Hiii everyone!!
I just got home from one of the best weekend's of my life! Please, let me share my tale. I'll have you at the edge of your seat!
It all started at 2:45 a.m. on Friday morning. I woke up to meet Sarah, Katie, Maggy, Danielle, and Mackenzie at the cabs at 4 a.m. We took a 20-minute ride for 36 euros to Barajas airport. We got there very early, so we waited to board until 6:40 a.m. Better early than stressed.
The EasyJet flight was supposed to be only 55 minutes, but little did we know that there would be oodles and oodles of fog covering the Lisbon airport. It is right next to the Atlantic, after all. We were just about to land, but we pulled up really fast at, what seemed like, the last minute. We re-routed to FARO, Portugal! It had the potential of being really sad, but Faro was beautiful from the plane--beaches, marshes, golf courses, mansions, etc. A part of me wanted to "disembark" and explore, but we only left some 40 minutes later for Lisbon. We learned the pilot wasn't just lucky landing the first time. :)
Once in the air again, we circled around Lisbon (Lisboa) for a bit, then landed and unloaded onto the tarmac. After finding our ways to the aerobuses, we rode (painfully) past Coliseu dos Recreos and Pingo Doce, up to the Rossio, a beautiful central plaza. Luckily, our Rossio Hostel, was only 2 minutes away. I was in love with this hostel--our awesomely, cute Portuguese hostel.
After checking in, we meandered like lost, but optimistic puppies around the Rossio, past the Estacão do Rossio with the fanciest Starbucks ever. We finally decided to trek it up soooo many stairs up to Castelo de São Jorge. There we had 100's of great city views and picture opportunities.
Then, off to Largo de Graça, another high city view. Because we all wanted different things, we split the group into two. Mackenzie, Maggy, and Danielle went to the famous Oceanario, while Katie, Sarah, and I went shopping. Honestly, I've been to a lot of aquariums in my time, so I chose the different route. We went for the typical Portuguese souvenir: a cloth store with awesome "Cock of Barcelos" (the country symbol) patterns. I loved it! I wish I could have bought out the shop.
We also adventured from Praça da Figueira to Praça D. Pedro IV near our hostel, past Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, and then up to the Elevator de Sta. Justa. There, in the street, we saw a musical group perform. So good, we even bought a CD to share. Then up to R. deo Carmo, up to Ruinas do Convento do Carmo (where we chatted up some Belgian friends), then up to Rua do Ouro, the main stretch to the harbor of Rio Tejo. We arrived at Praça de Comércio & Ministério da Justiça. We shot some superb pictures during the sunset on the steps of seagulls struggling to pull one of the thousands of catfish pushed to shore by the tide.
There we could see the parade of trolleys that Lisbon is famous for. Cute little yellow things. We were extremely tired by then, so we strolled back down the Ouro, stopped into the MUDE Museum to see old fashion styles & scooters/vespas, etc., then crashed at the hostel. The three of us shared great girly embarrassing stories while we fiesta'd. When the other 3 returned, we did some serious grocery shopping just around the corned. Maggy and I shared a bottle of red wine, some frozen veggies, a squash stir-fry, a chicken salad, and a baguette. The others made pasta w/red sauce and cheese. Cooking in the hostel and eating all together (and for cheap) was my highlight of my day!
That night at the hostel, we made friends with Catarina, the receptionist, and also some Danish boys in the next room over. We even had them come downstairs to sing Karaoke in the living room until 1 am! It really was a blast.
The next morning, we set off at 10 to Sintra, a small town 30 minutes away from Lisbon. There, it's really mansions and castles everywhere you look! We took a very hairy bus-ride up to Parque y Palacio de la Pena. This was such a colorful palace with Moorish influences. This would have been my castle if I'd been alive, I just know it. I loved everything about it. The design was unlike anything I've ever seen.
A few of us were getting tired and cranky (I wasn't, of course--I realize I have endless energy and require little to no sleep here in Europe), so we quickly hiked to the Moorish castle down the street. I loved our weather this day because atop this castle, we could see for miles across the Portugal countryside and shore! Totally worth the 12 euros!! Although, some may not agree. I was in heaven. It was really what I'd pictured Europe to be like.
From there, we risked our lives once again riding the bus back to civilization. We stopped for some famous Sintra travesseiros, a buttery/sugary fruity-paste-filled pastry. Light and yummy. Since we'd already used up our bus tix, we hiked down, to the dismay of most, to the train station. I liked seeing more and more. I was getting really frustrated with how much we were missing because some of us hadn't worn the right shoes and we had to walk slow. I'm more uptight and impatient than I thought.
I was disappointed we didn't make it back in time to see the famous Portugal landmark, Torre de Belem on the shore. I was really looking forward to it, but the European Claire goes with the flow, and she is no longer upset by little upsets. We did some more grocery shopping for dinner, did some serious mid-term studying at the hostel, chilled for a bit, skyped with the fam, showed Glen off to the girls, cooked dinner, then fell asleep while gossiping. I was so happy, in this beautiful city with my beautiful girl friends.
We really had the ideal Portuguese adventure: tiles, fabrics, artwork, ceramics, tarta de nata, roasted hazelnuts from the smokey street vendors, and obviously more.
This morning, at 4:30, we woke up, ate quickly, broke Claire's glass contact (subtle, I know), and caught taxis back to the airport to catch our 7:30 flight where we met up with the other 6 Butler students traveling in Lisbon. Billy, Jamie, Muriel, Allison, Katie, Jordan had just as much fun as we did in Lisbon, even with a 3 hour delay on their flight there! They're true troopers.
Now, I'm in the process of unpacking, uploading pix, and preparing for studying the rest of the day. We have a busy week of tests. I'm really not looking forward to it. I really hope I can keep my cool. Paris is getting me through. I'll be there on Thursday night! It's my medicine. Trust me, you'll know all about it this time next week.
Happy Halloween to everyone home. I'm ooober homesick for Fall in the states. Please send me pix of changing leaves and Halloween festivities, please please please. All my love is with you.
This is Clara, signing off. Over and out. Paz and love.
It's hard to write everything. That means, you, whoever reads this, has to come over here and experience it for yourself! Lisbon should be on everybody's bucket list. I'll go back with you!
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