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Elevators were popular in Lisbon |
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Lisbon at Night |
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Lisbon Christmas Tree |
The next step was to look for a hostal, hostel. The only two criteria I had were that it needed to be cheap and it had to include breakfast. I looked at the locations of several different hostels and settled on the Good Night Lisbon Hostel. Step two done.
So the puente came and my roommate, my other roommate (his girlfriend), Nick and I got in the car. Less than two hours later, we were in Lisbon. It's a very impressive sight because as you are driving into the city you see a giant Jesus statue. It resembles the one that they have in Brazil, but the reason that they built it was a gift to god to keep Portugal out of the World War. Guess what, it worked and now it stands on a hill looking down on the city. I was in awe.
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My favorite Plaza |
Then we get to the city. My too roommates were staying in a hotel, so they dropped us off at our hostel and we unpacked and started adventuring. I have found that the first day should be dedicated to getting lost. Nick just goes with the flow, so we walked to some places on the map and got lost. It was perfect.
Nick and I also decided that we wouldn't go out that night because we were exhausted. That plan changed quickly when we met some people in the hostel that tenían ganas de salir, wanted to go out. We went to Barrio Alto, another neighborhood up a hill in the center of the city. Yes, Lisbon is a very hilly city. It feels like everything is uphill, and that you are always climbing not descending. They also put all of the cool things on top. This neighborhood is known for great bars and for people gathering in the streets and drinking. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad we ended up going out.
Enter the next day. Nick and I decided to do a walking tour at 10:30. Well, we didn't wake up for that so we went to the 1:00 tour instead. It was really interesting and the tour guide knew a lot about the city. The most important thing that I learned was that there was an earthquake in 1755 that rocked Lisbon to the ground. There is a church that lost its roof in the earthquake and still remains roofless. A lot of the beautiful buildings that are currently standing were built after the earthquake including this beautiful plaza called Plaza de los Comercios.
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First Dinner We Bought (Cod) |
After the tour, we met up with Mariel, the girl who studied abroad with me. She arrived a day after we did and we decided to walk around the city with her. On our walk, we actually ran into my roommates who were drinking beer in a plaza. We talked there for a while and decided to go to the Castle of Saint George the following day. This is a giant castle that sits on yet another hill overlooking the city.
We then returned to our hostel and decided to take a nap and then walk around the city at night. Well, we woke up and all of the people in the hostel were talking about a bar crawl. I had never done one so the idea intrigued me and we went out for the second night in a row when we had planned not to. The bar crawl was awesome and I'm so glad I went on it. We met a lot of American studying abroad in Spain who were in Lisbon on vacation as well. It was a good time.
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Flag on top of the castle |
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Male peacock in the castle |
This night we didn't go out. I physically couldn't! I was so exhausted. Instead, I slept for 10 hours and woke up excited for our last day in Portugal in a town called Sintra.
We all decided that we would go to Sintra the last day. My roommate drove us with all our luggage to Sintra, a small town 20 minutes outside of Lisbon. It's a beautiful town, but what really interested us was the Palacio de Da Pena, or this palace that sits atop of a tall hill. We tried driving up it, but we ended up turning around because there wasn't enough parking. The second time, we went up about halfway before we parked and walked up the rest.
My other roommate, who didn't venture with us, recommended this castle because it is something out
of a Disney movie. She was right because there were so many colors and interesting designs. Overall, Portugal maintains their monuments extremely well and this was no exception. I don't want to describe it in detail because I think the pictures speak for themselves. I do want to say that it was built in the 1800's on top of a monastery because this wealthy family just wanted to do it so they could have a summer palace. Now, it's owned by the country of Portugal and is one of the most visited palaces there.

So look at the pictures and tell me that this isn't one of the most beautiful places you've ever seen. Well, after the palace we drove home and that concludes my time in Portugal. Did I have a great time? Yes. Would I go back? Yes. Do I have plans to go back? No, but I'm telling everyone who hasn't been that I would totally go back. If you, reader, haven't been to Portugal, I know a guy who would accompany you ;)
Finally, I want to say that my thoughts are with my family right now. You don't know how much I wish I was with you guys this weekend. I'm glad I got to skype and you all got to see my Sunday European hairstyle.