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Published: October 16th 2006
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First Night Together in Lisboa
Dawn, Caroline, Catherine, Roshni, and Selam...Happy Days! Ok, I have to skip the backpacker segways right now because I am so excited to tell you about our time in Portugal with our best friend, Catherine.
Catherine Conway...how does one put into words how truly incredible this chicita is!?! It is hard, but I will give it a shot! I met Catherine on the first day of Freshman year at U of I, and let's just say...after that moment, I was certain that 'love at first sight' was indeed, a true sentiment...heehee! Catherine's genuine energy for life and compassion for people is evident upon meeting her. She illuminates a room with her smile, and warms your heart with her positivity and undeniable selflessness. She is my best friend and someone who constantly inspires us all to become better people. Catherine, my darlin'....you had me at hello!
So our first night in Lisboa was spent camping out at the aiport. Selam, Dawn, and I arrived around 1AM (Ro was on another flight) and thought it would be silly to get a hotel room when we could just surprise Catherine at the airport when her flight arrived the next morning at 8:30AM. Ok....so here it goes...You know you are
Ariel view of Lisboa
Picture Perfect, wouldn't you agree!?! a backpacker when...
-Camping out at the airport doesn't phase you in the slightest bit!
So, Miss McGyver (aka Dawn) engineered our first fort for the night in the baggage claim area! Unfortunately, we got kicked out! Apparently the security guard dude did not think it was 'cool' to be cuddled up in the corner, so we shifted our sleeping quarters to outside the baggage claim area, underneath the escalators. Despite the cold tiled floors, Dawn and I managed to get a good couple hours of sleep cuddling together in our fort...some sleep is better than no sleep, right?! Well, it was all worth it because it allowed us to surprise Catherine as soon as she got off the plane...I think we managed to scare the living daylights out of her AND the rest of the airport, we screamed so loud when we saw her!!! You would have thought we were teenage girls seeing Madonna in concert for the first time!
Catherine was overgenerous (as always) and treated us to our hotel stay at the Sofitel which was awesome! The feather bed was certainly more comfy than the airport floor and for that, we were ecstatic! We
spent most of the first day just catching up and filling each other in on all the itsy bitsy details of life. We could have paused that moment forever. Yet in the evening we thought it best to venture out and explore Portugal. So we met up with one of Ro's friends, Mario, who took us to a local Portugese restaurant and we just did what we do best...talked and talked and talked and ate and ate and ate! A perfect first day if you ask me!
The following day, we explored the city which is quite beautiful and picturesque. We drank espresso, checked out the panoramic views of the city, and mainly just hung out together. We had a lovely dinner at the dock which overlooked a bridge, that oddly enough, resembles the Bay Bridge. Selam and Ro hit up the town and Catherine, Dawn, and I took refuge in our extravagant bed and called it an early night.
The following day we spent our afternoon checking out the Moorish Castle which sits atop the city, offering up incredible views! As you can see from the pics, we were more interested in being our goofy selves than
When all of a sudden...
Catherine spots TROUBLE! being the typical tourist. Variety is the spice of life they say...well, I think that about sums up our photo shoot! SPICY!
And just when you thought we'd put the spice away we get even more spontaneous. Dawn read that Pearl Jam was in town, which meant there was no other option than to go and scalp tickets...so that is just what we did! PEARL JAM in Lisboa. Yep...we were straight up jammin with Eddie Vedder. We rocked out to Alive, Better Man, Jeremy, and all their other fantastic songs and had a BLAST!
After Lisboa, we decided to take a little road trip...as they say here in Spain, Porque No!? We spent a day in Sintra which is an old Moorish city SURROUNDED by forests and beaches. The castle at the top of the town provides breathtaking views and, in general, the outdoor cafes, fresh Atlantic air, and luscious greenery puts this town as a MUST-SEE on my list. It was adorable.
From Sintra, Dawn took control of wheel, and successfully drove us all the way down to Lagos. Thanks Dawn! Its probably time I re-practice my manual driving skills...its been a while!
In Lagos,
GO GO
POWER RANGERS! we stayed at an adorable apartment next to the Marina (the last 3 nights of my birthday present that I was able to cash in from my brother...worth every night!). We had a kitchen and a balcony, but best of all, the complex had a gorgeous pool AND a spa!!! It's hard to be a backpacker when your best friend is in town on VACATION, so we all splurged and got ourselves massages...gotta take care of your body after all...heehee!
Lagos was splendid. We took a sail trip and boat ride around the grottos, rode bikes to the beach, laid out by the pool, ate fresh fish, and relaxed...that's what vacation is all about!
After 3 wonderful days in Lagos, we took the train back to Lisboa for one last night out on the town before heading to Spain and saying goodbye to our Caterina! We met up with some of Roshni's dance friends and did the only thing you do with dance friends...WE DANCED! It was a fun night, but sad because we had to say 'see you later' to Catherine. Our goal was to show her HOW MUCH fun we have so that she comes back
We're Right Behind you Girls!
Team America. Need I say more. to see us soon...heehee...let's hope it worked!
Catherine, thank you for your extreme generosity and for being someone who continues to inspire, encourage, and support us. We miss you immensely and hope we can convince you to come to ESPAÑA!
Which leads me to life today...next blog, how we landed in Barcelona!
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kate
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cutie cutes
you guys look HOTTIE HOT in those pics!