Portugal

Upon arrival in Lisbon we made our way on the bus to our hostel. It took us a little while to get there for two reasons. First we got a little bit lost on the way and second all of Lisbon is covered in hills so needless to say it was a bit of a hike. Once we got to our hostel, The Oasis Backpackers Mansion, we dropped off our stuff and found a place to eat in a nearby mall. After that we went back to our rooms and went to bed. On our second day in Lisbon we found out there was a small town nearby called Sintra. So we took a forty-minute train ride and went to Sintra. This small town was absolutely amazing and covered in little shops and castles. We spent the first hour or so just looking around and trekking up to the main part of the town.

As I said before everything in this area is covered in hills! We decided to break for lunch and went to a little restaurant, which had some really good food. They even lit Cody and Claire’s sausage on fire in front of them. It was quite a show! After lunch we went and saw Castelo dos Mouros, Quinta da Regaleira, and Palacio National da Pena. These were a combination of ancient castles, gardens, hidden passages, caves, and even a palace. The whole area was absolutely breath taking and by far the highlight of Portugal.

After seeing all the sights we made one more stop before heading back to Lisbon. We stopped at Piriquita, a pastry shop, which makes Travesseiros and Queijadas. These two pastries are the most AMAZING pasties you will ever have in your life. The only thing that was disappointing about them is that we didn’t get more! Once we got back to Lisbon we decided to splurge and eat at the Hard Rock Café. I have to admit it was refreshing to have some American food for the first time in six weeks.

Our third day was spent entirely in the city and gave us a really good view of Lisbon. We rode a trolley to the highest point in the city and made our way down. It was beautiful with the ocean in the background and the buildings painted all types of different colors.

After strolling through the city we decided to do a little shopping. The biggest souvenir sold in Lisbon was surprisingly a brightly colored rooster. It apparently stands for good luck. We also stopped in a fish store where we all bought a neatly wrapped tin of sardines. We are saving them to try when we get home so everyone can enjoy them with us! We shopped the rest of the afternoon and finished our day eating at Casa di India, an authentic Portuguese restaurant. I had swordfish and Rachel and Cody had a half of a chicken. It was all very delicious. With our dinner we had some Port wine, which is by far the strongest wine any of us have ever tasted. Once we finished our meal we grabbed our bags and caught a night train to Barcelona.