Photo by Dr. Haus
Lisbon - First Impression
First impression? I LOVE Portugal! The focus of this trip was to fulfill my goal of visiting Spain and I did not imagine how much I would LOVE Portugal. A huge thanks to my two friends who made me aware that you can easily book a 3-day layover - that was such amazing advice that I will forever be thankful for and forever use in my future travels.
Photo by Dr. Haus
I arrived in Lisbon on a rainy afternoon/evening. I am VERY lucky that this is the main rainy weather I had on this trip so far - the other rainy days happened at night when I was on the farm so they didn't affect me much. I had a little trouble finding my hostel as I didn't realize the hostel was in the train station (the signage wasn't good either but I figured it out relatively quickly). The train station connects Lisbon to Sintra which is a day-trip I couldn't fit into my short Lisbon stay but I do plan on going in the future!
Photo by Dr. Haus
I was extremely tired by the time I arrived in Lisbon and I quickly got a seafood dinner (I LOVE seafood and European seafood is perfection) and tried the famous Portugal "green" wine (vihno verde). It was a good wine though I do still prefer a red wine (I did read there are red "green" wines but I didn't find any during my stay). Before sitting down for dinner I got a pastel de nata at a bakery close to the restaurant because I can't miss the chance for a famous sweet treat! After dinner I got back to the hostel and got to bed to prepare for the full day I would spent in Lisbon.
Photo by Dr. Haus
Of course my first stop in the morning was a famous yarn shop in Lisbon that sells yarn from Portuguese sheep. Naturally I found an orange yarn and decided to get 4 skeins as it seemed like I could make something from four skeins and I thought I could fit it in my backpack with relative ease. I would have loved to get 6 skeins but I didn't want to deal with having luggage issues upon returning home. I am hoping it is enough yarn to knit myself a tank top - fingers crossed (and yes, I will grow up and gauge before I start knitting this project).
Photo by Dr. Haus
Oh, I almost forgot to mention, the Lisbon public transport system gets a HUGE A+ from me! The subway easily got me from the airport to my hostel and the refillable city transit card can be used on buses, trains, trams, buses, etc. all within Lisbon. This is a great feature that makes it very easy to travel around the city and to the surrounding cities. I will be walking everywhere as I want to see the city but the ease of this system is great (and the subway cars are nice)!
Photo by Dr. Haus
Lisbon is quickly becoming one of my favorite cities. The people, the city itself, the food, and the ocean makes this such a wonderful city to visit. I find that speaking in Spanish is working well for communication in Portugal - I am shocked how much Portuguese I understand and how my Spanish skills are enough to communicate with most people. In lots of cases, people are switching to English when talking with me but the knowledge of Spanish is extremely helpful.
Photo by Dr. Haus
The best part of this day was when I was walking towards a park that had a view above the city of Lisbon. While I was walking up to the park I felt something fall on my head and heard some birds chirping above me. I was like, no way, a bird pooped on my head! This was in fact the case when I put my hand on my head to find it full of bird poop. This is my second bird poop incident after the incident in the Plaza de España in Seville. I started laughing so hard - it is about time I got pooped on by a bird on the head - honestly, how has it taken this long? I have of course been pooped on by birds before (hazard of being a vet) but never the head and never a wild bird. I was debating that day about how I should wash my hair one more time before I come back to the states but I didn't really want to. Well, that bird made the decision for me. Thanks for the laugh bird and I am sure the people sitting around me on the flight home will appreciate my clean hair.
Photo by Dr. Haus
The bird poop incident didn't stop me! I got to the top of the looking point, had dinner, and then headed back to the hostel where I then took care of the bird poop hair. Talk about an perfecty funny moment that still makes me smile!
Photo by Dr. Haus
Photo by Dr. Haus
Photo by Dr. Haus
Cascais - Day 2
For my last day in Lisbon (and Europe 😭😭😭😭) I decided to visit the coastal city about a one hour train ride from Lisbon called Cascais. This was a strategic decision on my part because I have always wanted to look at the Atlantic Ocean from the opposite direction. I am always looking at the Atlantic from West to East and wanted to finally look at it from East to West. Cascais was the perfect solution as it has a train from Lisbon and the train uses the same pass that I was raving about earlier making it an extremely easy trip.
Photo by Dr. Haus
Cascais is definitely a coastal city that sees a lot of tourists. The town itself was extremely cute and had great views of the ocean, lots of boats, lots of seafood, and a place called Boca do Inferno (Hell's Mouth). My main goals were to see the Atlantic looking East, put my feet in the Atlantic Ocean, and see Boca do Inferno. I was able to achieve all these goals during the trip while also finding a hole in the wall lunch place where I was able to find a menu of the day for 13 euros (wine, carrot soup, codfish and potato, salad, chocolate mousse, and an espresso). Yes, I did drink an espresso (it came with the meal, you think I am not getting my full money's worth?). As expected, did not enjoy the espresso and I am still firmly in the coffee is gross camp.
This was a perfect last day in Europe spending time at the beach, walking around the beach town, and enjoying the gorgeous cliffs along the Atlantic Ocean. I don't want this trip to end and honestly the main thing making me go back are Nathan and Melvin (my cats). I have never left my boys so long and can't wait to give them so many squeezes and kisses tomorrow!
Photo by Dr. Haus
Photo by Dr. Haus
Photo by Dr. Haus
Photo by Dr. Haus
Photo by Dr. Haus
Photo by Dr. Haus
Photo by Dr. Haus
End of the Trip
And with that I am sitting in the Lisbon airport waiting for my flight back to the states 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 For my last day in Lisbon (and Europe) I had a large breakfast and then sat by the water until I took the subway up to the airport. I obviously got two last Fantas before I leave Europe (I drank one immediately and the other is for after I get back to the states). All good things must come to an end and we will see what (and where) the future holds! Now back to education content 😉
Photo by Dr. Haus
Photo by Dr. Haus
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