MITZI: From Portugal with Love

So one thing about ISA is that included in the tuition you pay for the semester are various excursions to different parts of Spain, and, in my case, Portugal.  Hence, this past weekend I spent my days in the great city of Lisbon, Protugal and had my own little excursion to the town of Sintra. 

Our group packed into two coach busses early Friday morning for our 5 hour trek to Lisbon.  Most people just slept, I mostly failed at that attempt because I am a fairly large person and just do not fit in bus seats, whatever.  When we arrived to Lisbon we went across a bridge called the “25th of April,” which is actually a sister to the Golden Gate in San Francisco! 

The Golden Gate's little sis.

I thought that was neat.  Also near the bridge is a replica of the statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Jeniero.  Also pretty sweet.

Another thing about ISA is that the hotels that we stay at are always super super nice.  I love it.  And the breakfasts are awesome.  Each morning I actually had scrambled eggs, which I was super excited about because I haven’t found them anywhere else here because Europe just doesn’t really do breakfast.  Bread and coffee make them completely content.  No hearty biscuits and gravy or pancakes or anything like that.

Moving on, after checking into the hotel we made our way up a hill (Lisbon is known for the various neighborhoods on the hills of the city) to a castle called “El Castillo de San Jorge.”  It was so awesome.  We came upon a lookout and got some great pictures of the river and the city.

Katherine and I. :)

Photo opportunity!

The castle itself was super cool because it was all still intact.  We were able to walk all around it and explore what it was like to be a soldier during that time. 

Part of the castle.

View from one of the windows of the castle

After our tour of the castle the rest of the day was ours.  My friend, Katherine, and I explored the downtown part of Lisbon and slowly made our way to a part of the city called “Barrio Alto,” where one of our directors mentioned was a really great Portuguese restaurant.  We were so proud of ourselves for actually finding the restaurant on our own, well we did ask a couple people, but at least we didn’t take a taxi!  Side note:  Portuguese people in general are the nicest people I have ever met.  Random people on the street that you meet are super nice, if you are asking for help in my case, and all of my waiters the whole weekend were super talkative and welcoming, it was nice. :)

Inside of Cervejaria Trinidade

Ok, so we found the restaurant “Cervejaria Trindade,” and we were very impressed.  We split the authentic Portuguese dish called “arroz con mariscos,” (look it up online, the pictures are legit) a watery rice dish with all different kinds of seafood, one unique thing being a WHOLE shrimp with eyeballs and everything. Yum. :)

The next day our group toured the “Monasterio de Los Jerónimos” and “La Torre de Belém.”  The monastery was gorgeous. 

Monastery from the outside

View from the interior courtyard of the monastery.

It miraculously survived a huge earthquake in the 1700s when basically the rest of the city was destroyed.  

Belem Tower.

Katie and I at Belem Tower. :)

The Belem Tower was legit too because it was just a fortress used in the olden days to protect the river, but it was super nice inside for a fortress.

The rest of the day was ours again and I really wanted to go see this palace that ISA had recommended.  It was in a city called Sintra, about a 30 minute train ride out of Lisbon.  So I got 5 other people to come with me and we went on a little adventure.  It was the best decision I have ever made.  Seriously, it was the best day I have had in Europe so far.  I was like a little girl when we arrived in this awesome mid-evil town.  It was so cute and eclectic!  I want to go back and explore the city more, life list :). 

We took a bus up one of the lush green hills to get to this palace, called “El Palacio de Pena.”  We paid to get in and had to walk up another hill to actually get to the palace.  But it was definitely worth it.  I was so excited.  I wish the pictures were an actual representation of what it actually looked like.  Oh, and my camera died, so I had to get pictures from the rest of my group, life learning moment right there.  I was slightly annoyed at myself.

El Palacio de Pena, courtesy of google search. :)

We explored the outside a little bit and made our way to the patio looking over what seemed like the whole world.  We were all speechless, I had tears in my eyes.  It was just so beautiful.  I will never be able to really describe what I saw, it was a once in a lifetime experience.  We were able to see cities, rolling green hills, the river, and the atlantic ocean in the distance.  It was unforgettable.

View of the city.

Rolling green hills.

Atlantic ocean in the background.

We were able to go inside the palace and see how the royals lived in their vacation palace.  It was so awesome, they still had all the authentic furniture of the time.  I was surprised at how ‘homey’ it was.  I mean, it was still super nice, but I guess I was expecting it to be super extravagant, but it was just relaxing.  I loved it.  I want to live there. :) 

We were walking through one of the rooms and started talking to one of the nice Portuguese security guards standing in the room.  She was super funny, she said she could tell we were Americans because of the diversity of our group: we had an Asian, an African-American, an Indian, and a Hindu, and of course me and Katherine, but she did say I looked like I was from Germany, which I thought was interesting.  The funny thing was that she said that Aaron, the African-American, looked like Obama, and when we were leaving the room she raised her hand and said “yes we can.” I thought it was hilarious. 

There was a wedding that was getting started at the palace and I was so jealous.  How cool would that be, to get married at a palace.  Gahhhh. :)

All in all, it was definitely an unforgettable weekend, and a part of my heart will forever be in Sintra, Portugal.