I think I've come to accept the fact that I will never be able to catch up with this blog anymore. I am simply far too behind. Instead of studying for my last final right now, I'm writing about what happened during my trip a month ago. Horrendous. Absolutely unacceptable. At least give me a golf clap for trying?
April 17, Thursday
If you're a devoted follower of mine, then you'll already know how I started my day: walking tour!!! I'm trying to remember what else I can write about the tour but I'm drawing a blank. Perhaps its the one month overlap or it could just be that Lisbon wasn't all that interesting... At the centre of the city, there's a viewpoint at the top of a man-made tower. Orange tiled roofs, reminds me a little of Prague, with less spires and greenery.
The Rossio Square, with museums and monuments surrounding its perimeter. Lisbon is famous for its tile works, usually blue and placed on buildings but you can't stop to appreciate the ones on the ground as well. The squiggly wavy effect really adds a nice touch to the otherwise plain plaza. Always pay attention to the details, because the other guys didn't even realize we were walking on a such a peculiar piece of artwork.
I know I already posted a picture of a tram but...that one was yellow and I didn't ride on it. Plus this is really the highlight of the city so why not add in another one? After the tour, we went to a restaurant recommended by the tour guide just on the corner of where this picture was taken. Not knowing where to go in the afternoon, we decided to make our way to the famous pastry shop in Belem to try the original egg tarts. This tram may look charming with its old fashioned exterior, but boy was it anything but pleasant inside. We almost turned into dried prunes inside that thing. No air conditioning + stuffed with sweating people = you do the math.
Pasteis de Belem with its permanent line up. There's pastry shops all along the street but you know you've found the right one when you see all the people standing outside. A trick to not waiting in line? You can go in and find seats on your own, if you're fast enough to snatch them from the vulture like customers.
The night before, while sitting around the hostel chatting, the topic of birthdays came up.
Me: "You know they're your real friends when they know your birthday by heart, without the help of Facebook."
Abriel: "Yeah, very true. Like Kenneth's birthday. It's......oh shit......I forgot. But it's around finals season, which is around now?"
Kenneth: "It's actually my birthday tomorrow."
Everyone: "UH WHAT?!"
What horrible friends we are. In order to make amends, we had a mini birthday celebration at the pastry shop. The egg tarts here were much better than the ones we had the day before: not as sweet but just as crispy on the outside and fresh out of the oven. Note the blue tiles on the wall. They're exactly what I was talking about before; what Lisbon is famous for.
Wow, when did I get so artistic? Look at that candid shot. Anyone want to hire a professional photograph just holla at me. Not a bad way to spend a sunny afternoon, lying by the water fountain getting a tan. Life's gooooood. Or as my Italian room mates would say, "bella vita".
My dinner; grilled squid and shrimp with a side of salad. Fresh and simple. I loved the fact that it wasn't plastered in sauce and you could taste the naturalness of each ingredient. Once again, Sean ordered the wrong dish. With Portugal being the city of cod fish, he ordered it thinking it would be the safest choice. Oh boy was he wrong. It tasted like it had been dried outside for a week, and had a rubber like consistency to it. It was nasty, someone would have to pay me to eat it. Bleh. Sean bought a sandwich from a cafe later to fulfil his hunger and we headed back to the hostel and played this "liar" game all night long. Abriel came up with this game. Pretty much it's a simpler version of mafia; there is no day/night routine of people being killed each round. Everyone gets a card, with one person being the killer, determined through the "killer" card. Then you talk. You just talk amongst each other until everyone votes on one person who they believe is the killer. Simple right? We played this game for hours, arguing, staring, and accusing each other game after game. What did I learn from this? I will never trust any of the guys ever again.
Kenneth had to do some work and decided to stay in for the day, so I took this opportunity to go out on my own and do some shopping (finally). I had brought 3 shirts with me and was desperately needing some new clothing attires. I knew Zara was cheaper in Spain and Portugal so I had planned ahead by not bringing too much clothes. After a good shopping session in the morning, Abriel Sean and I went to Alfama, the area with the highest viewpoint and the "real" Lisbon since the rest of the city had mostly been demolished after the great earthquake of 1755. As you can see, the view of the city really brought out the best of me; I'm not sure if I was laughing or crying in pain, either way I love it. This was taken right outside the Cathedral of Lisbon. Unfortunately we couldn't go inside because it was Good Friday and they had some enclosed ceremony going on.
On our way to the Castel of Sao Jorge, where we ended up not going because the line up was too long and we felt too cheap to pay and wait. Why did I take a picture of the boys chatting on the side of the road? Well, let's not focus on the two handsome chaps in the back there and look at the yellow stump in the middle of the street. Call me weird but I thought this was brilliant. This metal traffic barricade is set up to prevent drivers from speeding downhill in such a highly pedestrian populated area. Once you stop in front of the light, the barricade will automatically drop down allowing the vehicle to pass through. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
After wandering around the Alfama area for a few hours, we made it back to the centre and ran into this street performer. He's a Guinness World Record holder for standing on his cane for the longest time (or something of that sort). This is definitely a step up from the classic guys dressed in orange who seems to be floating while sitting crossed legged ordeal. This guy managed to get a huge crowd around him, taking pictures and videos of him...standing/floating there.
At night we went back to the same restaurant we had lunch at the day before because the guys simply had to have the burger Abriel had the day before. I suppose Sean was sick of picking the wrong dish at every restaurant. I didn't want a burger so I made the bold decision to go with the cod fish with cream. It was scrumptious. Very rich, very flavourful, and very satisfying.
Because it was Good Friday, the plaza had a spectacular light show to celebrate the occasion. I've never seen anything quite like it before, they made the building covered in snow, leaves, drawings, and kids running around. The effects were simply perfect. I'm so thankful we decided to eat there that night and was able to see it from beginning to end. Even though my fingers were frozen, my tummy was full from a delightful dinner and my mind at peace after the cutest light show I've ever seen. I can't think of a better way to end my trip in Lisbon :)
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