We left on an overnight bus (escaped the volcano of doom!) Thursday night to make our way on a loooong drive. We were first headed to Lagos which is in the Southern coast of Portugal and definitly a farther trek. We were going with a travel agency which I wasn't too excited for mainly because I think their unorganized and very unefficient with time but I knew it'd be fun and my friend, Kelley aka Spring Break partner, wanted to go with them and I hadn't of visited Portugal yet so I signed on too. We luckily had sleeping medicine that we took and I was actually able to sleep a fair amount on the bus. I've become the master at sleeping on all sorts of transportation. We arrived into Lagos at about 845/9 in the morning on Friday and luckily were able to check into our hotel. Unfortunately everything takes forever because there was about 90 other people on the trip. But it was a beautiful hotel with a massive pool in the center of it and the room were super nice with a kitchen and all. By the time we got checked in it was time for siesta #1 del dia.
That afternoon we headed out on the amazing ocean to a boat cruise to look at these awesome caverns lining the coast. We headed out at about 1pm in the afternoon and it was right as the sun was starting to shine beautifully! Along with Kelley was 2 other girls I knew who go to my school here in Madrid and are also Kelleys roommates. Since I'm always over at her piso I know them pretty well too. We were all having a blast together on the boat with as much sangria (yum) as we wanted. They also were taking out smaller groups on a smaller boat to get a much closer view of the caverns and see how the waves have changed and developed these amazing rocks. Nature is powerful force let me tell ya the things it does is amazing. Along the way we saw fellow boaters and shouted our hellos from afar. The water was as blue as the sky and amazingly clear. Since I'm always cold and didn't have a towel I didn't take the plunge in but I was fine soaking up the sun on deck.
After a day out at sea we were a few shades tanner and exhausted from all the fun! We walked around the little town of Lagos filled with cobblestone streets and gorgeous white buildings for a while before heading back to lay out some more in front of the pool. But we were falling asleep and headed back to the room to siesta yet again and get ready for the noche. After our power nap we were ready to go. We were all headed out to a dinner with what was hopefully going to be typical Portuguese food, well for my friends hopefully, I've given up ever having anything to eat of local cuisine wherever we go. But the place was mainly fishes and meats, shocker, but they did have a vegetable soup that I had that wasn't bad. Portugal's native drink is Vino Verde(green) but it isn't as green looking as I'd hope. It looks more like white wine just a little darker but it tasted delicious- kind of with a sparkley kick to it. After dinner our group had deals with a local bar in town that also hosted our boat earlier in the day so the whole group headed over there for a fun night of dancing.
The next morning we arose quite early for an other bus ride up to Lisboa(Lisbon) which is the capital of Portugal. This city is amazing! It's full of old history, cool buildings and everywhere you look is something different. We started off with a tour straight up the hill to see the grounds where the castle is located and has an amazing view overlooking all of the city. We walked around some of the streets up there which were narrow and windy and adorable, as are most in Europe. From here we headed back down to the city center and caught a tram over down by the coast where we were able to see a bridge that looks just like the Bay Bridge in San Fran and these famous towers. One of them was built way back in the 1500s and had awesome designs full of Gothic inspiration. It reminded me of something Repunzetls tower would look like. I like those princess stories. There was also one with a symbol of their freedom and independence which was awesome. Sadly we didn't make it in time to go up because they close at 5 which is so weird because it literally doesnt get dark until about 945- no joke. But alas what could you do. After that we had some free time so we stopped for some food and mas vino verde.
After our day tour we headed to our hotel to rest up and get ready to go out to dinner with everyone. We didn't end up leaving till pretty late even by my newly adapted Spanish times but we headed into a part of town full of restuarants and places to eat and enjoyed sometime with new people we'd met on the trip as well. The rest of the night was spent walking along the cute little streets and all the Portuguese bars with our group.
The next morning was safly our time to head back. It was definitly a quick trip but we were able to see a lot and I had a good time with my friends and world traveling partners. It was a long allll day bus ride back to Madrid but luckily I came home to AMAZING weather, I'm talking 80 degrees here so this week has been heavenly! It was a great end to world conquest enjoying my favorite, the beach :)
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