Lisboa, Portugal

This weekend we went on our first trip of being abroad!!!! It was amazing, to say the least. I had not really heard much about Lisbon accept that it had beautiful beaches, but a girl in my photojournalism class who goes to school in sf and i really like, sent me a list of things to do there that her friend studying abroad had sent her, which was sooo helpful. Our flight was at 7;30 so we had to wake up at 5 and take the metro to the aerobus that leaves from placa catalunya and goes straight to the airport in 30 minutes which is so nice. Waiting for the metro we Katie and I see a group of guys who look american and that are coming home from their night out. They started talking to us and it turns out they were Aaron Krug´s best friends from Mich! He had told me about them and them about me and it was soooo funny. They seem really nice and I want to hang out with them sometime while here, probably when Aaron comes here at the end of feb. The Barcelona airport is absolutely stunning, its so cool we get to fly in and out of such a nice place. We met up with two guys we met from cea who live with the berkeley girls we have been haning out with. Mark goes to san diego state and Zach is from minnesota and goes to a school in washington. They are the nicest guys ever and it was so much fun having them on the trip. We had all heard the cabs in Lisbon are veryyyy cheap so when we got there the 4 of us decided to take a cab because splitting it 4 ways would be cheaper and easier than metro and bus when we didnt know where we were going. We got to the hostel and the meter said 11 something euro and the guy was saying something in poruguese about how we owe 25. He kept pointing to each of us saying 5 and it was very weird so we just gave him 25, but then realized we got majorly ripped off! The lady at our hostel said cabs from the airport are never more than 13 euros, and we all felt so ban. The hostel was sooo cool! It was like a house, it had a nice kitchen and dining area, a big living room area with a bar, and an outside bar area. We were meeting up with a group of berkeley girls who got their the night before-- Gaelin, Nicole, Taylor and her frined Julie from new Jersy, and Gaelin´s roommate Ani from SDS. I loved our group. Katie got put in with all the girls but I was with mark and zach and other random guys haha. But it was totally fine, the rooms were nice with pretty white french looking doors, and our room had a bathroom inside. We ate breakfast at the hostel with the whole group then started to site see. We walked from our hostel all around, lisbon is all cobble stone roads and sidewalks and the streets are really small and narrow. The building are gorgerous, with so many different colors. It was very different than barcelona or any other big city. They have little trolly things that run on tracks through the streets which is the cutest thing ever. We walked down to the water and there is a famous square and arch de triumpth looking thing. It started to rain a little, but it was not that bad or that cold. We were in the area called Baixa Chiado, which is the main square and shopping area. From there we walked to the Cathedral and to the famous castel of St. Jeorge. Along the way stoped at a viewspot that over looked the whole city and the Atlantic ocean. The castel was really cool, like a real medieval castel used to protect the city. There were canons and areas for the archers to stand. It also overlooked the whole city, which is mostly red roofed houses and the colorful buildings. The sun came out and it was beautiful out and the sky was a gorgeous blue. After the castel we ate lunch at a cute restaurant one of of the small side streets. I odered "tenderloin" which i thought was going to be steak, because they are known for good steak and good sea food-- but it turned out to be pretty much thin raw meat. Everyone else ordered pork which was the meat of the day. After that we walked back to the main shopping area and went to a famous coffee shop. I got a hot chocolate and we got the famous portugese pastry called Pastei de Nata or Pastrei de Belem. It was AMAZING! There were so many pastry and bread shops everywhere. Then the boys went back to the hostel and the girls went shopping around there. It was really fun and cute shops on the cute streets. We got bread and pastries from a shop and the bread was warm and so good. We had dinner at the hostel, which was clams and some meat, and i tried it but i just dont like seafood that much, but then there was a good dessert. The hostel was full of crazy australians and irish people, which was so fun and hilarious because at 6 oclock the hostel turned into a huge party and everyone was drinking. There was a guy Mitch, who we had met when we got there in the morning who had not gone to bed yet. He bought alcohol for the whole hostel and was making everyone drink. These irish people were supposed to have left that day but were too drunk and were not allowed on the flight. We met really nice people there, some Americans and then people from all over. Everyone was very friendly and liked meeting new people. We also met this group of girls from Barca who were sooo nice! We went out to main bar area called Barrio Alto, which is a street, up a hill, that is all small bars. Open containers are legal in Lisbon so everyone was out on the street drinking. We went into some bars and one had a live band and one played really good music. I was so tired and hungry so me Julie and Katie went home a little early and tried to find food but there wasnt any. I slept so well because we had such a long day. The next day we slept in a little, but then walked along the water to the town called Belem. It was an hour walk, but it was beautiful. They have a bridge there that was built by the same architects as the Golden Gate Bridge. And there is a statue of a lady with her arms open that supposedly faces the one that is in Brazil! The water was beautiful and it was a nice walk. We then arrived at the famous statue of discovery, because portugal is known for all the explorers. It faces the ocean and is a really interesting shape. We were then in Belem, which has a famous monistary. We went in and it was beautiful on the inside and out. After that we went to the famous pastry shop called Pastrei de Belem, with the famous pastry called that too, which was like the one we had the day before. We went to park and all ate our pastries and relaxed in the sun. Then we went to the famous Coach Museam which is a hall filled with carriages and coaches that were used in the 18th and 19th century to carry the wealthy people and royalty around. We also walked by the president of Portugals house, which was bright pink, and had guards in front. We walked further to another famous monument that wsa an old coast guard used to defend from pirates. It was beautiful.We went home and napped then went out to dinner at a place near our hostel. It was really cute and filled with all locals. Luckily most people spoke english, and it was perferred for us to speak english than to speak spanish. I ended up eating a macaroni dish with shrimp and white fish and it was sooo good! After we went back to the hostel and drank with everyone again and went to a couple bars but came back early again and hung out more. There are cool clubs there but we didnt go because they do not like americans and try to charge them a cover of 200 euros. The next day we woke up at 8am (deathhhh) to go on a tour given by our hostel that was of towns a little outside the city. Saw a cool beach town, and peple surfing, and then went to this famous palace. It was beautiful, and there were great views of the city. Our tour guide was the cutest little portugese guy who told us everything about the city and what we were seeing. We got us pastries in the morning, and I had a stomach ache all day from all the sugar. We had sanwhiches with ham and wine for lunch. then the berkeley girls left for the airport but Katie and I didnt leave untill later that night, so we napped, then walked arounf baixa again. I got a scarf that I love, and then we went to the museam of fashion and design! It was interesting, there were some cool gowns and also random furnature and photos. It was such a great weekend. There was even more to do, its impossible to see everything in 3 days, but we did a lot. I want to go back in the summer and go to the beaches.