He Didn't Even Leave a Glass Slipper...My Adventures in Portugal

Hola All!

Another week since I've written and oh how much I have to tell!

As far as crazy exciting events happening to me in Granada, there's not a whole lot to tell. The time of midterms has come, and I have realized that the two years of university I have spent mastering the art of studying have served for nothing as my studying skills have disappeared within three months. I have found my mind unable to comprehend the task of "studying". What a foreign concept it is to me now...having to look over notes...what is THAT?!?! Well as you can probably figure, midterm studying will be difficult to do while I'm in Spain, but it is something that must be done and something I am crossing my fingers WILL be done correctly...eh, hooooopefully.

As for other things, I roadtripped across Spain and Portugal! I KNOW...it was pretty much the most amazing experience ever. I went with three other girls...Bethany and Vanessa (my two housemates) and Ana.

Before I tell you about our crazy adventure, I have decided that Portugal is by far my favorite country that I have visited as of yet. It's a country that has been left as a side note for all Americans (except those studying in Spain), but is one of the most beautiful places with the kindest, warmest people in the entire world. I LOVED it to say the least. So for those making a list of "Countries I Must See Before I Die" please put Portugal on your list...and if it isn't the most amazing place you've seen...I'll buy you ice cream to compensate for the hundreds of dollars you'll spend going :-P (and yes that is a written contract). But not to worry, it really is all that and much much more!

So in our roadtripping adventure, we went to Faro (a coastal city of Portugal) and Lisbon (the largest city in Portugal). While completely opposite of each other (Faro-small beach town and Lisbon-huge huge city), they both had their charm.

We did spend a lot of time in our little rented red car going from here to there, down streets, under tunnels, and charging out of closing gates in parking lots where we weren't supposed to be (oops...), but as I said...it's all part of the experience!

We were only in Faro for two days and one night. We got there late Thursday night, ate at McDonalds (we were craving American food so don't judge us!), and then went to bed. The next day we woke up, walked along the coast, saw a cathedral...and get this...we saw another cathedral made from the bones and skulls of dead monks! I KNOW. Who's fantastic idea was it to dig up some dead religous people (all respect intended) and put their undecayed remains on a wall? Whoever thought of it was far from genious, but it was quite the "interesting" experience.

From Faro we left for Lisbon! To describe Lisbon I can think of one word...San Francisco. There were trams, hilly streets, and an ocean...San Francisco defined. In Lisbon we spent a good 1-2 hours lost on the streets attempting to find our hostel, but once that task was accomplished, we were good to go. We got there at night so we ate and went to sleep, but the next day we had many an adventure awaiting us...

The very first thing we did after we left our hostel was make our way to the metro station to start our tourist exploration of the city. As we were boarding the metro we heard a gasp from Vanessa as we situated ourselves on the train. There was a man standing next to her pointing out the train and Vanessa next to him, panic striken. At that moment we had no idea what had happened, but as soon as the door shut we realized that Vanessa had been pick pocketed! YES!!! A man had the ODACITY to pick pocket one of us! So we immediately got off on the next stop, caught the train back to the original stop, and attempted to chase this man down. Of course, he had run away :( :( :(. It was at that point that I noticed the cameras on the wall and suggested that we should go and talk to the metro station staff about what had happened. They sent us to the next station to report it to the police. As we arrived at the station and flagged down a security guard, something odd happened. He seemed to recognize Vanessa. He walked us over to the information booth where *ta da!* Vanessa's wallet was waiting for her!!! Of course the meanie thief had stolen her 150+ euros, but he had been in too much of a panic to look through anything else and had left her wallet full of credit cards and identification thrown on a bench in the metro. It was definitely not the best way to start our exploration of Lisbon, but it could have been much much worse.

We continued our exploration of the city, seeing all its various neighborhoods, and taking pictures at the famous monument of Discovery (primer landmark of Lisbon). We also went to a pastry shop that has been selling egg custard pastries in Lisbon since 1837. The pastries were DELICIOUS (I knew they would be because I had seen a whole special on them on the Travel Channel :D).

At the pastry shop I had another adventure. I met my Prince Charming *sigh*. Me being the nosy annoying tourist that I am, was attempting to get behind the counter to take pictures of the pastries coming out of the oven. There was a waiter standing in front of me and he turned around and gave me a weird look. I sheepishly started to back away when he said, "I think someone's trying to take a picture here! Everyone get out of the way!" I took my picture and scurried quickly over to the other girls. We were standing around because all the tables were full when the same waiter came over again and asked us what we were doing. When we told him we were waiting for a table he said, "Well, if you're looking for something, you usually have to search for it!" He then told us to follow him, where we were shown to a table...full of people. I told thim that I didn't think the table was available and he started to laugh and say, "I'm the waiter. I know when someone asks for the bill and is about to leave. Give it five minutes max and it'll be available." Sure enough he was right and we were seated within the next two minutes. He was a fun guy, very cute, very funny, and had very good English (I'm doubting he was from Portugal, but he insisted that he was). After bringing our pastries he asked us if we would mind paying as his shift was over and he had to leave. As we were fumbling with our money he started stumbling through some words. He said, "I don't want to offend anyone here...I mean sometimes you just have to say something and it comes out as offensive, but it's not that you're meaning to be offensive, it's just that you say something that is taken the wrong way." We continued to stare at him, completely lacking in comprehension of anything that was being said. Finally he said looking at me, "I think you are one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen, but I want to say that, not to offend your friends that they aren't beautiful, but to compliment you on the fact that you are just absolutely gorgeous." Now this was a compliment completely unexpected by me and I felt my face becoming hot very very quickly. For a brown person, blushing is not an easy task to accomplish, but I promise that I most definitely did accomplish it. After finishing his speech and after my confused, shocked, and very sheepish, "Thank you". He smiled and left.

And there you have it. That's it! I don't know his name or anything, but it was quite the experience, and it will be forever my Cinderella tale to tell...but I don't even have a glass slipper or anything. But heck, I didn't have time to trace him down with nothing but a shoe so I guess it worked out for the better :-P.

So those are my two Lisbon adventures. One of my Prince Charming whom I will never meet again and one of poor Vanessa getting robbed by a crooked thief.

Rock on Lisbon!

We stayed in Lisbon for the next night and then we left the next day for Sintra, a small town right out of Lisbon. I kid you not when I say it was one of the most charming beautiful places I've ever visited. It was just so darn CUTE! (It it had been a child I would have pinched its cheeks and made goo goo noises...that is just how cute it was) In Sintra we visited the estate of an old rich arquitect, now open to the public. In his acres of land he had built towers, caves, revolving hidden doors, and wells with staircases. I felt like a mixture of Indiana Jones and a princess, wandering through the estate, and coming across random adventures.

After Sintra we were done and it was time to come back to Spain. It was quite the weekend to say the least! Now I'm sitting here with a midterm in less than 5 hours, trying to figure out how to stop procrastinating and get down to it! Wish me luck mis amigos.

For those of you that got to go to Diwali Banquet back home, I'm soooooo freaking jealous (just to let you know).

I love you all!

With much love,
A procrastinating me