Hola! This past weekend was quite the adventure! My college (the Spanish-American Institute of International Education) had an optional weekend trip to Lisbon, Portugal. I knew nothing about Portugal but the trip price seemed fair and there were 13 other students going so I figured why not go? Even though Portugal was not on my travel bucket list I realized that it would be interesting because it was not in my interests (that sounds confusing but that was my actual thought process). I mean, isn't the whole point of studying abroad to see new places that you otherwise would not have went to? Plus the whole trip was planned out for us, so I had to do minimal planning. We had a small private bus, rooms in a four-star hotel with a breakfast buffet included, and a daily itinerary to go see the historical sights. Myself and the other students also had designated free time each night to go experience what we wanted to on our own.
To get to Lisbon from Sevilla is not a far journey--only about a 4.5 hour drive. We had a bus to ourselves that was really comfortable (for bus standards) and I downloaded some Gilmore Girls episodes to pass the time. I ended up not watching it that much because I had great conversations with other students from the program that I do not get to see too often. This was helpful to me because if I look at a screen or out the window in a bus I tend to get really queasy. However, Kelley was not as lucky as me. I felt really bad for her because she got motion sick on top of having a bad cold. When we stopped for bathrooms and snacks, I offered her my coat as a pillow so she could lie on the floor.
Not gonna lie, this picture cracks me up. When the other travelers noticed they thought she was passed out or something but I was just casually snacking on a kit-kat nearby. I assured them that she was alright, and we got back on the bus soon after.
As we entered Lisbon, I was stunned. We drove over a bridge that looked like the Golden Gate Bridge and there was a replica of the Christ statue in Rio, Brazil. It was confusing (I learned the reasons behind both later on) but beautiful and there were brilliantly colored houses lining the water.
We checked into the hotel and ate the lunches that our host families packed for us to bring. A private tour guide met us there and hopped on the bus with us to direct us around Lisbon. She taught us about the bridge and some other sites, and mentioned some great food/shopping areas. We got out along the way to visit monuments and a church/monastery.
After the tour, myself and the other travelers had free time. It was Valentine's Day so I took the chance to FaceTime my parents (while they were out to eat) and I settled into the room. Soon after, some girls and I decided to go out for Italian because we were having some mad carb cravings. We navigated our way around Portugal in the dark to the restaurant. Around that time it really hit me that I was in a different country. I spoke a mix of Spanish and English to the poor waiter that spoke Portuguese, but he got my pizza order right. Taylor and I treated ourselves to a piece of tiramisu that we shared, while some of the others had wine. My contacts were really starting to bother me so I took them out and threw them away but I still had to make it back to the hotel. Thankfully my friends were my sight for me because I could not see anything. Looking back, that wasn't very smart to do because I could have easily broken off from the group and gotten lost while having very minimal eyesight. Once we got to the hotel, our plans to have a game night were pushed off to the next day because we were exhausted and went to bed.
The morning after I woke up feeling great. Kelley and I had hatched the incredible plan to bring sandwich bags to the breakfast buffet so we could smuggle some pastries out. Sadly, I did not have a plastic bag to use so I took the shower cap from the bathroom for my croissants. We took turns being the lookout and the smuggler. The lookout would watch the waiters pacing the room (after all, this was a classy hotel) and would tell the smuggler when they were clear to go. We only had windows of a few seconds, so we moved quick and snatched the pastries off the plates and put them in the plastic inside my drawstring bag. Although we thought our plan was foolproof, I think they started to catch on because our plates were clearing so fast. One of them came up to me and asked "is there only two of you sitting here?" and when I told him yes he looked at me with disbelief. He left us alone but Kelley and I had finessed enough that we didn't try to take any more.
I hopped on the bus happily with my pastries a little bit later. The driver took us about 30 minutes away up a steep, curvy road. He got us safely to our destination despite the amount of fear we all had. We spent about an hour exploring the Palacio de Pena which was colorful and reminded me a bit of the mansion in Meet the Robinsons. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside, but each room had luxurious furniture and antique decorations.
*Check out the slideshow below!*
After that, I toured a different palace and the property that it was on. The place was called Quinta da Regaleira and it was way too hard for the bus to get us there. So, we parked nearby and then proceeded to hike 2 km over. On our way, I noticed that the hike was mostly downhill, which made me nervous because the whole way returning would be uphill.
I favored this palace over the other one because it looked like Narnia. The grounds were so fresh and peaceful and everything was covered in floral vines or moss. It was really refreshing to leave the city of Sevilla for the Portuguese countryside. Kelley, Taylor and I wandered around the palace and other buildings when we stumbled upon a doorway that led to the underground. We ended up going inside, which was pitch black, and we were in some sort of cave. With our phone flashlights on, we followed a path deeper into the ground. It was really spooky because it was dark and wet and a small space, but there were people behind us so we couldn't turn back. All of a sudden Kelley screamed because she moved her flashlight and the movement cast a shadow so she thought she saw a cat. Her scream freaked me out so I let out a scream that would be perfect in a horror movie and I took off. A moment later I was blinded as I frantically ran out of the ground into the sunlight. Kelley and Taylor came out laughing because the whole thing was so silly, and I joined in.
*Check out another slideshow below!*
The hike back to the bus was really tiring. At that point, all of the travelers and myself were starving and sweating and thirsty. We got on the bus and rode over to a city that is on the Atlantic Ocean. A group of friends and I grabbed lunch and then spent the last of our free time on the beach. Big mistake.
I don't know about you, but I love water. Whether it be a lake, river, or ocean, I'm there. Me and my friends carefully set our cameras, sunglasses, phones, bags, purses, socks, and shoes on dry sand, about 30-40 feet away from where the waves were breaking. We rolled up our pants and walked in the water. Kelley and I were entertaining ourselves in the sand while Taylor was taking a picture for some of our friends when chaos struck. All of a sudden, a huge, powerful wave came. I wish I could have been one of the people watching us on the beach for this next part. We all panicked and sprinted for our stuff. I saw my blue bag with blurry vision and snatched it up along with my shoes, but I dropped one. Less than a second after I picked it up, the wave hit and soaked Kelley and Taylor's shoes and purses (that had their passports and money inside). I looked down and saw my phone swirling around underwater as the wave started to pull it away. Taylor somehow managed to grab it, along with my video camera and a few pairs of sunglasses, before it was sucked out to sea. We moved a few feet farther up the sand and frantically went through all of our things to make sure they were all there. I shut my phone off immediately and ripped off the case (which is now broken) because it was full of water. Thankfully, all of my friends' devices and passports were safe. We then walked to the bus, barefoot and wet, for the 30 minute ride back to the hotel. Surprisingly enough, we started laughing about what happened right away because it was quite the scene.
After the ocean fiasco, we went back to the hotel. Luckily for me, there was a small supermarket down the street where I bought a bag of rice for less than one euro. Once I was back in the room, I put my phone in the rice and Kelley let me borrow hers so I could tell my family what happened.
Less than an hour later, five friends and I hopped into two taxis and headed across the city to get dinner. We learned about a popular food place called Timeout Market during our tour the day before. Basically, this place is a giant warehouse with long cafeteria-style tables in the middle and food booths from around the world lining the walls. We decided that the best way to try a lot of food was that we each would buy a different dish and then we would share them all. It was hard to get seating so when we saw a group leaving we swooped in. To save our seats we went in shifts to get food. For dinner I ended up having sushi, a traditional Portuguese cookie cake, pad Thai, cod, cheesecake, pork stomach, and a Portuguese custard. This was one of the best meals I have ever eaten. The food was amazing and it was so fun to pass time with my friends.
That night we went back to the hotel and played some card games. I ended up going to bed around 2AM (which is the latest night I have had yet while studying abroad). The next morning I slept in until about 9AM and then packed up my things and showered. My friends and I went down to breakfast and I demolished a plate of fruit and pastries. Before check-out I went back to the room to grab my stuff and try to power on my phone. I really doubted that it was going to work because it was cracked, completely submerged in salt water, and it only sat in rice overnight. But it turned on just fine and the SIM card still worked!
We left the hotel around 11AM and headed back to Sevilla. I was feeling pretty sick because I had eaten so much bread so when we stopped for lunch I got a huge salad. It only made me feel halfway better, but I was able to sleep for the rest of the ride.
All in all, I ended up learning so much about Portugal! Perhaps the most important lesson I learned was to never trust the ocean.This was a fantastic opportunity to risk the unknown, and I regret nothing (besides the amount of bread I ate). I would highly suggest visiting Portugal; it is underrated and is so lush and beautiful!
Thanks for reading! For more info on my travels, follow my Instagram @micaela_meetsworld