Kayla goes to Lisbon, Portugal
Belated Lisbon post!
So first impression, Lisbon was kinda weird! I don’t know how to describe it really. Maybe it was the neighborhood we stayed in, maybe it was the white tile sidewalks blinding my poor little nightshifter vampire eyes, IDK!!!
MAYBE it was the TERRIBLE overnight train we took to get there....
So, first of all, Antonia and I are leaving Madrid. The subway info said we had 2-3 stops to get to the Chamartin station to catch the overnight train to Lisbon. Well that was a LIE - 13 stops later, we have eaten away all of our buffer transit time, and are sprinting up three gigantic escalators. WOOF. Then we find out we are platform 15, almost the furthest platform away. So we are running down this giant hallway, stopping at the ticket printer which looks nothing like the one we printed our tickets from for the last Renfe train. So we said screw it, our only hope is to get to the platform. After receiving the biggest eyeroll of the century from ticket counter lady, she magically scanned our QR codes on our tickets which, let me remind you, are NOT TICKETS despite the fact that you can clearly scan me in (thanks Renfe, GET WITH THE TIMES IT IS 2017 DO YOU HEAR ME), and FINALLY we were on the train. The conductor was looking at us like, these bitches are never going to make it back here in time if we make them go print their tickets. Well thank goodness they let us on.
So we settle in to our seats, realigning our expectations as we realize the website was a lie and NO we do not have reclining seats and NO we do not have Wifi or plugs. I was pretty unperturbed by this only because we had an old school Renfe train for a short leg of our previous journey, so I knew the lack of Wifi and outlets was a very real possibility. So, granted that we had to return to the dark ages and survive this 10 hour trip sans wifi and outlets, of course we made our way to the dining car to purchase a bottle of wine and try to come down from my almost anxiety attack of trying to board this goddamn train.
Sleeping was rough - I was lucky because I had two pillows, one for my neck and one for my butt, but I kept waking up to each stop wondering if it was ours. I mean hell, Lisbon is so close to the coast, if we miss our stop, where are we going to end up, the OCEAN?! But you never know. So anyways, I thought we could rough this overnight train out, but in the end I was so glad this was the only one of our trip, because when we deboarded at 0800 and that sunlight hit my poor little sleep deprived eyes, I knew that we SIMPLY could. not. even. that day.
Our hostel was Angels Inn Guesthouse. I have to say, we ended up inadvertently saving the best for last on this one! The facility was amazing - so clean, awesome rate, we had a private room with two beds AND a huge wardrobe AND a patio off of the room AND the kitchen and *freeee* laundry right across the hall. #winning all around, I would say. We got there around 9, and all but begged for early check in after that awful train ride. They were super nice, but just didn’t have the room ready yet. So there we were, two zombies just wandering the streets of Lisbon until we could JUST TAKE A NAP ALREADY.
Post glorious six hour nap in our amazing hostel, we enjoyed a late night dinner in the main plaza, took a walk, and saw a giant impressive looking arch thing (yeah, I’m more often than not super ignorant with names of landmarks and stuff. oops). Then we had a chill night of doing FREEEE laundry woohoo.
The next day we had brunch at Sama Sama, an amazing little vegan crepe shop with excellent coffee, smoothies, fresh juice, and crepes. Disclaimer, this place is also good for non vegans like myself :p
We then took the train (a DIFFERENT ticket than the metro so pay attention!) to the Oerias coast for a couple hours of kayaking in the sea. I was so excited to enjoy some nature, and even more excited that I got to learn how to be the back person in the kayak so that Jonathan doesn’t have to do all the work forever when we double kayak! The waters were pretty rough, but we had so much fun. At one point, our guide tied us to his kayak with this leash thing so we didn’t get swept away by the waves. We also got to see a few landmarks from the coast.
After kayaking, we had a three course seafood meal at some random restaurant. Of course we couldn’t go ALLL the way to the coast and not have seafood. Then, we went to Belem and saw the tower of Belem at sunset and the monument nearby. A pretty productive day of kayaking and sightseeing, if I do say so myself.
Later that night, we went to some club, which was actually pretty good for a Wednesday. And then the shit hit the fan when I decided to take a taxi home. Anyone that knows me, knows I just can’t be anywhere away from home unattended or I will get lost beyond comprehension. Well, I couldn’t go to Europe without having at least one of these experiences. First of all, Antonia knows this. Second of all, there were taxis out the wazoo right outside this club. What could go wrong?! Well, the taxi dropped me off at the wrong street corner, and I don’t speak a lick of Portuguese, THAT’S WHAT WENT WRONG. So there I am, at the wrong exit of the Anjos metro station, thinking, I can get myself out of this! The other exit has to be somewhere around here! So I walk around and around and around, can’t find it. I turn on my data plan. Roaming is shit. Google maps is just the blue dot (me) chasing the red dot (hostel) in some cruel white abyss because none of the maps, not even the grid would load. Damnit damnit damnit. So I’m *this close* to calling Jonathan to have him help me navigate when I find the second taxi, who takes me to the right place. PRAISE THE LORT. Then 10 minutes later Antonia walks in the door around 0500 and is super confused about why I’m awake and talking Jonathan on the phone all upset - it’s because LOST HAPPENED. Anyways, nothing bad happened so all’s well that ends well.
Pics to come!
-KayKay
