighborhood of Lisbon, and I bought a pull-over and a few gifts for friends. The vendors go out every Saturday and Tuesday to try and make a profit, and they seemed pretty successful the day I went. That afternoon we ate lunch at an authentic Portuguese restaurant, where I had shredded chicken, potatoes, and salad. The girls ordered the sea food since Portugal is right on the Atlantic ocean and said it was some of the best they had ever tasted. We then went to the famous Castle of Portugal, where we took my guidebook my parents sent me and read about history of defense of the Portuguese empire. I enjoyed walking through the castle, imagining real soldiers protecting the city from it.
The whole week we had been checking the weather in Lisbon and Lagos to best plan our beach excursions. The weather report unfortunately called for rain in Lagos on Monday and Tuesday, so we decided to buy our bus ticket to Lagos late Monday evening instead of the morning. Sunday we went to a beach called Caprica right outside Lisbon and spent almost the whole day there to take advantage of what we thought would be the only sun we were going to get on our vacation. The beach was great, and the water actually felt good even though it was cold. That night we stayed in mostly due to exhaustion (even though yes, we did spend the whole day laying on the beach) after a pizza dinner at a nearby restaurant.
On Monday, Kirsten Leann and I decided to check out a popular town right outside Lisbon called Sintra. Sintra is the site where the Portuguese royalty would go during the summer months to escape the heat of the city because it is about 40 minutes north. When we got to Sintra, we took the bus straight up to the royal palace called Pena Palacio and then bought our tickets to the gardens and the Castle of the two Mouros. The Palace was beautiful, filled with a ton of different colors and scenic views. We took a lot of pictures, but weren't allowed cameras in the actual palace. The cool thing about the Pena Palace was all the nature that surrounded it. There were a ton of winding paths with trees and flowers all along the sides of them, you could definitely tell the property belonged to someone rich and famous. The Castle part of Sintra was another defense project that was built by the Moors to defend their empire and later seized by the Portuguese when they regained the land and country name back. I really liked the castle because we got to walk through the stone walls and look out to the whole city, as if we could see what the rulers saw when looking out over their country.
The bus to Lagos was about a 4 hour ride, and when we got there we were immediately greeted by English promoters all throughout the streets welcoming us to Lagos. For a while, I think I actually thought Lagos native language was English because there were so many Brits there. We got to our hostel called the Stumble Inn and unpacked all our stuff. Starving, we set out to find food but unfortunately almost all the places were closed. Until... we ran into a set of three promoters who brought us to a place called "Surf and Turf" which literally was opening for it's first day ever. Needless to say, they need some practice to perfect their food given they basically handed us microwaveable foods one after the other. It was kind of funny though the whole time to be in the situation because the owner was absolutely crazy and the cook possibly even crazier. They knew how their performance was though, so they gave us a lot of free food and drinks and we only had to pay a small amount for the final check. It was certainly one meal of this six month trip I won't ever forget.
Tuesday and Wednesday were dedicated entirely to the beach, and fortunately we had better weather than we anticipated both days in Lagos. It was kind of cooler than we thought since it was on the coast of the Atlantic, but we avoided rain pretty much at all costs which was a huge advantage for the trip. The most impressive thing about Lagos are the cliffs and natural rock that surround it. I got some of the best views I have ever had in my life of the ocean while in Lagos, and feel like some of the pictures I took are almost like post cards (yes, they're that good). We also decided we would eat all the foods in Lagos that we normally can't while we are in Spain because it was such a touristy area. One night we had Thai food which was excellent and the other we had Mexican. I ordered my first burrito in months and it was one of the best things feelings ever to finish it. I always have been more of a Tex-Mex food fanatic and the burrito in Lagos definitely satisfied my craving. We also treated ourselves to several desserts and gelatos during the trip, so we really did our vacation up in Lagos.
One of my favorite parts about this trip though was the company. I had a great time with all three of them, and really never got sick of them. I have made a lot of close friends on the trip, and I'm glad because traveling with others is always way easier and fun, especially when you are going around Europe. I look forward to my upcoming trips to Amsterdam and possibly Pais Vasco in northern Spain. We made a lot of memories, and spending "spring break" in Portugal for my Junior year of college will be one I likely will never forget.
I am currently back in Spain, right in the heart of Semana Santa, where today was Holy Thursday and tomorrow is Good Friday. Unfortunately it has been raining here so the processions are not heading out because it could ruin the faces and statues that they carry. We still can go inside the churches though and see them which I guess is almost just as good because you can get a closer look instead of being trampled by people. I can already tell Semana Santa is a very important tradition in Sevilla just by the way the men and women dress in the streets despite the rain. I plan on waking up pretty early tomorrow to try and see if I can follow Armando's map and see some of the cool and famous processions of Semana Santa. I will likely give a more detailed blog of what Semana Santa is like when Easter finishes. I'm expecting it to be pretty sentimental and meaningful.
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