Lisbon, Portugal!

So this past weekend was my first trip outside of Spain. I went to Lisbon, Portugal and LOVEDDDDD IT. I went with two friends Kayla and Yasmin and when we first got there it took us a while to figure out where our hostel was, we had to climb 5 flights of stairs with all of our bags and pass some pretty sketchy people on the way up. But the hostel was actually really nice and clean. Our first night we went out to dinner at a restaurant called Xapito where there was some weird circus show that we didn’t actually go to, we just sat and ate, and then on the walk back we discovered this really cool hipster bar that we decided to check out and ended up staying there for a few hours. THIS IS WHERE I DRANK MY FIRST CUP OF TEA EVER. We ordered black tea and it was scrumptious! I never in my life thought I would utter the words tea and scrumptious in the same sentence. 

Kayla and me in some square along the water

But anyway…the rest of the weekend was filled with trolley rides, castle visits, pastry eating, beer drinking, beer drinking outside on the streets because that’s legal there!, picture taking, souvenir shopping, accidentally walking in front of a moving car because I wasn’t paying attention, inside jokes, Kayla and Yasmin making fun of me for being gullible, nap taking, trekking up and down city hills, bar hopping, meeting local Portuguese people, learning Portuguese words …. And that’s all I can think of for this list.

But here some valuable things I learned about Lisbon:

1. the city is built completely on hills, seriously there’s practically no flat ground my quads are sore from walking around that city.

2. never again will i order Portuguese soup. just thinking about it grosses me out its made with pig belly fat and was filled with huge chunks of fat that I’m pretty sure still had fur on it. EWWWWWW.

3. people will try to sell you drugs on the street. must stay away from sketchy people.

4. they hate it when you speak spanish to them. its not their language and they don't like when people mistake them for being just like Spain ... sorry portugal, it happens. but yeah everyone speaks English, and everyone is so nice! Nicest cab drivers I’ve ever met.

5. Lisbon is super cheap I didn’t spend more than 10 euros in one night

6. it’s a city full of hippies! There was one bar that was playing portuguese reggae music and everyone just dances around and hangs out together … maybe that’s just the european style, but it was great

7. hold on tight when riding the trolley around the city, it felt more like a roller coaster ride than anything else. I think I actually hurt myself knocking into things.

8. jesus is always watching you! Literally, there’s a huge statue of him at top of a hill across the river, so you can see it wherever you go, its freaky I don’t like it.

So yeah Lisbon was pretty awesome. It’s going to be hard for my next trip to top that. But Sevilla is next I can’t wait to see all my best friends! But first I have to go to class all this week, which is okay because I actually love my classes and my teachers here! This is finally becoming the unforgettable experience I was hoping for.

Sitting by the fountain in Belem (a neighborhood in Lisbon)

These little trolleys run all around the city! We were waiting for this one leave

Cute scene of the streets of Lisbon

View from the St. George's Castle!

Me standing in the back of the trolley

Kayla, Yasmin, and me in the highest tower of St. George's castle

Sipping my cute coffee, awaiting my gross Portuguese soup