April 16, Wednesday
Sore and cranky, the four of us got to Lisbon at 7 am, when it was still dark outside. Surprisingly, I managed to sleep through most of the ride. It involved a lot of twists and turning every 10 minutes because my muscles would tense up and start throbbing in pain. Who knew sleeping on a bus could be so difficult? Regardless, we got to Lisbon with 40 euros so I guess it was worth it. This may be my favourite metro station I've seen in Europe yet. Everything was new and modern and when the train arrives, it even glows on the bottom! Good start.
Hold on a second there...what just happened? Where am I again?! The metro was so contemporary, what the heck is this decaying mess? This cannot be the capital city of Portugal...Our hostel is actually right around the corner, and about a 10 minute walk to the downtown area.
Since we got there way too early, we weren't able to check in quite yet. It took the employees three times to kick us out because the guys kept falling asleep sitting on the couches. Out to town we went, ready to take on the adventures! And what did we find? Broken down buildings with boarded up windows and dog shit everywhere on the streets. I don't see any dogs running around, so why are there massive piles of dog poo every 10 steps I take?! You couldn't even take your eyes off the ground because you'll end up stepping on it. It's like a dynamite field; walk at your own risk. I think it was a combination of the poo, the groggy weather, the lack of sleep and walking towards the wrong side of town made our first impression of the Lisbon...very shitty.
Lisbon reminds me of San Francisco, with its rolly hills and electric trams, except it was stuck in time from 300 years ago. It's street after street of antique looking buildings with the paint rubbing off and turning slightly yellow. There's not one bit of modernism touch to the city. The yellow tram, a symbol of Lisbon. (No San Francisco, your trams aren't original, they were actually shipped from Lisbon)
Not knowing where to go for lunch, we asked some locals for recommendations and was directed to what was described to us as "awesome real Portugese food with massive portions". The enthusiastic guy was jumping up and down smacking his lips while writing down his favourite dishes for us. Needless to say, we went in with high expectations thinking the food will come in bulk sizes but instead, we were served the below. Thinly sliced beef with bacon pieces (meh), REAL peri peri chicken (I thought it was pretty good but Abriel, the Nando's addict thought the complete opposite) and seafood rice stew (highly recommend that one, because it tastes like something you could get at a Canto restaurant).
Completely drained from exhaustion, we made it back to the hostel and finally checked in. A look at the kitchen/common area. Definitely not one of my favourite spots with its worn out furnitures but since I only had to go there to get my slice of bread in the morning, it was fine. Did not look the way they had described it on Hostelworld, but it was 14 euros a night so I can't complain.
My bed on the top left, right above Abriel, who snores like a train whistle. I swear the bed was shaking during the night. I've never heard of anyone/anything with such a monstrous snoring ability. Mad skills. Good thing you are absolutely hilarious and bring tears to my eyes from laughing too much, otherwise I may have strangled you in your sleep already.
After the boys had a short nap, we went out to test our luck with the city again. Apparently Lisbon isn't only well known for cooking Cod fish but also canning them as well. This shop was dedicated to "freshly" canned fishes and being the hungry protein obsessed guys, they all bought one and devoured it at the entrance. What a great advertising technique; I believe we brought in a few customers that way.
Is that...the Golden Gate Bridge? Did San Francisco just copy the layout of this city or what? But alas, after a day of searching for a decent area, we finally found it at the main plaza by the original city port. It still doesn't deserve a "wow" factor but it's a huge step from earlier on in the day where we've encountered more dog shit than human beings.
Not knowing where to go for dinner, we randomly picked a restaurant in the centre, also known as "tourist trap" restaurants. Each piece of bread costs money as well as the dips that goes with the bread. Aside from unnecessary additional costs, the food happened to be extremely salty. My veggie soup was decent but Sean's octopus strew probably had a box of salt in there. Sean took a bite, put down his fork and said "I'm done". Poor guy had to buy more food at a cafe later on in the evening. Lesson be learned, never eat at places where they have people standing outside pointing to a menu with 5 different languages. It's most likely overpriced and anything but authentic.
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