Blogs from Lisbon, Lisbon & Tagus Valley, Portugal, Europe - page 38

I woke up at 5:30am with - a swollen lip! (That is #8). Half of my bottom lip was swollen, worse than what it was the first time. I woke my sister up but we were both at a loss as to what to do. It was starting to get ridiculous! I stayed in bed until close to 11:30am purely out of embarassment. Luckily, I wasnt the only one having problems. The South African's bedbug bites were all getting infected. Angele found a British Hospital close to our hostel that had english speaking doctors. The three of us, plus the south African and his 2 friends all went there together. I ended up getting some sort of medication for allergic reactions and send on my way. At least it was something. We didnt want to waste ... read more

So, my lip was all better, and I thought everything was ok.... until I woke up and discovered that I could barely open my eye. (Unfortunate Event #5) - Half my face was swollen. My right eye would barely open and my lip was slightly drooping. Luckily I could cover most of it up with sunglasses and hair. Even more lucky that the only thing our day consisted of was sitting on a bus to Lisbon. And, to be completely honest, I was almost ready to come home at this point. I really did not feel like dealing with it anymore, the moving, the swelling, all the bad stuff! But, if that wasnt bad enough...(Unfortunate event #6) - We got to the bus station in Lisbon and realized that we had lost our directions to the ... read more

Hola! Family & Friends First off I miss you very much inspite of having the time of my life. I´m doing this alittle backwards due to the fact finding wireless in Portugal & Spain has been a challenge, so here I am at the University of Salamanca in the Computer lab 3-4 weeks later. So here we begin. Lisboa is incredible and a sight to behold. I began my journey in Lisboa at 11pm 19 May 06. I went to every destination on my list of can´t miss things. Sao Jorge Castilla, Belm Tower, monument, monestary, Pasterlia, The Baxia, Alfama, & Barrio Alto regions all close together but cool in their own rights. I took trolleys, buses, trains and used quite abit of shoeleather (mostly uphill on cobblestone streets) good for the gluts! This city is ... read more

If it hadn’t been apparent from my enthusing about the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC or even from the fact that I keep a travelblog (!!) then I advise you this: I am a geek. I have learned this over the years but I have come to terms with the fact that I am a dork. OBVIOUSLY a very attractive and socially hip COOL dork, but yes, a dork nonetheless. This is why I was super excited about visiting the Lisbon Oceanarium, the biggest aquarium in Europe, the second biggest in the world, a fantastic place to spend a few hours on a hot Lisbon afternoon and a place worthy of it’s own blog entry. Cathy had left that morning back for Dubs and we’d had to check out of our hotel so poor Manuela, with ... read more

Manuela graciously allowed me to select somewhere for five days away as part of her fleeting European adventure. I chose Lisbon - cheap, close and most importantly WARM. Sod’s law though that the five days I chose to go away London had the most spectacular weather in a year! At least I wasn’t at work though. Cathy joined us from Dublin and the construction girls from Bovis were reunited. Lisbon is a hilly, oceanside city with a small central area which made a nice change from the sprawling city of London. Being so close to the ocean there was beautiful seafood in every restaurant and as a result our tour of Lisbon was more a culinary one than cultural. All we seemed to do was roll from meal to meal with a spot of shopping or ... read more