Ola from Portugal...

So to get to Lisbon we had to catch an overnight train to get there... An overnight train is an experience in itself... You never know what type of experience you are going to have on the sleepers as it all depends on your bunk mates... I've had some of the best sleeps on sleepers and some of the worst... this one unfortunately was one of the worst... I always get a bed as sitting in a reclining chair for 8-12 hours overnight is my idea of torture... besides its usually only 20-30€ for a bed with the Eurail pass which is similar to hostels so why wouldn't you... that's my theory... when I run out of money maybe I will think differently haha.

Anyway Sarah and I had a Japanese girl and another Aussie... Rachael in our cabin... Rachael was sick with food poisoning and I was sick with the flu... so it was bound to be a great night... sense the sarcasm?? Anyway we got all our stuff sorted and Sarah and I were top bunk... there were these restraint things on the bed which Sarah and I were unsure of there use... we were wondering if we had to strap ourselves in as there was one where your stomach would be and one where your feet would be... we then came to the conclusion they were just to keep the bed neat and tidy whilst no one was using as they were super tight and after 2 and a half months in Europe my ass would not fit in it as would Sarah's... Rachael's Boyfriend Michael stopped by to check on her and asked us the same question about the restraints... haha we are stupid Aussies...

Anyway I had my cough medicine... which may I add it doesn't matter what age you are you still pour it in the cup... stare at it... winged about the taste even though you haven't had it yet... then sook a little more about how medicine has advanced so much over the years but they still can't make a cough medicine that works and actually taste good and then when you realise you have been defeated and that you have no choice but to suck it up and drink it you do it with a grumpy and sour look on your face, then of course you have a chaser usually coke or water and then finish with a screwed up face and the word "yuk".. a process that should take a total of one minute... or even 30 seconds I seem to drag out to a good 10 minutes which builds the anticipation and it always is worse in my head then it actually is...anyway as you can see I have never grown out of the cough medicine phase.. after I finished my ordeal I hop into bed and hop that for once I can get a decent sleep instead of the 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there that I have been having... no luck as soon as I lay down the coughing fits start... this continues until I think my body just collapsed out of exhaustion about 3am... another 4 hours sleep for me wicked!!

We hop off the train it's about 9am and we head to the hostel... check in isn't until 3pm but we figured we would drop our bags off and maybe force ourselves to explore Lisbon as we only have one night here... We get to our hostel "Yes Hostel Lisbon" do yourself a favour if you EVER go to Lisbon stay at this hostel... it was amazing... on arrival they put our bags into storage, gave us the Wi-Fi code and said to help ourselves to breakfast... Sarah and I looked at each other in shock... hostels rarely let you do that... the breakfast was amazing... freshly baked rolls still hot out of the oven, scrambled eggs, ham, cheese, bacon everything you need and it is all included in the price of your stay which for an 8 room dorm was like €20.. And the dorm rooms were awesome, they bunk beds are pods which are built to the wall in a row and the bottom one has a curtain so you're in a little pod, you have your own power point, lamp and shelf... the rooms have aircon, a sink and mirror and linin and towels are included... it was seriously that good. People reading this that have never stayed in a hostel and only stayed in hotels may not understand my excitement but trust me some hostels barely give you a mattress let alone an actual doona... Anyway we had breakfast and sat in the common room on the laptop working out what to do for the rest of the day and actually enjoying relaxing for a moment... in the common room there was a large double bed that we laid on... the next thing we know we here a "hello girls" it was Michael and Rachael from the sleeper train.. They were also staying at Plus Hostel... they put their bags away and then we told them about the breakfast which they also jumped on... we lazed around til about 11 and then decided its best time to get our tourist on so we headed out... Now Lisbon is a cool little city but strange as well, they have a huge Jesus statue similar to the one in Rio, Brazil (smaller though), they have a bridge that if you were knocked out put on a flight and came to when you were looking at the bridge you would think it was the Golden Gate in San Fran (it is also a bit smaller though) and then they have the old school trolley cars or trams as the kids call them days haha like san Fran again or Melbourne.. The city is very hilly like what san Fran is meant to be like and it is very ghetto in parts as well... we jumped on the tourist trolley cart that took you around the city and listened to the audio learning the history but to be honest I think all 4 of us nearly or did fall asleep... whoops.. There were some pretty views and cool buildings... after we did the city loop we wandered around and went and got some grub... on the way there were buskers with little chiwawa (don't know how to spell them but you know the dog I'm talking about) the dog was holding a little plastic bucket for the tips whilst the busker played his music.. We all of course were sucked in... We had some food at this little cafe... the guys had baguettes and we all had a custard Portuguese tart... yum... they are like the one they sell at nandos but a million times better because we were in Portugal... Also there are no nandos here... and no peri peri chicken... not in Lisbon anyway... ripped off!

After Lunch we went back to the hostel and had a sleep... finally I was able to get a bit of shut eye. We then went down for dinner... this is another reason why this hostel is the best I've stayed in... we paid €8 and for that we got- dip and bread, creamy pumpkin spiced soup, main dish of Marinated Pork Chop with rice and salad, desert of vanilla mousse and 3 beers or sangria... all for €8 which is less the $10... It was the best meal and had the food groups Sarah and I had been lacking... just what the doctor ordered...

After dinner which was around 11pm we called it a night as I was feeling worse than ever and sez was tired too...

In the morning we got up and went and had the awesome breakfast and got ready... we had a 1:20pm train to Lagos which is on the southern coast of Portugal kind of opposite Morocco but to the west a little.. We get ready and then head back to the room to pack the bags up and head to the station... now I forgot to mention at about 5am 2 people came in... Frenchy's I think and they had just arrived I think as they were so loud, putting their bags in the lockers talking loudly this lasted about half an hour... but hey that's life in a hostel you just suck it up and hope they shut up.. So at 11am we went back and packed up our bags... we had a quick glance and seen all of the beds were empty, well so we thought, so we were packing everything up, talking normally... after about 10 minutes we start getting abused in French.. Now I was a tad grumpy this morning from another night of barely any sleep so at first we ignored them as they didn't actually show their face... then the guy pokes his head out and starts having a go at us in French... I laughed and was like speak English buddy... he then said... "How do you say... ahhhh shut up" to which I replied with" the polite way to say it is actually could you please be quiet" he then said something again in French and I put the metal bin lid down really hard and loudly... whoops.. Sarah and I continued to talk and when they said something again... I replied with ohhh sorry are we been loud like you were at 5am this morning... it is 11am... which is late and we will be gone soon.. You woke me up for half an hour this morning so deal with it... and continued to be loud... they huffed something under their breathe and we didn't hear another peep.. Once we were done as we were walking out Sarah said Au Revoir (goodbye) f***ers... rather amusing for us... We usually don't act like that but after waking everyone one else up at 5am and not caring about being quiet and then rudely asking us to be quiet instead of asking politely... we couldn't help ourselves... even with a language barrier they could have said the same things with a pleasant tone and our reaction would have been different... anyway we thought it was hilarious...

We headed to the train station where we got our train to Lagos...