PAY DAY! And you know what that means -- time to spend a lot of the little money I have just made for a weekend in Lisboa. Was it worth it? Hells yes! Why? According to my friend: “hot.tender.carrots.en punto. Lisboa.” If you didn’t understand any of that, it’s because this getaway was honestly a “you had to be there” type of trip. We laughed until we cried about carrot allergies, being hot, the word en punto, simpatico simpatico, the name of our hostel, and muchas other things.
I have spent every weekend in Vigo thus far, mainly because we didn’t get our first paycheck until the beginning of November, but also to adjust to the Vigo lifestyle and explore the city, natives, food, and night life. Lisboa is close enough to Vigo that it seemed to be a relatively cheap place to go.
So like any trip you plan, first things first (I’m the realest)—How will you get there, and Where will you stay? I looked at several bus sites, airfares, and train rides, but the cheapest and fastest option was blablacar. For those of you who are unfamiliar with blablacar, it’s like the uber of the U.S but for much longer distances, and it’s a set price. So we paid for a blablacar for there and back for 40 euro in total. Our driver had good reviews on the website and has been using it for years so we didn’t hesitate to book with him. Several friends suggested “Yes, Lisbon!” and “Home” hostel as they had received exceptional service there, but both were unfortunately booked so we stayed at “Lookout, Lisbon!” hostel instead. After four hours of torturing our poor blablacar driver with obnoxious laughter, our tears and loudness, and horrible Spanish accents, we finally made it to Lisbon.
Our hostel was very close to the city center and sat at the top of a hill which gave us a beautiful overlook over the city. We arrived around 9p.m on Friday night and went out that night in Bairro Alto which had several long narrow streets full of bars. I’m talking bar after bar after bar, and each one was so unique and had it’s own personality that we couldn’t just pick one. Instead we took a stroll the first hour “shopping” for the right bar. We decided on one and stayed for a while. It had a cool vibe, and I by chance happened to meet three Americans there with mutual friends—I always go crazy when this happens because the chances of meeting an American abroad who knows people you know is so small, but it happens every time to me (so maybe it ain’t so small). We also met people from France, Lisbon, and Germany. We got back later that night (or morning, I suppose) to our 12 mixed bedroom hostel which we shared with a German family of 6. I found it quite odd that a family would choose to stay at a hostel, but maybe it’s a European thing.
The next morning we met up with my friend from UVa who works there and his friend visiting at Camões square. It was a nice little plaza with a monumental statue of poet Luis de Camões standing in the center. We then walked down by the water which I would like to say was beautiful, but it was full of drunkards and quite polluted, but I think it was only that area because we visited the other part further down later that day, and it was gorgeous. Walking around the city, I quickly noticed the narrow side walks, tile floors, mosaic and colorful buildings, how hilly it was, and many English speakers! After the river, we walked by the convento da ordem do carmo in carom square which was ruined by an earthquake that happened hundreds of years earlier. It was right next to the Santa Justa lift which we decided to go up for 1.50euro to see an overlook of Lisbon. It was beautiful, and we were blessed with good weather that day so it looked even better.
We then walked towards Pombaline downtown by Plaza del Rossio and the area with all the shops and saw street performers and people busy shopping or drinking coffee at the café. After, we headed toward plaza del comercio, which got its name back in the 1700s to show its new function in the economy of Lisbon with government bureaus. It was this vast plaza right by the Tagus river with a statue of King Jose I standing in the center. We continued to walk around Lisbon and passed by incredible street art and some funky buildings. We headed towards Se Cathedral which was very pretty—I feel like all the churches in Europe have a similar look so it was nothing special. Inside we ran into the blabla car guy who of course told his girlfriend with a smile, “These are the crazy Americans I was talking about.” (We all saw that one coming). We decided not to pay to go inside the São Jorge Castle, but we saw the outside. After we walked around the very hilly Alfama neighborhood full of medieval alleyways, trams (trolleys), and breathtaking views. We had walked for almost 4 hours exploring the city that we were starving for lunch. We found a nice restaurant to eat at as soon as it started to downpour—talk about good timing. The food was delicious and conversation was great, and we probably annoyed everyone and confirmed the loud American stereotype for them. After our late lunch, we went by a gelato place called Santinis which was quite expensive and had lines going almost out the door, but I must say it was well worth the wait.
We had a late night and an early morning that we decided to head back to the hostel for a nap before going out. My friend and I woke up after a couple hours and were craving the sushi buffet right next door so we decided to eat there for dinner. We went back to the hostel after and found we had new people in our dorm as the German family had left earlier that afternoon. There was a girl from Korea and three guys from Australia, Germany, and London. They were so fun hanging out with at the hostel we all decided to go out together in Bairro Alto, and it was a great time.
The next morning was rough. We all had a huge resaca. We had made plans to go to Sintra, an area about a hour outside of Lisbon, to see these beautiful castles everyone had been talking about, but we just couldn´t considering the state we were in. Instead we went to the Belem neighborhood, a 30 minute bus from the city center with an incredibly funny UK lad who works at the hostel and wanted to do some street performing down there. We also met up with our friend at the Jeronimos Monastery. It was a large Gothic building right by the river. After we walked through several gardens towards the river and saw this huge statue that looked like a boat full of conquistadors facing the water. It was right by the Belem tower so we walked on over there, and it’s Manueline (Portuguese late gothic architecture in the 16th century—yes I had to look this up) style was apparent. It was originally built to serve as a defense system and ceremonial gateway to Lisbon. Today, along with Jeronimos Monastery, it serves as a UNESCO world heritage site. After, the hostel guy suggested a very famous sandwhich shop called Pão Pão Queijo Queijo which in English translates to Bread Breaad Cheese Cheese to which we could not stop laughing about, “Yeah, lunch at bread bread cheese cheese at 1? You down?” It was delicious, and the line was out the door. Next door was a very famous pastry shop called Casa Pasteis De Belem, but it was too packed, and we didn’t have enough time to wait. According to the hostel guy, it opened in the 1800s and has never closed a day since then—even Christmas. It was nearing our time to leave with the blabla car so we headed back to the hostel and checked out. Although we thought the blabla car guy hated us, he invited us a couple days later to hang out with him and his friend to do a language exchange. Overall, I had an amazing weekend, saw cool places, and met fun people from all over the world-- I would go back in a heartbeat.
Yours truly,
TLT
I have spent every weekend in Vigo thus far, mainly because we didn’t get our first paycheck until the beginning of November, but also to adjust to the Vigo lifestyle and explore the city, natives, food, and night life. Lisboa is close enough to Vigo that it seemed to be a relatively cheap place to go.
So like any trip you plan, first things first (I’m the realest)—How will you get there, and Where will you stay? I looked at several bus sites, airfares, and train rides, but the cheapest and fastest option was blablacar. For those of you who are unfamiliar with blablacar, it’s like the uber of the U.S but for much longer distances, and it’s a set price. So we paid for a blablacar for there and back for 40 euro in total. Our driver had good reviews on the website and has been using it for years so we didn’t hesitate to book with him. Several friends suggested “Yes, Lisbon!” and “Home” hostel as they had received exceptional service there, but both were unfortunately booked so we stayed at “Lookout, Lisbon!” hostel instead. After four hours of torturing our poor blablacar driver with obnoxious laughter, our tears and loudness, and horrible Spanish accents, we finally made it to Lisbon.
Our hostel was very close to the city center and sat at the top of a hill which gave us a beautiful overlook over the city. We arrived around 9p.m on Friday night and went out that night in Bairro Alto which had several long narrow streets full of bars. I’m talking bar after bar after bar, and each one was so unique and had it’s own personality that we couldn’t just pick one. Instead we took a stroll the first hour “shopping” for the right bar. We decided on one and stayed for a while. It had a cool vibe, and I by chance happened to meet three Americans there with mutual friends—I always go crazy when this happens because the chances of meeting an American abroad who knows people you know is so small, but it happens every time to me (so maybe it ain’t so small). We also met people from France, Lisbon, and Germany. We got back later that night (or morning, I suppose) to our 12 mixed bedroom hostel which we shared with a German family of 6. I found it quite odd that a family would choose to stay at a hostel, but maybe it’s a European thing.
The next morning we met up with my friend from UVa who works there and his friend visiting at Camões square. It was a nice little plaza with a monumental statue of poet Luis de Camões standing in the center. We then walked down by the water which I would like to say was beautiful, but it was full of drunkards and quite polluted, but I think it was only that area because we visited the other part further down later that day, and it was gorgeous. Walking around the city, I quickly noticed the narrow side walks, tile floors, mosaic and colorful buildings, how hilly it was, and many English speakers! After the river, we walked by the convento da ordem do carmo in carom square which was ruined by an earthquake that happened hundreds of years earlier. It was right next to the Santa Justa lift which we decided to go up for 1.50euro to see an overlook of Lisbon. It was beautiful, and we were blessed with good weather that day so it looked even better.
We then walked towards Pombaline downtown by Plaza del Rossio and the area with all the shops and saw street performers and people busy shopping or drinking coffee at the café. After, we headed toward plaza del comercio, which got its name back in the 1700s to show its new function in the economy of Lisbon with government bureaus. It was this vast plaza right by the Tagus river with a statue of King Jose I standing in the center. We continued to walk around Lisbon and passed by incredible street art and some funky buildings. We headed towards Se Cathedral which was very pretty—I feel like all the churches in Europe have a similar look so it was nothing special. Inside we ran into the blabla car guy who of course told his girlfriend with a smile, “These are the crazy Americans I was talking about.” (We all saw that one coming). We decided not to pay to go inside the São Jorge Castle, but we saw the outside. After we walked around the very hilly Alfama neighborhood full of medieval alleyways, trams (trolleys), and breathtaking views. We had walked for almost 4 hours exploring the city that we were starving for lunch. We found a nice restaurant to eat at as soon as it started to downpour—talk about good timing. The food was delicious and conversation was great, and we probably annoyed everyone and confirmed the loud American stereotype for them. After our late lunch, we went by a gelato place called Santinis which was quite expensive and had lines going almost out the door, but I must say it was well worth the wait.
We had a late night and an early morning that we decided to head back to the hostel for a nap before going out. My friend and I woke up after a couple hours and were craving the sushi buffet right next door so we decided to eat there for dinner. We went back to the hostel after and found we had new people in our dorm as the German family had left earlier that afternoon. There was a girl from Korea and three guys from Australia, Germany, and London. They were so fun hanging out with at the hostel we all decided to go out together in Bairro Alto, and it was a great time.
The next morning was rough. We all had a huge resaca. We had made plans to go to Sintra, an area about a hour outside of Lisbon, to see these beautiful castles everyone had been talking about, but we just couldn´t considering the state we were in. Instead we went to the Belem neighborhood, a 30 minute bus from the city center with an incredibly funny UK lad who works at the hostel and wanted to do some street performing down there. We also met up with our friend at the Jeronimos Monastery. It was a large Gothic building right by the river. After we walked through several gardens towards the river and saw this huge statue that looked like a boat full of conquistadors facing the water. It was right by the Belem tower so we walked on over there, and it’s Manueline (Portuguese late gothic architecture in the 16th century—yes I had to look this up) style was apparent. It was originally built to serve as a defense system and ceremonial gateway to Lisbon. Today, along with Jeronimos Monastery, it serves as a UNESCO world heritage site. After, the hostel guy suggested a very famous sandwhich shop called Pão Pão Queijo Queijo which in English translates to Bread Breaad Cheese Cheese to which we could not stop laughing about, “Yeah, lunch at bread bread cheese cheese at 1? You down?” It was delicious, and the line was out the door. Next door was a very famous pastry shop called Casa Pasteis De Belem, but it was too packed, and we didn’t have enough time to wait. According to the hostel guy, it opened in the 1800s and has never closed a day since then—even Christmas. It was nearing our time to leave with the blabla car so we headed back to the hostel and checked out. Although we thought the blabla car guy hated us, he invited us a couple days later to hang out with him and his friend to do a language exchange. Overall, I had an amazing weekend, saw cool places, and met fun people from all over the world-- I would go back in a heartbeat.
Yours truly,
TLT