Spring Break Part 2: Lisbon and Dublin

Let me start off by saying Lisbon is dirt cheap compared to the other cities I have visited. But Europe in general, is cheap. Traveling is easy and economically friendly between countries in Europe. 

Lisbon is a huge hill.  We arrived Wednesday afternoon and had to climb these streets looking for our air B and B apartment we rented. We had trouble finding it because turns out, the woman gave us the wrong address!! But it ended up working out because we found this incredible restaurant with an exquisite view. 

Porta del Sol

Once we found our place we settled in and set out to explore. We decided to take a Tuk Tuk which is a car with three wheels. It was bumpy but a cool way to see the city. We ended up being this man's first customers! 

Tuk Tuk

After that we went shopping, Jul got a cute romper and we called an Uber car to pick us up to take us to this restaurant recommended by our friends who studying abroad a couple years ago. 

Dinner with our Uber Driver! 

REWIND: Portuguese people are really great, they're helpful and nice. Our Uber driver, Diminico Bonito was very special. Alexandra put in the incorrect address for pick up on the Uber app. She was on the phone with this man trying to find his car. Then all of a sudden we turn around and he's standing behind us. He found us! We then walked three blocks and arrived at his car. He took us to this recommended restaurant and it seemed to be closed. So we asked Bonito where a really authentic Portuguese restaurant would be in the vicinity. He recommended this tapas place with good food. So, we jokingly said "oh! You should eat with us" (not thinking he would take us up on the offer). We pull up and he tells us he's going to eat with us. We say ummm okay, looking at each other like ummm what is happening. Next thing we know it we walk in the restaurant and have an authentic meal. The meal consists of Tapas of chicken hearts, vegetables, meats, cheese with spinach, old rice (which is hard rice with meat, very delicious). Yes, I ate chicken hearts!! Matt was very proud! But I can't believe I ate them and better yet enjoyed them!  We got a free ride home and were safe! I know this was a crazy, unsafe story where you learn in kindergarten not to go with strangers. But it was an adventure! 

Chicken Hearts

The next day, we went to a city near Lisbon called Sintra. Sintra is a small town about an hour by train from Lisbon. 

We went to this colorful Palace and a Moorish castle. Each place offered amazing views of Sintra. We did a lot of hiking and exploring. 

Streets of Sintra 

Palace

View from the Palace

The castle 

Cascais beach was breath taking. We had a drink on the boardwalk and watched the sunset then we took the train back and had a great sushi dinner with Elyse and Morgan. 

Off to Dublin we go! Ryanair was the airline we flew, but I will never ever ever fly them again. They were cheap but very uncomfortable and inconvinient. For example, once we got through security we realized all non EU passports had to check in at the desk and get their boarding pass stamped. Also, if you just so happened to forget to print your boarding pass at home, you had to pay 70 Euro. Luckily we all printed the passes and avoided that charge. 

The second we got off the plane we headed to the Guiness Factory because we had reservations with our group we were staying with at 2:00 pm. 

Shamrock Beer! 

Sky Bar

After a few beers at Guiness, we headed back to the hostel where we found out we would be bunking up with 10 other girls. So much fun!! NOT. With only 2 outlets we all were miserable. Attempting to shower was hell, I had to hold this button to keep the water flowing and it would get hot for two seconds and then shut off, not a good experience. Pretty sure the bed had bed bugs. It was just disgusting! We only spent minimal time there. We went to the Meat Wagon for dinner. This was the menu:

I got the Bird Box. 

So yummy!!

After dinner we headed out to the Temple Bar area. Everyone was out and starting to celebrate Saint Paddy's Day. It was great!! Given we had to wake up at 6 am the next morning, we headed back early. 

Rise and Shine, we were off to Limerick, The Cliffs of Moher and Galway.  We spent a lot of time on the bus but got to see amazing views. 

Ridiculous Rest Stop 

King's Castle

Cliffs of Moher

Stella in Galway! 

Night out in Temple Bar! 

Phia was nice enough to let Jul and me sleep in her hotel room. She was a life saver. We showered and felt normal lol. 

On our last day, we grabbed breakfast at a local pub and met this crazy old guy that had awoken on the street with no memory of last night and no wallet and phone. He was funny! What an idiot. 

We then bought souvenirs and wandered to St. Patrick's Cathedral and Alex's friend showed us around Trinity College. It was a huge campus. 

I left my heart in Dublin, I'll be back.  It was truely amazing. The people were so nice and helpful. 

All in all, Spring break taught me how to travel on a budget, never stay in a hostel, and explore as much as you can. Also, spontaneity is the most fun! 

 

Spring Break Part 1:Barcelona and Madrid

Spring break started off chaotic. We had to take a train from the station near our house to the bus station which is closer to the main station. That day winds in Florence were up to 40 km/hour. Which is strong, therefore the trains were delayed hours, even the ones to the main station which usually takes five minutes. Jul and I are money savvy so we wanted to take he cheapest way, of course it was about 15 minutes before our bus left for the Pisa Airport, where our flight was flying out of, and we had to take a last minute cab. It worked out because our bus was fifteen minutes late anyways. But it was a stressful way to start off the trip. 

The flight from Pisa to Barcelona was super easy. Once we arrived me made our way to our Air B and B apartment which was conveniently located near Las Ramblas. Las Ramblas is a bunch of street with great shopping. We quickly figured out the metro system which was really easy. On Friday, we walked around Las Ramblas, had a mediocre dinner and then met up with our friends at their hostel to go out. Another bump in the road: they were staying at a hostel called San Jordi, turns out there are five San jordis in Barcelona, so of course, we went to the wrong one, but eventually made it to the right one. From there we joined their hostel's bar crawl. It was fun, we got into the bar free and met new people from Australia and Maryland.  Apparently there was this guy there named Rory and he was a pro snowboarder on his way to Switzerland. He looked drugged out so I avoided talking to him. But the girls from Australia said he was nice. After the bar we went to this club that was two floors, an American floor and a Spanish floor. Different music, it was fun but I am not a club person. Being packed like sardines into a club with gross people sweating all over and drunk people dancing isn't my scene. But I still had a lot of fun! 

On Saturday we wandered to the beach and met our friends for lunch and enjoyed the beach for a little bit. 

We visited Sagrada Famiglia which means Sacred Family. This church was cool because it looked like a forest. It has been under construction for 175 years. 

Then we headed back and met our other friends for dinner. Gloria and I split this amazing Payaya and then we went to this bar called Chupitos where they offer over 200 shots for 2 Euro each. 

The shots were so different. We ordered a Harry Potter shot, a campfire shot and a Monika Lewinsky  shot. The Harry Potter and campfire shot included the bartender lighting the bar on fire which was awesome!! The Monika Lewinsky was a crazy shot, but I'll leave that to your imagination. 

After that bar we ventured to meet up with Gloria again at this bar where you can pour your own drinks! I poured this kiwi drink which was very strong and Yummy. 

Barcelona is a non stop party. Everyone goes to clubs and dances until 6 am. Crazy!! We had a lot of fun at night. On Sunday we went to Parc Güell in the morning. This was Gaudis backyard basically. It was beautiful and you can oversee the city of Barcelona. 

This whole morning I was thinking about my Pop-Pop. His funeral was this day and I had to opportunity to live stream it online. As I was gazing upon the city of Barcelona, I thought about everything he loved. He especially loved traveling, it was a passion of his.  I loved my pop pop more than words can describe, it was so hard not being there with my family at the funeral but I was grateful for where I was because that's where Pop-Pop would want me to be. 

After the funeral Jul and Alex returned to the apartment with ice cream for me :). They rock. That night we went to get tacos with a bunch of our other friends. The next morning we departed for Madrid. 

The flight to Madrid was interesting. We boarded a bus to transfer us to the plane from the airport, it circled a couple times and then dropped us off at the arrivals section. Turned out there was a technical problem with the airplane so we had to wait and check in again which was inconvinient but not terrible. We met this girl named Jordan while waiting which made me think of my sister Jordyn. I miss her. Once we boarded the plane, within an hour we were in Madrid. We took the train to Chueça which is the gay area. We had an amazing apartment located close to give different metro stations making it so easy to get around. We dropped our bags off and went to get lunch at this amazing market. We are fresh fruit and a chicken sandwich. 

After lunch we went to a park and rented a boat to row in this lake. It was so much fun! I had to reminisce back to my camp days where we would boat and row all the time. I forgot how much arm strength you need! We ran into a couple friends studying abroad in Madrid in the pond! What a coincidence. 

I could've stayed on that lake all day. We met these people from South America and England hat performed a magic show on their boat. So of course we stayed and watched while he did his corny magic tricks.

We stayed on this beautiful lake for a couple hours and then headed back to our apartment to get ready for dinner. We met A couple more friends for dinner at this awesome place, I ordered fajitas and they were so good!! I know, I should be eating more authentic Spanish food, but I missed Mexican, so I ordered fajitas!! 

The thing to do on Monday nights in Madrid is go to a bar to pregame called Boulevarts and then go to this club called Independence. Three tequila shots later (I know who am I?) we headed over to Independence. It was packed, and everyone from Syracuse was there which made it fun. Three mixed drinks later I was still standing and having a great time. Fortunately, I didn't throw up. Luckily for me Jaime got me home and bought me pizza! She's a good friend. When they told me they partied until 6 am I believe it. You can't tell what time it is when you're in the club. We were home by 3:30 but some of our friends were out til 6.  

Me and Jaime. 

The next day we visited the Royal Palace. We walked through rooms that reminded me of my Grandy and Grandfather's old house in Devon. There was beautiful wallpaper and ceilings where the Kings would live. 

After the palace we were starving so we met some friends at the local market called San Miguel. This was a place with all different kinds of food, from a Mozzarella bar to a burger bar. 

This place was amazing. I tasted a mozzarella contraption with jelly, mozzarella, rocket lettuce, and crunchy things. It was amazing!! 

 I also tasted a burger. It was a burger which you could pick it out raw and then they cook it right in front of you. It was such an interesting burger with Parm cheese. But very Yummy! 

That night we went to the Real Mardird VS Schalke. This is a German team. The stadium was huge and the energy was high. We got to see Cristiano Ronaldo play which was incredible. He is so good looking and a great soccer player! Unfortunately, they lost the game but still went on in the Champion League. 

All in all, the first half of my spring break was so amazing. I had the best time in Spain. It was such a different culture compared to Italy. I loved both cities but Madrid was more relaxing and fun. Stay tuned for Part 2 where I travel to Lisbon and Dublin!