And last weekend Carissa, Ariel, and I went to Lisbon, Portugal! This was seriously one of my favorite places in Europe. I NEED to go back. It is such a beautiful place!!! Well first, our flight there was delayed an hour because of a strike at the Lisbon airport- what is going on with Europe?!
Our hostel was AMAZING. It was only 16€ a night, which is super super cheap, and it was on the second floor of a train station, which was pretty cool. It looked like a jungle inside, with plants hanging everywhere, fake grass on the floor with hammocks and bean bags everywhere, star lights hanging from the ceiling. It was awesome. So then we asked where we could get a typical Portuguese lunch and the girl at the desk suggested we go to a place called Super Mario's. That's number 1: Super Mario's. So we walked there and when we walked in, the place was long tables full of working-class men. No women. Dirty faces, paint on their clothes, you get the jist. They ALL turn around and look at us like we were aliens. So we sit down and the guy working there (Super Mario, I'm guessing...and a very sweaty one at that) gave us a menu, which was all in Portuguese. I expected Portuguese to be similar to Spanish, but it's not at all. There were pictures of meals so we pointed to them and he brought them to us. To this day I still have no idea what we ate. Such an experience.
So then for dinner that night, our hostel said they had a pizza dinner. At least I'd like to know what I'm eating. But it was so far above and beyond what I expected. I expected them to get a pizza in a box, etc. But we walked over to their kitchen and there was a woman who was cooking all day, and a long table with tablecloth, silverware, etc. Super nice. Then the 3 of us sat down with two people who worked there (Bobby from Manchester and Maggie from NY) and a german girl. We were served homemade lemonade, really good soup, homemade garlic bread, and the pizza. Now wait, let me get to the pizza. She served us a slice of like 5 different homemade pizzas...pineapple and mint, tomato and basil, spinach and goat cheese, shrimp something, and some meat one. UNREAL. They were SO SO good and I was STUFFED...and then she brought out dessert. A pizza pie with chocolate and fresh strawberries. Best 8€ I've ever spent.
That night we went on a bar crawl with our hostel (same people, plus one woman) and went to this section called Barrio Alto. The drinks there are super cheap and the bars are tiny rooms with just a bar to buy drinks...you're expected to stand outside in the narrow streets and drink. It was awesome. On the way, we met this whole British rugby team and we met up with them later at our last bar. They were HILARIOUS. They were a club team in Lisbon for a tournament and all the first-timers had garden gnomes that they had to carry around and not break, so funny. And all night I tried to talk in a British accent and they made fun of me. I met this one cute Jewish guy (Jewish!!) who is a sports reporter...literally my husband. So sad I probably won't see him again.
The next day we went on a tour (
We Hate Tourism Tours) which was so great. Anyone going to Lisbon needs to do this tour! We drove all around in this little van with a great driver (Marcos), and a lesbian couple from London who were really cool, and an old
er Indian couple from England, who were so so nice. First we drove to Sintra, which is this amazing place. Sintra is a Unesco World Heritage site and it has a fairy-tale setting. We first stopped and got queijadas, this amazingggg pastry with cinnamon and nutmeg and cheese it it. We walked around this jungly area eating them.
Next we went to Quinta da Regaleira, the place where I'm getting married. The most beautiful, romantic places I've ever been. It's this estate with this huge garden on a hill. There are underground tunnels and rivers (with stones that you can walk across), and towers, etc. So many plants and flowers. The best way to get to know the place is to walk around and get lost. It was amazing.
After Quinta da Regaleira, we stopped for lunch where we got wine, cheese, and chorizo sandwiches from this little food truck. SO GOOD. I want more. We also walked through a farmer's market, where the vegetables were literally on steroids. HUGE garlic, lettuce, oranges, etc.
Then we drove to Cabo Da Roca, where the Europeans thought it was the end of the world. It's the most western point of Europe (the closest I've been to home in 4 months!). Also one of the most gorgeous places ever. There were mountains and flowers everywhere and endless ocean. So pretty, I can't get over it.
this isn't there, but the picture won't move!
Then we went to Guincho Beach...there were surfers everywhere. And I almost got swept away by a wave...just kidding, but my sneakers got soaked from a surprise wave attack.
We drove through a town called Cascais, a beach town where the wealthy people live. But there was a golf course (Dad, we can go on vacation here!!) and beautiful houses. We stopped at this gelato place called Santini's (really famous, supposedly) and I got vanilla and cinnamon gelato. Unreal. This town is so cute and pretty!
Then we sat in Belém and got a Pastel de Belém, filled with cream. Unbelievable.
This was literally the best trip ever. I love Portugal, and I hear that the islands are even better. Kay I'm going back...done and done.
