Oh, Lisboa

My lastest adventure takes place in Lisbon, Portugal. A trip that we planned at the end of September and weren't too thrilled about going on when it actuallly came time for it. We wanted to stay at the manor and continue celebrating Thanksgiving with our new families. We wanted to help decorate the Christmas tree on Friday and relax around the manor. But for Sara, Jessica and myself, we were in an airport Thursday night, trying to sleep but failing miserably at it.

We were giggly and uncomfortable. Everyone was trying to quiet and caught a few hours of sleep before their early morning flight, but we just couldn't sit still or be quiet. At one point, Sara farted, very loudly and everyone turned around to her and me and Jess started laughing hilariously. A man behind us which spoke in a very heavy accent turned towards us and started saying stuff we couldn't understand, except we heard the word "machine gun" which made it even funnier. Then a Romanian guy across the way that had been giggling at us all night couldn't keep his composure and started laughing. It had to be the funniest moment i'd had in a while!

Our plane started boarding a little after 6a.m. and we rushed in line so we could pick out good seats. I've come to hate the fact that we dont' have assigned seats on these planes. Every man for himself! So it's crazy trying to get in line because everyone has the same thought: get the best seat possible. Well, we had a good spot in line, so it wasn't hard to get one with all 3 of us. I ended up falling asleep for most of the flight, for a little more than a hour.

By the time we arrived it was sunny and decently warm. That came as a surprise since it was literally supposed to rain every waking moment we were there. Our original plan was to go back to our hostel and take a short nap to rejuvenate, but we changed our plans to explore as much as possible until it started to downpour.

After finding our hostel, which was awesome, we headed out. We got on these trolly things that they have in San Fransisco, which run around the city. Thank God we rose those because this city was built on steep hills, EVERYWHERE. We went up to this view point, which was pretty cool. We got to look out over some of the city and the water. I love water! :)

Then we headed to the castle. It was 5 euros to get in, which wasn't bad. It had a great view of the city as well. However, the castle was very bland and there wasn't anything in it. We just walked around the wall of it, and climbed in towers which was pretty cool, but I was a little disappointed in it.

Then we walked down to the cathedral, which was free to get in. We sat there for a few minutes, and there wasn't much to look out. Basically no stainglass windows, just stones everywhere. Compared to the other cathedrals i'd been in, it wasn't very impressive. By the time we left there, it was pouring outside unfortunately. So, we hurried down the hill, huddled under umbrellas, back to our hostel.

Then we decided it was nap time. So, we slept for about an hour and a half, until 4:30. It had stopped raining by that point, so we went back out and wandered around a little bit, trying to find some place to eat, since it was about dinner time. So, we found this little cafe that was pretty cheap, and we sat outside at the tables. The server we don't think liked us very much, but oh well, he got over it. I had a burger and fries. It all totalled to about 7 euros, nto bad if you ask me.

It was raining again when we left, and we just wandered down the streets, popping in and out of various shops. I bought a few things, and it was a little after 7 byt the time we got back to our hostel. There was a new person in our 4 person room, it was a guy, and lucky me he was the guy on the bottom of my bunk. We didn't ever talk to him though. He went to bed at like 7:45, so the rest of us went out into the common room where there were shag carpets, bing bags, pillows, couches, and stools placed randomly.

We sat down and me and Jess started playing cards. Pretty soon, this girl plopped down on the couch next to us and started chatting with us. She was pretty cool to talk to actually, talking about what all she's been doing. Her name was Natalie and she's 25. She's been traveling around Europe since Sept 1, alone, going from place to place. This isn't her first time to Europe either, it's at least her 4th. But she's staying until Christmas Eve, then flying home to Minnesota. Another girl sat down and we all chatted for a while, until she got offended that me and Natalie didn't like Dublin and she left to find another group. No worries. Sara had left shortly before leaving the rest of us. Me and Jess taught her how to play a card game called Swiss, which we have come to love and play constantly. We ended up talking for quite a while, just getting to know each other and decided we'd eat breakfast together in the morning. So then me and Jess went to sleep.

The next morning, the hostel served us eggs and toast. Natalie ate with us and then we all got dressed and decided what to do. Apparently there was an aquarium, and it was due to rain throughout the day so we thought that was the best option. We asked someone at the hostel how to get there, and it wasn't too difficult to find.

The entree fee was a little over 9 euros with the student discount. So, we went in and looked around. We saw tons of fish...obviously, sharks, sting rays, otters, penguins, birds, sea horses, and a lot of other things that tend to dwell underwater. It was really fun, and i hadn't been to an aquarium in years so I was really excited. There were a few people there that really annoyed us though. I've come to the conclusion that people through Europe don't have a personal bubble. They don't mind pressing themselves right on top of you to see stuff or get by. It's really annoying as an American, because I like my personal space, but these people would shove you out of the way to see inside a tank and it became really irksome.

By the time we got out, it was after 1 and we were starving! So, we started walking and we were heading towards an area that was full of restaurants, but we never made it. Instead, we ended up back at the cafe Sara, Jess, and I had eaten the night before. I ate the same thing, and everyone else tried something different. After that, there was this large elevator that we went up. The purpose was so we could overlook the city, and it was really cool to go up in!

Sara didn't feel well, so we took her back to the hostel. Me, Jess and Natalie decided to roam about a little bit. We ended up at another view point, took a few pictures, after being offered drugs we decide to head to a cafe since the clouds looked pretty threatening.

Side note: People LOVED offering drugs to us. Sitting at cafes, they would come up to us and open their jacket and offer us cocaine, hash, or random other things. It was pretty insane. I didn't look at them, and just said NO, firmly so they knew i didn't want to mess around hehe. Mommy, I think a little bit of you came out in me during those moments...hehe!

anywho, we chilled at the cafe for 3 hours! Before we knew it, it was a little after 7. We had 2 cokes each and a pastry. We thought the bill would have been more than 20 euros, turned out it was less than 10! So we were pretty excited. We decided to walk back and get Sara for dinner, even tho none of us were hungry lol. Once we got outside, all the Christmas lights were on, so we wandered around and took our time to get back to the hostel so we could enjoy the lights.

We picked up Sara and decided to head towards the huge tree we saw earlier in the day from the elevator. Once we started walking, it started raining, shocker there. We walked a lot further than we thought it would take to get there. But it was enjoyable, walking the streets of Lisbon, all lit up for Christmas. Finally we reached the tree, tried to take some pictures but failed miserably. No pictures turned out good. It was just one of those moments we'd just have to remember.

Hunger was starting to kick it about this time, so we turned around. We had passed a Hard Rock Cafe on our way, and we were craving good ol' American food. So, that's where we headed. The prices weren't as bad as Paris, thank God. They were at least 5 euros cheaper for everything. However, once we got there, it was jam packed. The hostess told us it would be between and hour or 2 before we'd get a seat. But, we decided to stay. So, we walked over to the bar where Natalie ordered a beer, and we were approached by an American. He was working on various projects throughout Europe but didn't know any of the languages. He was in his 40s or 50s. I didn't talk much to him but Natalie carried on a conversation. It wasn't long until our names were called. I think we waited for a little less than an hour, so we were pretty excited.

They led us upstairs to our table. Our hostess was really sweet. Everyone knew very good English, too, so ordering wasn't difficult at all. Music was great and the atmosphere reminded me of being back in America. It was a nice change. We ordered and relaxed. We ended up staying for about 2 hours, just enjoying ourselves and talking. This was the last night we had to chat with Natalie, so we made the most of it. After paying 12 euros for my meal, we headed back to the hostel.

After changing into our PJs, we got the cards out and went into the common area. People were drinking beer because it was happy hour at the hostel. None of us drank anything though. It was pretty crowded in there, but we somehow made a little area on the floor to play cards. Sara didn't play, but the rest of us did. We played Swiss again. Natalie was off her game! I won everytime and she was a lot of fun to torment, hehe. I thought it was justified since she kicked my butt the night before, hehe! We decided to head to bed about midnight, but we exchanged email addresses so we could add each other on facebook and keep in touch.

Sunday morning Natalie joined us for breakfast before we left. She hadn't planned her next trip but was planning on doing that later that day, after she explored the city a little more. As for Sarah, Jess and I, we headed to the airport to go home.

It proved to be a really nice trip. I didn't really feel like going at the time, but i'm glad i did and I didn't want to come home. I've come to the conclusion that just because i'm traveling, doesn't mean I have to jump from place to place constantly. It's nice to just relax and enjoy where I am. Plus I met an amazing person that has inspired me to do more. Traveling is a fabulous thing, wouldn't you say?

This week i'm not doing a lot of anything. Last night my group of friends dressed in Christmas colors and took "family photos" by the christmas tree. They are rather cute actually.

This weekend, finals start. Tomorrow (Thursday) we have a Valedictory Dinner, in which awards are given out and students find out who won the Photo Contest (in which I entered!), but it should just be a fun night. On Friday, we the girls are planning a trip to Nottingham to go shopping and ice skating, so i'm really excited. Then on Saturday we are having a Family Christmas Dinner. It's coming to a close...