"Reading" Week

Hola e Oi!

This week we had Reading Week, a time to catch up on school and start writing end-of-term papers. Naturally, we decided to take a 4 day adventure instead of reading and staring at a computer screen.

For those of you who like shorter blog entries, here’s a summary of our week in Spain and Portugal: 4 days, 16 hours of total sleep, 3 flights and 2 Hostels. Madrid: Adam, paella, tapas, churros con chocolate, café con leche, bread, tortillas, wine, historic tour, royal palace and salsa dancing. Lisbon: steak, sun, ocean, monastery, bakery, shopping, gelato, more salsa dancing, more wine, more bread and more coffee.

To express our love for these 2 cities we would have to write a never-ending blog, but for those of you who like our longer stories, keep reading for a recap.

We woke up at 4 a.m. (why do all the cheap flights leave so early??) ready to “backpack” through the Iberian Peninsula. Our first stop was Madrid and when we emerged from the train station, we saw our long lost and very missed friend, El Sol. It was a great reunion! After walking around the central plaza, we made our way to the hostel.

We’re going to digress for a moment to tell you a little about the hostel in Madrid and why we’re never staying in hostels again. The room they assigned us slept 7 people and unfortunately we were traveling in a group of 5. This left room for 2 other hostel guests who we’ve affectionately named “Smells McGells” and “Homegirl.” Smells was a 20-something year old girl from the States who had been backpacking for a year and half, and clearly hadn’t showered during that entire time. Her clothes, body, luggage, and bed all smelled of dead cat mixed with dirty feet. Her scent was almost as creepy as Homegirl’s personality. Homegirl was an overweight 60-year-old lady who had taken up permanent residence in the hostel. She stayed up 24 hours a day holding beads and staring into the distance. Stina woke up during the night at 3 a.m. to find her staring at the wall. To add to our hostel experience, the other guests made sure the bathrooms and showers were muy sucio. To avoid spending too much time with Smells and Homegirl, we spent as much time as possible outside running around Madrid.

Besides the hostel, our 2 days in Spain were fantástico! On our first day we ate some paella with sangria, did a little shopping and visited some museums. We found the cutest, local place to eat dinner. Our feast included wine, bread, more paella, jamón and tostada, tortillas españolas, fried goat cheese, chorizo, and two amazing desserts. Cristina may have flirted with our waiter to get some free food, which totally worked as he gave us the bill and only charged us €10 each for everything! He also asked her to dance at the salsa club we went to afterwards! Steph decided she wanted an experience at the club as well, so she went on stage when the live band requested some female dancers. Her Miami roots were a crowd pleaser!

The second day in Madrid started off with an incredible 3 hour walking tour. We learned why the Spaniards eat so much meat, what happened during the Inquisition, and all about the current King, Juan Carlos (who we love for single handedly turning Spain into a democracy and ending fascism). After the tour we enjoyed one more authentic Spanish meal and then hit the sack.

We woke up at the crack of dawn (3:45 a.m….those darn cheap flights again!) to go to Lisbon. As we landed, O Sol greeted us once again, but this time it was even warmer, 70 degrees to be exact. Despite our exhaustion we managed to stay up for the next 24 hours. Our hostel in Lisbon was SO much better. A nice Portuguese woman even made us pancakes in the morning! We spent the day shopping and exploring the city. Apparently after the Portuguese set up some colonies and did some exploring in the 15th century, they decided to take it easy for the next 500 years. The city looks as if nothing has changed, but that makes it absolutely beautiful! We ate some delicious gelato and enjoyed the tourist spots. We then ventured to a local restaurant to eat the best steak and drink the best wine we’ve ever had!

Afterwards we went to Bairro Alto, a cobblestone street where all the cool kids go to hang out. We got to salsa dance again at the Cuban bar and met some new Portuguese friends who we’re now officially friends with on facebook. After much dancing, the lack of sleep started to get to us. We went back to the hostel and slept a few hours.

Our last day in Lisbon was spent in Belem at a beautiful monastery where Vasco de Gama is buried. Belem is also home to a gorgeous park and the most delicious pastry shop in Portugal. The line was incredibly long but the desserts tasted like what we imagine heaven in the form of sugar tastes like. We took our pastries to the park and soaked up some rays.

The trip exceeded all of our expectations. The food, wine, dancing, sites, and sun were all excelente! Lessons learned: drink Spanish and Portuguese red wine, go salsa dancing every chance you get, flirt with waiters, sleep isn’t necessary and hostels are gross.

Adios y Adeus!