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Published: March 10th 2008
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Had another great weekend this past week, just got home from Lisbon, Portugal. It was fun to get a chance to see another European country and a new culture as well. I went up with 6 other friends from my school; 2 Canadians, 1 Philipino, 1 Chilean and 2 Colombians. We left Salamanca Friday morning at 5:00 am and just barely made the train. As we got to the station the train was already there, but we didn't have any tickets yet. Some train station employee told us that it was fine, we could just buy tickets on the train. Great. We get on the train and there are no free seats in any open compartments, arrgh! So we spend the first hour and a half standing/sitting in the hallway of this rickety train. I was so cranky since I was counting on just getting on the train and sleeping, but what could you do? We chatted and raged against the Spanish rail system until someone came to collect tickets and finally opened a compartment for us. What I really loved was when she said "Well you know you should have got your tickets at the train station". It was
exactly what I wanted to hear at 6:30 am after being in a small hallway for the past hour. We finally got into Lisbon around 12:30 and set off to find our hostel.
We stayed at a really nice hostel called Lisbon Avenue Hostel, there was a nice big kitchen and a really good living room. After dropping off our stuff we set out to see some of the city. Lisbon is really pretty, and it was so nice to be near the ocean again, it reminded me of Halifax, but Halifax is nicer! Travelling has really made me realize how much I love Halifax. I find myself talking about the city all the time and telling people how it's my favourite place in the world and what a beautiful city it is. After seeing the castle we walked around the city for a bit and went to a grocery store to get some supplies so we could use the hostel kitchen. I'm not going to lie, I was probably more excited about being able to use a kitchen again then I was to be in Portugal! I made peanut kitchen for everyone Friday night, which was so awesome
for 2 reasons. First because I was so happy to get to cook again (Christie, stop shaking your head, lol) and secondly because they don't have peanut butter here and it was sooo good to have it again after 2 months! That night we went out to Bairro Alto, the bar district in Lisbon. Migs,James and Dan went home early but I stayed out with the 3 Latin Americans and we went to a club that played really good Spanish music. I was so happy to have taken those dance lessons back home, it was so fun to get to salsa at a club and I wasnice that I wasn't the totally awkward Canadian girl., haha! We danced the night away and went home exhausted but it was so worth it.
The next morning we all woke up and had a big breakfast at the hostel. Oliver, (who somehow was dubbed Papa Chile over the course of the weekend) Dan and I made crepes for everyone. We filled them with Nutella and fruit and it was definetly the best breakfast I've had in a long time. Don't get me wrong, I love Spain and I like Spanish food, but
breakfast here is truly AWFUL! I have had the EXACT SAME THING every single day since I got here: a cup of tea, a few crackers and 2 pieces of toast cooked in a frying pan. Needless to say, Cora's will be one of my first stops when I get home, lol.
Saturady we walked around the city alot, but it was raining, so that kind of put a damper on things but we didn't let it stop us. We visited an archeoligical museum that was partly open-air. It was the ruins of an old church and it was really cool to see. The inside of the museum actually had 2 mummified corpes in glass cases, that was really freaky to see! That night James, Migs and I went to dinner at this little Portugese place and had some really delicious fish, I tried swordfish for the first time and it was pretty good! I felt like I was in Thailand again because they serve the fish whole there and you have to pick the meat off the bones. That night we went out to another bar district with some italians we met at the hostel. Mabel, my friend from
Columbia and I could get into all the clubs for free, but cover was 10 euros at almost every bar for the guys, so we ended up just finding a little bar with no cover and dancing the night away!
Sunday morning, after another delicous crepe fiesta, we went to the Monastery, and that was really neat to see. The structure was huge and it was right near the ocean, which was definetly a bonus! After a few hours of touring around it was time to go back to Salamanca in the afternoon. We just barely made our 3 o'clock bus and settled in, exhausted but happy for a long train ride back home. I'm back in Salamanca now and finishing up my courses soon, can't wait to see you all soon!
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Meaghan Waugh
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BEAUTIFUL!
Jessica! Your pictures are breathtaking! You're getting to see so many cool things out there! The picture by the water and the bridge actually kinda looks like Hali! haha PS your friends are beautiful too haha i give you permission to bring a couple of those back my Maritime-y way hahaha. Getting so excited to see you! Can't wait to share a kitchen with you soon!haha Love ya! - Megpie