We're back...and we had the most wonderful time!

Ok, so Thursday night at 11 pm we all met up at the cross to head out to a bar for drinks before we caught the train at 1:53 am. Unfortunately, all the students here are in their final exams, so all of the bars were closed. Instead we went to the small bar and grill attached to the train station. Most people ordered a beer, in hopes that it would help them sleep. We found that arriving almost three hours early was slightly unnecessary and found ourselves bored for the majority of the time. Finally the train arrived and we all piled onto the dark cars. I just found two empty seats, got situated and passed out. I woke up a few times because I was slightly uncomfortable because the middle arm rest wasn't able to be raised. But the ride went rather quickly.

We woke up around 8 am and found that we were approaching Lisbon. It was light out so we were able to creep out the window and my first view was of the ocean. ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS. We got off the train and made a quick stop in the lobby to figure out the day, knowing that we weren't able to check into the hostel until, at the earliest, noon. We found a quaint little café a block away from the train station and grabbed a quick breakfast pastery before we made our way over to "our" part of town.

Walking down the street, gorgeous buildings lined the right and the ocean lined the left. It was about a twenty minute walk to the hostel and fortuantely they let us check in around 9:30 am. The rooms were really cool and had 3 bunks and a sink. It was a very modern and clean hostel, so I was happy :) We all wanted to take a quick nap, since we hadn't slept in a bed the night before.

At 1030, we went downstairs to attend a walking tour. Most hostels in Europe offer free walking tours and they are such a great way to orient yourself with the city and learn a lot of history. There were many statues of famous figures in Portugal's history and the buildings looked like the stereotypical European apartments...naturally I fell in love. Alix, Alice, and I found an apartment that we wouldn't mind purchasing as a summer home. They explained to us that a majority of the city (the portion we were in) burned down during an earthquake in the 1980's. It was a holy day and all the candles in the church were lit and when the earthquake hit, the candles tipped over and everything started on fire. It took days to kill the fire and when they did, most of the city was ruined. They have rebuilt it since (obviously) but they did leave some remains, which were very cool to see.

After the walking tour, we found the cheapest market and purchased a meal for lunch for under two American dollars. We then went to the hostel and grabbed a quick bite to eat before we found an H&M.

H&M will be the death of me. Cute clothes. Great shoes. SUPER CHEAP. We managed to make our way to the store two more times before the trip was over. We also hung out by the ocean and met some Italians. They were pretty fun and were trying to teach Alix and Alice some italian words. The other girls and I went back to the hostel to shower up and get ready for dinner and the pub crawl. This was the first time I could take a shower for more than 3 minutes and it was scalding hot.

For dinner, they had a three course meal of soup, that was gross; a chicken plate that was very delicious; and "apple pie" for dessert, which wasn't really American apple pie. After dinner, which finished around 1030, we sat around the lobby/dining room and waited for our free shot at 1130. At 1230ish, we left for the pubs, and they were not what I was expecting them to be. They are like holes in the wall and you get a drink and causually drink it in the streets. There was a lot of smoking (not just at the bars, but all over Lisboa) so that was slightly harsh on my asthmatic self. The third bar was a dance club, so that was a little more enjoyable. They play a whole lot of techno/pop/electric music here which I don't mind at all. Around 2 am, we left the bars to call it a night.

Saturday morning rolled around and we woke up to go to the flea market. Fortunately, the hostel had a free breakfast and we enjoyed it to the fullest. Although it wasn't too difficult to find, it was a small trek from the hostel. It was situated next to a church up in the hills and overlooked the ocean, gorgeous. The saying, "one man's trash is another man's treasure," couldn't have been more fitting for this situation. The things that were at the flea market ranged from telephones to scarves, to comic books, to shoes. I really enjoyed seeing everything Portugal's flea market had to offer. I did find a few scarves that we very cheap :)

After the flea market, we went back to the market to grab something to eat. Once we finished lunch, half of our group was going to a small city on the outskirts of Lisboa, and the rest of us went up to a castle near the flea market. Although there wasn't much of the castle left, we found much entertainment and beauty from it. They have free roaming peacocks. Watching the peacocks was probably one of the funnest parts of the castle. After the castle, we went back to the hostel to get ready for Christina's birthday dinner.

We were planning to go to a restaurant recommended to us by the hostel, but upon arriving, found it had closed down. A recruiter for a restaurant found the 15 of us and brought us to a little hole in the wall. They had entertainment, in the form of a family singing, in this restaurant. Alice and I split a chicken platter, which was a decent amount of food for 5€ each. After dinner, which took about 2/2.5 hours, we left for the hostel. Alice and Molly decided they wanted to do the pubcrawl the second night as well. I called it a night and hit the hay early.

On Sunday, we got up, packed our belongings, and went to a city called Belém. This city is about a 20 minute train ride from Lisbon. While we were on the train, we were stopped by the police. They boarded the train and started saying things in Portugeuse. I immediately started to think it was a bomb threat. I grabbed my pursed, hugged it tightly, and prayed to God it would be over soon. Fortunately the women next to me spoke A FEW WORDS of English and was able to tell me that someone's wallet was missing and they wanted to know his whereabouts. After that epidose, we continued to Belém, and started our day out at Jerónimos Monastery. It was absolutely gorgeous, naturally. After that, we went over to the ocean and found Padrao Dos Descobrimentos. It was situated next to the ocean and a cool bridge and small Rio De Janiero statue (those seem to be popular in Europe). It is a large tower-like structure with 33 statues of important figures of Portugal's history. We then headed east to the Belém Tower. Of course we wanted to go to the roof and that required us to climb the world's smallest staircase...and of course, claustrophobia kicked in. After all the climbing, we decided to grab a delicious pastry, and boy were they good. Natas are the infamous pastry in Portugal and Belém definitely had the best.

After our long morning/afternoon in Belém we grabbed our last meal and the market, went back to the hostel, and waited to leave for the train station. Our train left at 1030 pm, and we arrived in Cáceres safely at 5 am :)