We got into Lisbon in the late afternoon and went directly to the Oceanarium, which is supposed to be world famous. It was in a cool modern area of the city and the marine life was awesome, but nothing you can’t find at good old Monterey Bay Aquarium. We then checked into our hostel. Lisbon has some of the greatest hostels I’ve ever seen. For 11 euros a night we basically stayed in a mansion, with a huge back yard, guest kitchen, bathrooms, bar, etc. The staff was so nice as well. Hostels are the greatest invention in the world. I want to be young forever so that I can stay in them all over the world.
By our hostel’s recommendation we took the subway to a neighborhood called “Barrio Alto,” supposedly the great nightlife area. Lisbon is very hilly, and this neighborhood must be one of the highest spots since there were five long escalators just to get out of the subway station. The metro opened up into a huge plaza filled with regal-looking buildings, and even though it was dark I knew Lisbon was going to be a beautiful city. We found a delicious restaurant that had tapas-sized portions, and then decided to go to a second restaurant for a bit more to eat. We were just going to order soup at the second place, and then the waiter came around with bread, ham and cheese. My first thought was, Portugal is even better than Granada!! Free meat and cheese with every meal?? This shows how accustomed I’ve become to free tapas, because it hit us after that it was too good to be true. Any country, especially Portugal (which is closely tailing Greece with it’s failing economy), would be crazy to serve two of the most expensive food products to every restaurant patron. This was definitely affirmed when we received our bill, and we were not so in love with Portugal for those next few minutes.
We took a little walk on some random streets after that, and passed an amazing-looking house that looked like it was having a party. All three of us decided we would like to live in that house if we ever moved to Portugal. Then I took a closer look and realized it was our hostel for the next night, the Oasis Backpackers Mansion! Not wanting to miss out on any fun, we crashed the Oasis that night. We just walked right on by reception acting like we had already checked in, and then out to the back patio where everyone was socializing. We ended up hanging out with a Spanish guy from the hostel that night, but had to go back to our real hostel before the metro closed at 1 am. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, since our real hostel was having a party of its own! We ended up hanging out with some Portuguese guys into the wee hours of the night. They were so friendly and funny and it was well worth the 3 hours of sleep I got that night.
The next day, before really seeing any of Lisbon in the daytime, we took a day trip to Sintra, a “fairy-tale town” about 40 minutes away. It took over an hour to buy our tickets, as the station was a madhouse. Once we arrived in Sintra, we were greeted by the same crowds. It’s a very popular tourist destination because Sintra is where the royals used to go on vacation, so there are several amazing castles. It really did remind me of a town right out of a story-book, or Dulock in Shrek. To reach the most famous palace, we would have to walk over an hour up a steep hill, or take a bus. However, the bus didn’t stop for us because there was too huge a crowd at the station, so we set out on the trek. Sort of frustrated from the massive crowds, first at the train station and now here—and already hot and sweaty from the first 15 minutes of uphill—we made a group decision: hitchhike. My first time hitchhiking might as well be in a storybook fairytale town—better that than Compton, right?? After sticking out our thumb for about ten minutes, someone finally stopped—and of course they were from California! Us Californians have to stick together. The ride was a huge relief, and the people were so nice that I’m afraid I got a little too comfortable with hitchhiking.
The first place we went, Palacio da Pena, is perched on the highest peak of the highest hill. It was built in the 1800s for the Royal Family. These pictures do it better justice than I do. But seriously, was this castle the inspiration for every fantasy ever written?? And why wasn’t Shrek just filmed here instead of animated??
We then went to the Moorish Castle. Absolutely amazing. It was like a mini Great Wall of China (the guidebook’s words, not mine) and an Irish castle combined. The views from the wall were incredible. No wonder it seemed like every tourist in Europe was in this town.
Sintra was absolutely worth the crowds. Although we encountered the same droves of people trying to get down from the mountain, so of course we stuck out our thumbs yet again. Hitchhiking is scarily addicting…No one was taking the bait, however, and we were almost resigned to squeezing in with the throngs of people for the next overpriced bus. But then some nice Portuguese man in nothing more than a BMW SUV picked us up. So instead of being packed like cattle in a hot and stuffy bus for the next 40 minutes, we rode in a luxury vehicle. Seriously, can someone remind me again of the downsides of hitchhiking??
Once back in Lisbon after what felt like way too long of a day, we checked into our new hostel, the Oasis, with which we were already very familiar thanks to the previous night. We planned on staying in two different hostels because this one was a much better location, but booked full the first night. We met some cool people and ate dinner at the hostel, and then went out to Barrio Alto again. I was way too tired for any real bar-hopping, so I turned in early.
At last, Monday was our day to really see Lisbon. So much of our time in the city felt like it was spent traveling—metro, trams, trains, walking between stops—but it was so worth it. Lisbon is quite literally San Francisco—hills, trolleys, water, old buildings, and even a bridge that looks (almost) exactly like the Golden Gate since it was designed by the same man! But of course it’s older and more regal-looking than S.F, and there are castles jutting out from the hills and 16th century church tops poking the sky. We went to a very nice neighborhood called Belém where Vasco de Gama set sail. Then we took a scenic trolley ride through the city and reached the old Moorish quarters. Why is it that the Moorish districts are always the greatest? The Albaicín in Granada is the most beautiful part of the city, and Alfama in Lisbon was unbeatable. In the heart of this district there were several viewpoints overlooking the whole city, and a Moorish castle perched on top.
Just had to throw this in--a barbershop sign in Lisbon!
We then crossed into another neighborhood to check out a very old church that was half destroyed in Lisbon’s 18th century earthquake. The half that remains is incredible. There is no roof, only arches. We were so tired that we almost didn’t enter this monument, but it turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip.
Since we were taking a midnight bus back to Porto that night, we didn’t book a hostel and so we were essentially homeless all of Monday. After hours of walking around we were extremely exhausted, so we ended up crashing the Oasis again, since we left our stuff there for the day. Before retrieving our luggage, we hung out in the common room, used the internet and the bathroom, and relaxed on the couches. Since it was Halloween, the hostel was throwing a little party. Little did they know that we were basically bums using them for free shelter, but they threw costumes in our faces and free drinks into our hands!! I’m telling you, Lisbon hostels are the greatest.
We then went to dinner (yes, their Halloween party started before dinner) at the same tapas-style restaurant we ate at the first night. The owner of the restaurant was there. He recognized us since the first night he helped give us directions and tell us some of the must-see sights. We told him about our travels and he was so incredibly nice. He then gave us some free hard apple cider and chatted with us longer. Eventually he asked us if he could join our table! We ended up eating dinner and talking to him for an hour and a half. He was such an interesting man, and told us all about his master plan to open up a unique hotel (I’m sworn to secrecy about the details), his desire to open up a classy and affordable restaurant (check!), politics, languages, and so much more. At the end he told us to keep in touch, which we definitely would if I wasn’t so dumb as to lose his email!
We then headed back to our first hostel, since the Portuguese guys we met the first night informed us of the Halloween party that was happening there. Halloween in Portugal is about 1,000 times calmer than Halloween in Santa Barbara, although as luck would have it, we were the only ones not dressed up at this very festive party. Luckily we kept the stick-on mustaches that the Oasis hostel gave us, so we looked a little less unspirited. It helped us get a free cup of punch, anyway. We only had an hour at this party until we had to catch the midnight bus, but it was a perfect end to the trip. The guys were so nice and we already felt like friends after only knowing them for a few days. We were almost tempted to “miss” our bus and flight so they would have to drive us back to Spain, and we could hang out with them on the car ride!!!
André dressed as Salvador Dali, which I definitely didn't guess. Sorry André!
I can’t really put into words how amazing Portugal was, which is definitely why this blog entry is so wordy! But the people, the food, the scenery, the royal splendor of a country that was at the peak of power centuries ago—all this combined into two absolutely breathtaking cities. (I will not mention the 18 hours of travel it took to get back to Granada. How does it take as long to travel from Portugal to Granada as it did to travel from San Francisco to Madrid??)
Obrigada, Portugal! I’ll be back!
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