Friday was a whirlwind kind of day, starting with a 930 train to the airport. Our flight left at 1235, and at 1215 portuguese time (1 hr ahead of Espana! :)) we landed. Lisboa is beautiful. Rights next to the Atlantic ocean, it smells salty and looks like a combo of Rome (its built on 7 hills), Rio de Janeiro (big jesus statue and all), San Francisco (sister of the Golden Gate bridge is in Lisboa, along with tons of street cars), and Costa Rica (the ocean was TURQUOISE!).
We hopped the bus to Rossio Square, and schelpped to our hostel, which was right around the corner from an elevator that looks like the Eiffel tower, bc the guy who built it studied under Gustauf Eiffel! Living Lounge was AMAZING. IT was so clean, artsy, and had a great crowd of ppl working there. We were in a 6 person room with 2 Germans, Sebastian and Olivia, who were staying there for a month to do their graphic design thesis project. so cool.
We then went to the part of town called Belem by trolly, which was awesome. We saw Vasco da Gama;s tomb, the monument to the Explorers, had famous portuguese pastries, and went to the tower of belem, which ended up being closed bc the workers were on strike. typical. We also went to like a war memorial for all the soldiers who died fighting for portugal which was cool, and then headed back to the city center. I was not feeling so hot tho, heat and all, so i went back to the hostel for a nap before dinner, which was at the hostel. Then, we ate, which was an AFFAIR. We met a girl named Jane from houston, who flies free everywhere bc her dads a pilot, and ryan and and were HAPPY off of wine. I then tried Port Wine, which was nast, and we hung out with a bunch of irish people and some french people in the hostel for the night over a few beers. It was awesome.
Saturday, by Jane's suggestion, we caught the train to Sintra to see castles and creepy mansions. The place was like a fairy tale. we caught a bus up the mountain to the moorish castle and spend a while walking up and down and around the torrents and towers of the muslim fortress. We could see for miles. Halfway thru, we met 2 older Canadians who were traveling thru Portugal and we chatted with them for a while. After the castle, we bused down and walked to this creepy old house that was like built by this guy obsessed with mysticism and the occult. It was so cool...one room had mirrors on the floor so it made u feel like u were gonna fall when u walked over to the sides. After that, we discovered a chapel on the grounds and took pics, and then for a bit we were underneath the chapel trying to decide if we could walk down this creepy passageway. However, with the help of camera flashes and ipod lights, we deemed it not worth the effort. We then climbed a few more ruins of towers and saw more of the grounds of this place, and then caught the bus to Caiscaos, which is where the beaches are!
The bus was pleasant enough, and the beaches were so worth it. We all walked through the agua, which was FREEZING, and yet there were still ppl swimming. We eventually ended up sitting out on a stone dock that jetted out into the ocean and watched surfers do their thang. We then stayed for sunset and went home. Before we had dinner, we rode the Eiffel tower elevator thing, which was cute....but way overpriced.
Dinner was another awesome affair at the hostel. We met a girl who lives in Madrid, Jessica Carter (same as my roommate! so FUNNY) doing what i hope to be doing after college, aka fulbright scholar, and her friend, who's from Bombay, Ruchi. They were both really awesome, and we had a great convo with them. Then, our german roomies, Sebastian and Olivia were chatting it up with us too, along with Antonio, who was the half portugues half indian hostel worker who was making dinner. I had to order veggie both nights, bc i DONT eat fish, and both nights my meal was indian food, which i had never tried before, but found very interesting. After dinner, everyone wanted us to go out, so we went to a bar/club in barrio Alto for a while. There, i met 2 girls from paris, and we chatted (in FRENCH!) about our lives, which was so cool!!! Then me ryan and jess went back bc it was 2 and we were beat...funny, all the madrid kids who normally stay out till 6am are going home early.
Sunday we got up and checked out, and then headed to the St. Georges' Castle at the top of the hill in Lisboa. The view were incredible, and once again, we were just allowed to play atop ruins of old shit. so cool. Also, there were random cats and PEACOCKS just walking the grounds. So cool. Then we bought really cool coin necklaces from this lady who was speaking to us in a combo of english, spanish, and portuguese.
Then, we headed down to take a ferry so that we could see the Christ the King statue across the bay from Lisboa. The ride was so pleasant, and then we bused up to the top of the hill, where the views were GORGEOUS. Then, we continued the big schlep back to the airport.
Twas another lovely weekend trip, and in summation, i am now OBSESSED con Portugal.
Besos, y hasta luegoooo
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