Lisbon, Portugal

So we got back from Lisbon, Portugal last night and I am STILL exhausted. This traveling business really does wear you out. Anyway, Lisbon is actually pronounced Lisboa by anyone who is actually from Portugal. That made for some slight confusion in the beginning of the trip, but I got the hang of it by the end. I don't think I can pick a favorite place I've traveled to so far because they are all so different. However, Lisbon is definitely one the most beautiful places I've traveled to during my time here.

I knew waking up at 5:15 am was going to be difficult even if I went to bed at 11. What I didn't know was that I wouldn't actually fall asleep until 3:00am. You can imagine the joy I felt as my sweet sounding alarm rang at 5:15. I have never wanted coffee more in my life and I hate coffee. We got the airport in time and checked in without a problem. I'm seriously surprised I haven't had any major airport glitches yet. KNOCK ON WOOD! We arrived in LisBOA on time and made our way to the hostel. We had some complications finding our way there. We pretty much spent an hour walking around a sketchy neighborhood with our luggage. The entire time we were really only like 20 feet from our hostel. Did we find it? Of course not. Eventually Carly and I thought, "Maybe we should walk a little further down this road". That decision turned out to be key. We found the hostel. THE BEST HOSTEL EVER might I add. Although the location was quite sketchy, it was cutest place ever with a great view and staff. I absolutely loved it.

After we settled into our hostel Carly and I decided to head to the city center and look around. Quite famished, we decided to get some lunch. It was like 75 outside so we decided to eat in an outdoors cafe. I had steak, eggs, fries, rice and salad. It was delicious! After that we walked around, did a little shopping, and explored the area. I bought a few things: clothes, souveneirs, and postcards. Lisbon is absolutely gorgeous. The city center is part of Old Lisbon, so the buildings are older and really pretty. I took a bazillion pictures. When we got to the actual center plaza we got some gelato. I got mango and strawberry scoops. SO DELICIOUS! I could eat gelato for the rest of my life and totally be ok with it. At this point we had walked around for about 4 or 5 hours so we decided to make our way back to the hostel and rest for a bit. When our other friend, Shanna, arrived, we decided to go out and grab some dinner. I got steak again...it wasn't cooked. The rest of my meal was really good though. After dinner we went back to our hostel and made friends with the lobby lady. She gave us some suggestions and directions for beaches to visit the next day. Having slept only two hours the night before, I went to bed around 11.

The next morning we had breakfast the hostel and went out the door around 10am. In order to get to the beach we had to take a train to a place called Estoril. On the way to Estoril is this place called the Belem District. The Belem District has some really pretty buildings but is mostly known for their world famous "Pasteis de Belem". So of course we had to find some of these things. They are these little soft dough pastry/custard thinger-ma-jiggers. Actually, I don't really know what they are. I guess you could describe them as warm-doughy-GOODNESS! We had some of those, walked through a huge garden, and started to make our way to the train station. Half way through the garden I saw a palm tree that was probably 3 feet tall. I had to take a picture with it. In my infinite wisdom, I decided to put my wristlet down on the ground so I could more easily leap over a bush to get to the palm tree. I took the picture and proceeded to leave the scene WITHOUT my purse. About 5 minutes later I realized I didn't have it. In a panic I sprinted back to the scene to look for my purse. I was already picturing the phone call to my father. "Hello, Daddy. I lost my purse which has my money, ID, and credit card in it, in the middle of Portugal. HOW ARE YOU?! :)" God was smiling down on me that day. Leaning against the palm tree was my wristlet. PHEW! So we walked back to the train station, headed towards the Estoril station, and arrived at Tamariz beach. The beach was absolutely GORGEOUS! Right on the beach is this castle that the royal family of Monaco lives in periodically throughout the year. We spent the whole day there just relaxing and laying on the beach. It was a WONDERFUL day. And good news, NO SUNBURN! :)

We headed back to the hostel to shower at the end of the day. After we showered, we got a little spiffed up so we could go out to a nice dinner. We went to a place called Senhora Mae's. The food was DELICIOUS! I had a vegetable soup and penne with salmon and shrimp. For dessert I had apple pie with hazelnut ice cream. The meal was great except for one minor detail. I've grown accustomed to every restaurant in Europe charging you for bread regardless of whether you ask for it or not. However, at this place, they charged us one dollar for a little dollop of butter, a dollar for a dollop of sundried tomatoes, and a dollar for some green GOOP. Then, me and Carly asked for water. Water is NOT free in Europe...this I know. However, we were both anticipating our own bottles of water. We eneded up getting one bottle of water split between the two of us. THEY CHARGED US BOTH TWO DOLLARS FOR THE WATER. Nuh uhhhhh, I think NOT. The bottle of water is two dollars. NOT TWO DOLLARS PER PERSON. I was kinda pissed. Oh well. Moving on. Moral of the story....Dinner was expensive, but really good. After dinner we mozied on home and went to bed.

The next day we had a little time to kill so we walked around the city some more. I don't mean to sound mean or anything, but the men in Europe aren't exatly polite. Not all...but quite a few of them are pigs. I have never been cat-called, followed, or stared at more in my life. I've accepted the fact I cannot wear shorts or skirts while I'm here because I will be totally harassed. In Lisbon, men would just follow us on the street. The last day was especially bad. When we were walking in town Carly and I had a guy get in our faces and make sounds like he was..."excited". The worst incident was when Carly had a man reach up her skirt and grab her. Not good. Theres nothing you can do because these guys are likely drugged up on things and would hurt you if you tried to do anything. Not to mention, the police to don't give a flying whoop-de-doo about any of it. Heck, the police do it themselves sometimes. The last day kind of put a damper on the entire trip because of our experiences with the guys in Lisbon. At that point I was kind of ready to leave Lisbon. We just headed back to the hostel, grabbed our stuff, and caught a cab to the airport.

Overall, I had a great time in Lisbon. When I'm older, provided I have the money, I would definitely like to vacation in Portugal. The city is beautiful and there is definitely a lot to see. I also hear that the south of Portugal is amazing too. I just wish we hadn't had so many negative things happen to us in the streets with the guys. Oh well. I'll pretty much be forced to pull my ninja moves out of retirement if it happens again. BUT! I won't let that put a damper the trip. I definitely had an incredibly fun time on the trip. The beach day was amazing and incredibly relaxing. I'll be sure to post some pictures when I get a chance.

I hope everyone had a good weekend! I love and miss you all! <3