Carissa and I flew into Lisbon in the early afternoon on Sunday, Feb. 13th to find slight rain through the clouds. We had heard that it was supposed to be rain the entire week we were there so we came prepared, but were still somehow bummed by the weather. Luckily and unluckily, weather in Portugal is completely unpredictable. The sun may be shining bright, no clouds in the sky with a gentle breeze and then the next moment a total downpour resembling a monsoon may hit you smack in the face. On Sunday, even though we had some of the predicted rain, it turned out to be sunny by the afternoon and for a moment I even convinced myself I was slightly sunburnt. For a moment, that is.
Right after arriving we decided to take one of the two free walking tours of the city offered through our hostel. Carissa and I joined with about 8 other hostel residents and hiked through the old and only part of the city left standing after the terrible earth quake/ tsunami of 1755 (bet a lot of you didn't know that happened, did you? The earthquake was the strongest ever recorded in Europes history and could be felt to the carribean!) called Alphama. There we saw old houses which have been there since the early 1700s, a church which took 400 years to finish, and the beach/shoreline. The people in Alphama are of the lower class and aren't huge fans of tourists, although they don't say it. However, a four year old child threw a huge piece of concrete rock at our heads from a balcony which could have killed us, so I guess they somehow do say it. Oh well; it was rather interesting seeing the "back streets and real life" of Lisbon.
Clearly it's gorgeous. Before I keep rambling, if you want to see the rest of my photos and quit reading here, this is the link which you are looking for..
Ok so back to life in Portugal. The second day (since the first day we just bummed around after the walking tour..) we bought a day card for 12 euros which allowed us to travel around the small penninsula of which Lisbon is located. We first boarded a local train to Sintra, a town about 30 minutes out of the main city area. On the way out of Lisbon I witnessed the effect of "old money, no new money." Portugal is one of the poorest European nations today, and has been for quite some time. After the money of exploration and trade died down, and the effect of a dictatorship and lack of proper taxation processes were felt, the country has had a difficult time reclaiming their past wealth. So, as a result of this issue, much of Portugal is covered in beautiful buildings which are merely lacking the necessary upkeep or face lift required to make the country comparable to France or Germany. However, this lack of money has also resulted in large, hideous apartment buildings in desperate need of a coat of paint surrounding the city. These apartment complexes were built by cheap contractors who knew the living space was in high demand, but took advantage of the lack of necessity for upkeep. It's quite the eye sore. Going out of the city center for about the surrounding 10 miles can be rather depressing; it reminded of me a poorer part of Mexico or Jamaica. There are broken windows, grungy apartment complexes, litter in the streets, homeless people, etc. However, this is really only on the outskirts of Lisbon. So do not fear; the country still has great potential. Just don't chill out in the outskirts of Lisbon. It's a big enough city to hang out in the "in-skirts" sooo.. yeah. Do not fear!
Anyways, back to Sintra. In Sintra we boarded a tourist bus which took us to an old castle built by the African Moors which is basically in ruins and just an outlining wall today. Carissa and I enjoyed ourselves on the path up to the castle, but did not want to pay 5 euros to see the inside of the walls, which would just be the same as the outside.
After the castle (which was the last dry point of the day) we boarded the bus again to venture up to our next stop- the Moors' Palace. The palace, just like the rest of Portugal, was in need of a serious paint job. However, other than that, I do believe it is one of the most beautifulboarded the bus again to venture up to our next stop- the Moors' Palace. The palace, just like the rest of Portugal, was in need of a serious paint job. However, other than that, I do believe it is one of the most beautiful castle's I have ever visited. We paid the 9 Euros to go inside the castle, which ended up being completely worth it (unfortunately, no photos allowed..).
The rain really started picking up at the palace, so we kind of had to leave a little sooner than we would have originally wished. Oh well- rain happens. Unfortunately it happened while I was wearing ballerinas and a light coat prepared for the sun shiny day which had greeted us in the morning with temperatures in the high 50s, but you know. Rain happens.
After the palace (I know, it's after this, after that, after another thing in Portugal.. bear with me folks!) we got on another bus which drove us about an hour away to the most western point in Europe, Cabo Da Roca. The bus ride was hands down the closest I've ever come to motion sickness in my life; I know many that would not have whole-stomach survived the trip. Portuguese bus drivers are ungodly ridiculous. Curving road on the side of a cliff with other cars zooming by? Ok lets go 70 miles an hour! Don't mind the lack of guard rails which could prevent a bus from flying us all into the pearly gates above, just gun it! Also, they only stop at a bus stop for about .5 seconds. So if you even think about running to catch a bus in Portugal, I wish you the best of luck, because you'll just be running after it. No wonder they're all so skinny.
Cabo Da Roca was met at the point of the day in which I was just losing enthusiasm with the weather, my outfit, and life itself. You know, just one of those moments. I was cold, my shoes were soaked, and my umbrella was being a pain in some particular region of the body in which many would refer to as a scandal. We got off the bus in a literal last second decision (we had been previously contemplating just calling it a day due to our wet and miserable states, but then realized you're only in Portugal once, and this could be one of those stories you would tell your grandkids about..) only to discover the bus to pick us up would not return for another hour and 45 minutes. At this moment I do believe I declared to some god or another "Fack* my life." But anywho, life clearly went on. So, shaking, shivering, and mumbling infamous curse words under my breath, I began to wander through the terrential downpour and hurricane force winds to the cliff. Just my luck, about 10 meters away from the bus stop, a gust of wind grabbed my umbrella, threw it inside out, twisted it in a circle, and spat out the result: snapped supports. Aka my umbrella of five years and 13 countries died. In accurate accordance to the mood I was in, and the appropriate elevation of anger upon this discovery (folks, I was in a hurricane, in cold February temperatures, ballerina shoes, and left without an umbrella) I found it somehow appropriate to throw a small tantrum in the parking lot of the park. After throwing my umbrella to the ground, stamping on it with all my anger and throwing it five feet, I immediately felt relieved. After retrieving the remains of said umbrella, I wandered out to the coast and ended up enjoying myself and laughing with Carissa while taking photos of cliffs. Yep. One of those days.
There you have it folks. Cabo Da Roca.
And the unfortunate death of the Umbrella. May it rest in peace in a Portuguese Landfill in the sky.
Oh also, it was valentines day that day... the only sign of the commerical holiday was red and pink balloons in their local pizza hut. Go figure.
Holy man this post is getting long. My bad.
After we got back from our little penninsula adventure, we just passed out. End of story.
Tuessday, we did another walking tour. However, this time, it was of the other side of the city; the city destroyed by the earthquake. You can definitely tell the difference in architecture and such; it may not be "modern" but it is definitely not old. Kind of hard to explain. The city, after it was destroyed, was conveniently rebuilt in a block with 8 streets going north south, and 8 going east to west. That way, everything was quite simple and finding things would not be as complicated as it was in the city prior to the earthquake. My hostel was in this little 8X8 block, so I felt pretty special. We went over the history and effects of the earth quake, saw some of the main sites and a great over view of the city. If you stay at Yes! Hostel, as I previously advised, definitely go on their free walking tours!!
Ahhh you all just need to go to Portugal. Like seriously. It's just unreal. Looking through all my photos makes me just want to jump on a plane and fly back to the custard-filled, tounge r-rolling and windy coasts of a country.
On our last full day, Carissa, a friend from the hostel and I went to a really nice suburb of Lisbon called Belém. It was only about 30 minutes by tram, and had quite a few attractions right within a small area. Quite convenient. We went to see the botanical gardens (had to sit and wait for a small monsoon to pass for a few minutes, but afterwards the weather was bearable), a monistary, some huge monument to the Portuguese explorers, and a castle. The one castle was literally sitting in the sea which I found pretty darn sweet.. and also wondered who was blamed when the sea level rose to engulf the bottom of the castle. Hmm.
The last photo with my messed up face is merely due to the extreme force of winds. I'm serious people. Hurricane force.
Also in Belem there's a small pastry shop which sells the Portuguese special pastry, pastel de nata. However, the special element about this pastry shop is that it not only was the original store which started making the pastry (basically a little cup with custard type filling) but that there is a secret ingredient. Only four men know the secret ingredient, and they are never allowed to converse with one another; aka no one knows the entire recipe. At one point a bunch of Italians opened a lab to figure out the secret ingredient. However, they must have been paid off to keep their findings a secret, because from one day to the next this rival lab just closed and disappeared. Anyway, in my opinion, the secret ingredient is just extra egg. Silly portuguese. Carissa and I ordered one each for 90 cents at this chatoic shop... they were delicious but I kind of found the ones sold at a not-so-special shop around the corner from our hostel to be even more tasty. Oh well. Still delicious.
Speaking of food... our hostel offered an authentic portuguese three course meal for a cheap price, made by one of the locals. Of course Carissa and I decided to attempt it- cheap = good. Authentic = good. Win win. However, upon actually finding out what we were eating, well, it was much more of an adventure. The starter soup was a pumpkin base with carrots, potatoes, beans, and cabbage. That was pretty darn good. The main course however, was basically all the parts of a pig, some blood sausage, cabbage, beans, bread and rice all mixed together. Needless to say, it was interesting. Granted it wasn't nearly as daring to eat as if I were to go to Singapore and eat a sheep's brain, but still. Pretty sure I saw a pig's snout in one of the ladels she attempted to put on my plate. Daring, I know. But actually it was quite good- I just ended up avoiding questionable pig pieces and the blood sausage. I did quite well for myself :) Desert was just fruit covered in a chocolate sauce, nothing special.
There it is folks. Oh my god this post is so damn long.
Oh before I forget to mention, sangria is delicious!!!!
Anyway, after all that info.. all I have left to talk about is my birthday celebrations. Basically, I just hung out and drank with some friends at the cheap hostel bar and brought in my birthday. My actual birthday I spent on a plane and train back to Marburg, but oh well. At least the celebration of bringing my birthday in was fun due to the awesome people I met at the hostel :)
Birthday breakfast for champions :)
Once arriving home to Marburg my girlfriends and I celebrated again with a quick little cake and chat at my friend Nichola's house across the street..
and BOOM longest post done :)
I'll post a reviewed post of Portugal and my interesting culture facts tomorrow or something. BED.
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