Fin de semana en Lisboa, Portugal / Weekend in Lisbon, Portugal

I’m a day late with posting it on here (OK technically it’s the 6th now but it was the 5th when I started writing this) but HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

I spent this past weekend in Lisboa, Portugal, with ISA. We stayed in a 5-star hotel (sooooooooo nice) that unfortunately was not super close to the city center…but Lisboa has a great metro system so we used that a lot.

On Friday morning we left from Lisboa around 8:30 AM. I dozed on and off for the first couple hours, until we made our only stop – at a rest stop in Portugal. Suddenly everything was in Portuguese, which looks like scrambled, incorrect Spanish to me. It sounds even weirder (the pronunciation of Spanish and Portuguese is very different). It was a nice drive though; looked just like southern Spain.

When we finally got to Lisboa (I think it was about 5 hours worth of actual driving) I got really excited. When I went to Lisboa for the day with my mom 3 years ago, we saw the 25 de abril bridge and I immediately thought of the Golden Gate. Looking back through my photos from that trip, most of them were of the bridge. When we got to Lisboa the first thing we did was drive over that bridge! It was like Lisboa saying “Welcome Emily. I look like San Francisco, that city you love and miss so much.”

After we got to the hotel (where Lori and I roomed together – it was a good mutual switching of roommates for the weekend) we walked around the streets a bit and found a street market. Sarah F. haggled and bought a new bag. Then we went back to the hotel to meet with ISA for the first tour.

The ISA buses dropped us off in the city center (close to the water) and we walked up to the São Jorge Castle. The view of Lisboa was incredible from up there. I also fell in love with the castle a little bit (I don’t know what it is about this trip but I keep falling in love with palaces, castles, floors, and ceilings…). It was just so cool! I didn’t want to come down after climbing up and walking all the way around.

Then ISA took us on a walking tour through the Alfama, a famous neighborhood in Lisboa. I got some really interesting pictures from that. After that we could choose to go back to the hotel with ISA or stay in the city center (of course we chose to stay). Sarah F. and Lori apparently visit every Hard Rock Café they come across, and I couldn’t remember ever having been to one…so the three of us plus Meseret, Lauren, and Ryan went and had some great American food! A little pricey but a great experience. After dinner we wandered around Lisboa for a little bit, walking up into some random neighborhoods. We checked out the building where the Titanic exhibition is, but found it to be much too expensive to go in. Eventually we got metro cards and took the metro back to the hotel, where we all chilled in Sarah F.’s room. It was SO nice to just hang out with people…I really miss being able to do that. WHY does Spanish custom not allow people to come over???

On Saturday we got up and had breakfast at 9 in the hotel (it was a big buffet, but very crowded). Then we herded onto the buses at 10 for more touring. We started out at the big cathedral by the water. It’s also a monastery. It was absolutely gorgeous. Meseret nearly got attacked by a gypsy when we were waiting to go into the courtyard…Meseret took her picture without her permission. It was a little scary! But makes for a great story.

After the cathedral we went to the Torre de Belem, which is a tower on one side of the river/ocean (where the Tajo River meets the Atlantic Ocean) that was used for defense. It’s stunning to see, white and shiny right in the water. Climbing to the top was a bit of a challenge (only one narrow windy staircase and people moving both directions) but totally worth it.

After that we had a stop at this memorial for all the Portuguese who have died at sea. There’s a big monument, and on the ground they have the whole world mapped out and the dates when Portugal controlled parts of it. According to them they “discovered” most of the world. The floor was cool. I’m honestly not sure how much of it was accurate, but it was cool to see.

Our last stop was at a park (I forget the name of) but it was really just a photo stop. You could see straight down to the ocean. Since Lisboa was largely rebuilt (the majority of the city was destroyed in a massive earthquake followed by a tsunami in 1755) the downtown area is build on a very precise grid. Then we got back on the bus and ISA took us to the city center again. Sarah F., Sarah B., Meseret, Lauren, Lori, and I ate lunch at a little café off the main square. Then we wandered and found this tower thing that was made by a guy who studied under Eiffel. It didn’t look very exciting to me…maybe the one situation so far where my awesome guidebook has failed?

We got on the metro and went out to the Oceanarium (second largest in Europe). I’m not sure what the difference between an aquarium and an oceanarium is but that was the English name they gave (maybe one is British?). It was a pretty cool place to go. Then we got on the metro again – and I think it was this metro ride where we have a funny story. Meseret and I were sitting down, and suddenly this guy who was standing beside our seats leans way over so his face is right in front of us. He was making really funny noises and acting weird…so Mes and I jumped up and moved seats really quickly. It was sooooooooooooo strange.

We got off at the “largest mall in Europe” (I just don’t know if it was actually true). We mostly chilled and relaxed at the food court for dinner. After wandering around the mall a bit, we called it a night and took the metro again back to the hotel. We showered and hung out in each other’s rooms again (seriously, it sucks to have to pay to go somewhere every time you want to see your friends – I really miss chilling like this). Sunday morning we had another lovely breakfast (in a bigger area this time so thankfully less crowded). We got on the bus (which was a fun ride, involving Gilmore Girls and MASH) and headed home to Spain. It feels weird to say “home to Spain”…but it also feels good. It did feel like we were returning to a familiar place. I know I was especially comforted to see Spanish everywhere again (I’ve decided I don’t much care for Portuguese – both the sound and the writing are just weird to me). Lisboa was a lot of fun – and it REALLY reminded me of San Francisco (trollies, hills, that bridge) – but it is nice being back in Sevilla. That said, I finally got Barcelona booked today, so even more traveling to be excited about!!! Besos, amigos. ¡Adiós!