Portugal Shenanigans

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to Lisbon, Portugal through Cursos Internacionales (the school here in Salamanca). We had to get up around 5:30 AM to leave the house at 6 in order to walk to the bus station. My host mom still made breakfast though. Bless her soul. The trip took about 6 hours since we stopped twice for about a half-hour each time. The bus was extremely cramped so it was not the most enjoyable ride there. Once we arrived in Lisbon, we went straight to the hotel to find out that our rooms were not ready, so we dropped our bags and ventured around the new streets to find something to eat. Being the Americans that we are, we found ourselves at a burger place call Hamburger 21 (I think.) It had probably been a year since my last burger so the taste of a good burger was phenomenal.

After eating we went walking down the main street of Lisbon and saw one of the Plaza by the ocean. Later we stopped by a small cathedral and a huge castle (the first of many.) The castle was exciting! My phone died so I couldn’t get a lot of pictures, but the memories are still there. Once those excursions were done for the day, we had to find some food for dinner so we ate Chinese and it was the most disgusting chinese food I have ever had. There was some redemption though with this bar called the Magic Pool. The atmosphere was calm and enjoyable and the most impressive this about it was the bartender. He had a good sense of humor and was very friendly. It was a nice change of pace from Spain. Sometimes the people here can be kind of off-putting, but to each their own. I tried tinto verde, a wine only made in Portugal, and it was the most enjoyable wine I have had so far.

The most exciting thing about the hotel was that we had air conditioning and a hot breakfast! Breakfast was better than what we had been having. I HAD EGGS. It was excited and it tasted pretty okay. I, of course, had many other carbohydrates to accompany my eggs because I the love I have for carbs in unreal. Once we got around, we hopped on the bus and went to the Jerónimos Monastery and El Torre de Belém. Near the monastery, was Portugal´s famous bakery, where they make pastel de nata, from a secret recipe passed down to them from the monks who originally made them.

Jerónimos Monastery

El Torre de Belém

Boca do Inferno

After that exhilarating morning, we were able to go to the beach in Cascais. We saw the Boca do Inferno and of course the beach. It was kind of empowering the way the waves crashed against the rocks. Wade, Haley and I decided not to go back with the group and stay in paradise for a little longer. I drank mead for the first time there and it is now one of my favorite drinks. If only it was not so expensive. I will definitely need to try it in the states. We hung out by the beach and dipped our toes in the freezing Atlantic Ocean. Even though the water was cold FREEZING, it was a nice change of pace from the extremely hot sun of Portugal. (Not that it is not the same sun as every where else.) My body became used to it once it was numb. For dinner, Haley and Wade ate octopus (pulpo) and I tried piri piri sauce. The octopus was extremely tender and the piri piri sauce was a whole new level of hot sauce. Haley tried some of their white sangria and that was another fantastic drink to have. To end our adventure, we took the train and metro back to the hotel and pretty much crashed.

The next morning we traveled to Obidos which is a small, beautiful "city" surrounded by a wall that appeared like the Great Wall of China. Kelsey and I took it all the way around the perimeter. That was my favorite part of Portugal and it was so enlivening. I felt like a little kid conquering the castle. When I was walking around, I spotted a cat and named in Lemon because I found a lemon tree a couple seconds prior. After that exploration, we went to the beautiful Monastery of Batalha and saw the tomb of unknown soldiers. We were fortunate enough to be able to watch the changing of the guards during our visit. The architecture was so beautiful, even though some of the building were unfinished and will remain as such. My favorite part about that monastery was the intoxicating stained-glass windows, whose lights glistened on the marble floor.
Once we ate lunch and ate some bomb ice cream, we had to get on the bus to start to make our way back home. On the ride back, the AC stopped working and I was not happy! NO BUENO. Luckily it got fixed and all was well. Needless to say, Portugal has been one of my favorite parts about the adventure and I am so glad I was able to experience it.

Obidos

Lemon

Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers

Monastery of Batalha