Starting it off in Lisbon

Now, as I finally get around to relaying my Easter break experience.. I'll start all of you at my first point of arrival: Lisbon.

Portugal is the most underrated country. I never thought I'd venture there on my travels while I was on study abroad, but one of my friends convinced me to go because there's supposed to be amazing seafood, so I thought, "Why not?"

I packed my perfectly sized 56x45x25cm luggage - consisting of only 5 shirts (what was I thinking right) - and boarded the plane being able to carry my baggage on (saving probably about 100 pounds in the long run). Our flight left from London, so we started off on a 5 1/2 hour bus ride at 8am. Then our flight was delayed 2 hours. But finally we were in the air and off to Lisbon.

Arriving after dark, we received our first taste of one of Lisbon's seven hills. Basically we're walking vertical up this hill, carrying our luggage, not really knowing where we are or 100% sure of where we're going, surrounded by the native Portuguese ("Hey want some meat?"), all of which lead to the sketched out feeling of  "What am I doing here?!!!" But as always, we were going the right way the whole time, and finally made it to our accommodation!

Our first meal in Lisbon was at a hole in the wall place down the road from our hotel. We guess ordered by trying to point and using a combination of English/Portuguese/Spanish. Hole in the wall restaurants really did become my favorite during this trip, less touristy, more homemade. Oh and did I say you can get a jug of wine here from 3 euros? Finally starting to realise why we came...

Our hotel was superb. It was an old guest house and from our window we had a small view of the ocean (okay, it's really a river that leads to the sea). We even had three individual beds to sleep in! (You'll understand the grandeur of this later...).

Our hotel:

Mine and Julie's room:

Our view of the "ocean" (it's in the way background):

Our first day we spent exploring the town. Which meant going up and down a lot of hills. They actually have trams that will take people up and down the hills, but we mostly decided to walk. During the day, we took an elevator left up to the top of a national monument and received amazing views of the city. We ate lunch by the river and afterwards, just sat with our feet in it.

Making our way down the stairs we weren't allowed to climb after dark - never did find out why:

The trams:

Their tracks.. we're still walking, but at least it's downhill at this point:

A national monument:

View of the city from the top:

Oh and we found out the guards carry swords:

The plazza where we ate lunch:

Made it to the river!:

Later, we made our way to St. George's Castle located on the highest point of the city. This castle was the best one we've been to yet. It was literally a playground for adults. You were allowed to climb ANYWHERE. There were no barriers or guards yelling at you and telling you to stay off the walls like there always is in England. We went all around the castle, climbing onto narrow walkways without hand railings and only the hillside to catch you. I must say I did get yelled at once.. walking over an excavation of ancient ruins.. apparently I got a little to excited by all the freedom.

St. George's Castle:

The ruins I wasn't allowed to walk on:

That night we made it out to the club district in Lisbon. We stayed at one with a live band, lots of dancing, and huge mojitos. And can I tell you the cab ride home was less than 5 euros? Loving this country more and more after spending the pound all semester.

The next day, we didn't do much beside walk by the sea and get sunburnt. And I mean completely burnt. Pretty sure my hands and feet had first degree burns from this day on. After 4 weeks, they're just starting to look normal again. But who's feet and hands get sunburnt in the first place? So random.

Started off in the shade:

And moved into the sun:

That night we met up with some of our other friends from Manchester for dinner and after dinner drinks. At dinner, we all ordered this scallop/ veil dish, thinking it was a combination of fish and meat right? We soon found out that a scallop is a type of meat slice, not an actually scallop like we though. After dinner, we went to get port, the traditional drink of Portugal. Analysis: very thick, sweet, must drink slowly, definitely more of a dessert/ after dinner drink.

At our fam dinner:

Awaiting our port in the cutest alleyway: 

The next day, Julie and I decided to go to the beach. And don't worry, we finally invested in a 15 euro bottle of sunscreen (yes, it really is that expensive in Europe, pack extra if you ever go!). We took the metro to a ferry to a bus to the beach. We've become public transportation experts.

On the ferry:

When we finally made it to the Atlantic Ocean, it was beyond worth it. It was amazing to be on the other side of the Atlantic, I felt as if I could send a message in a bottle right on over to everyone back at home. I liked the beaches here because it was a very local environment.

Atlantic Ocean:

It was also our first experience at a European beach. And what you've heard is true, women of any age rarely wear tops. Some wear thong bottoms. Men squeeze themselves into tiny speedos. But hey, at least they don't have body image issues like we do in the US.

Over at the beaches, we received more of Portugal's amazing food with fresh strawberries, more hole in the wall meals, and margaritas on the beach. This is definitely the life. I kept thinking to myself - I should be in class at real school back at home. Oh well, I'd take this any day.