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So I’m back from Portugal! and what a trip it was.

Hey there, Portugal.

I went with eight girls, but our group was part of an even bigger bunch of 17 kids from the BC in Madrid Program. I say I went with eight because we stayed in the same Hostel, and let me tell ya.. this hostel was B-E-A-UTIFUL! I highly recommend it, and would mention it by name if i remembered that.. yeah. Anyway Lisbon (or Lisboa as they say it there) was a sight to see. Our hostel was in an amazing location, and as soon as we stepped outside we walked along cobblestone streets everywhere we went. Although this eventually proved to be a death trap for expensive and previously beautiful leather boots (those with heels and without), it kept SKnapp and I in awe the entire trip.

Rotate right. All the streets were like this. Everywhere.

I put this in specifically because if one thing stands out about Portugal, this is it. In different patterns. Besides that the exhaustion comes in second. We started the trip off with 6:50am flight which I already mentioned I took a nap the previous day, and could not sleep at night. Therefore, when the troops began a walkin’ on Thursday morning in Lisbon, I was tired; however, I kicked into high gear and stayed there the entire time. For college students we were efficient and saw so many things and kept going, even though we could have napped for hours and hours and been lazy. We went to an aquarium, a castle, a  tower on the water (used for battle), a gondola, a garden, rode a trolley, took several foot tours of the city (including, as SKnapp would say, places that Patty [her Mom] and Patti [my Mom] wouldnt approve of [sorry Mom]), and ate at new restaurants. We saw the good, bad, and beautiful, and were pleased with oursevles at the end of long days. I loved how often we all whipped out our cameras to capture yet another beautiful moment, and we did this while surrounded by palm trees and cute multi-colored buildings with clothing lines on all sides. We all liked the food (except when we got charged 12 euro for Parmesan cheese!) and kept repeating how we “are falling in love with Portugal.” Although the beaches were a bit of a disappointment, or at least the ones we came across, we still sat by the water and got a little sun-kissed.

The first night we went out for an Italian dinner and I had pasta with vodka sauce that had mushrooms and “meat” aka beef? in it. VERY GOOD. Then we met up with the other group at the statue described on a pamphlet about a “PUB CRAWL.” We all got dressed up and awaited the 20 shots that would be free to the first 20 people… and after 20 mins of waiting, we went to the first Bar on the Pub Crawl list (it says to go there if you are late.. so why not?). TURNS OUT there is no such thing as the pub crawl, we were all fooled, and the bar: KAMASUTRA BAR, ended up giving us free shots after Liz argued with them “like she meant it.” Way to go, Liz.

Sexy time.

Success!

The rest of the night was quite comical and a ton of fun. Our next stop, after Kamasutra, was The BedRoom, where we found large couches and beds and where we got out drink on, finally. After having a good time but eventually being creeped out, we left and wandered around (Lisey Lauren and who else? losing us and us losing them, funny story but too long) and then we stumbled into a dancing bar where the money situation went downhill. We all danced the night away, and tried to dance in a manner that was “Spanish.” We were all relatively clueless, SKnapp giving me hip moving lessons and me begging Perry to give me lessons.. but the 17 kids from BC broke it down Lisbon style and I’d say it was glorious.

Lets skip far ahead to the next evening, where us eight girls went to a Portuguese restaurant and had to sit at two different tables of four to fit. While we figured out that the items they place on the table arent free, the other table only half understood what that meant. There was the first plate of cheese (2 kinds of cheese, but four of one kind and one of the other), the second plate of cheese with one type of cheese but four samples, a plate of ham, and a bowl of bread. We ate one of one type of cheese, one of the other, and the bread. The other table tasted each cheese, thinking that they wouldnt be charged individually. In the end, it was slightly comical that they were charged around 30 euro for cheese.. so the moral of the story is: dont eat whatever the waiters put on your table, because it aint Kansas, and it aint free.

The dinner was good, although if I went back I wouldn’t get the same thing: some fillet of St. Pierre fish with a small salad and a bowl of tomato rice on the side. Hey, when in Portugal, get the fish, right? So after this meal we went home and had some nice drinks downstairs in our hostel. I met some Canadians (a man and his wife) and some Brazilians (a man and his.. hopeful hookup/gf type). The second girl kept thinking that I spoke french, because she was drunk, and would ramble off in French before I could stop her. Her man enjoyed when I sang the random Cat song my gymnastics coaches taught me a LOOONG time ago, and were equally as smitten when I sang happy birthday in Portuguese and passed their quiz about South American Capitals (who HONESTLY THINKS Buenos Aires is the capital of Brazil? I clearly stated it was Argentina, thank you very much and Puh-lease.)

The original plan was to go to Lux, a well known bar, but we switched to Kremlin “K.” At 1:30am the bartender explained that no one comes until 4 or 5am, and that the bar is open until 9am. His words proved to be correct, so we just chilled and enjoyed the lyric-less music and laser light show. I have so much more and so much less to say about this place, so we will leave it at:

-”Wait, guys… Did it get crowded?”

-”Look at you: youre a bi*ch, im a bi*ch, we’re all bi*ches.”

-”Good night girls… good NIGHT GIRLS!!!!”

-Thank you Sarah Patterson. I <3 you.

-SKnapp and Lisey love to laugh about the lack of lyrics to the music and cant wait to dance to techno again sometime soon.

Today was a lazy day but we went to dinner at Bar Restaurant “Da’Tomaso” which is the ACTUAL title, ive been spelling it wrong. Tomas wasnt there at first, so we didnt get our usual discount (BAH HUMBUG).

So now I will watch some TV and sleep, because I have a busy week of class, Scott, and family ahead.

-Tues: Scott comes back from London.

-Saturday: Mom, Dad, Cait, and John arrive in Madrid at 11:30am!!!! I am so excited. I asked them to bring some things, including Kraft Mac & Cheese, Annie’s Mac & Cheese, Velveeta, bagels, themselves, and more! We have so many plans.. places to see, things to do, that I need all my sleep and rest and energy. I am so lucky and fortunate that they are able to come to see me, and I appreciate it more than anything. Once classes are finally settled, I will feel even more “at home” here (as much as is possible).

- I am also thankful that I am not in the bottom Spanish class at Carlos!! I took an oral and written exam and was placed in the EXACT class that I wanted.. how insanely great is THAT?! I only have class Mon, Tues, and Wed. BOOYAH.