Plane ticket home..check!

Where did time go?!

Kyle recently asked me "what do you want/want to do when you get home"?  What don't I want to do!?

This picture makes me think of two things..my basset hound and the joy I'll feel after driving my car again

• Drive my car wherever and whenever I want- no relying on public buses or carpools
• Go out to dinner at a full service restaurant- I miss having that type of environment.  Spain is full of cafes and tapa places
• Socialize with Americans- I miss their sense of humor, accents, attitudes, and intonation.
• Shop at Target!!
• Go grocery shopping- I enjoy this way too much.
• Watch the 4th of July fireworks and see my high school friends/family
• Find an apartment and settle down for a while
• Earn more than 700 euros a month ;)
• Bake and cook in my own kitchen
• DRY MY CLOTHES! It sounds silly but we're spoiled with those drying machines
• Eat Mexican food
• Be with Mom in New Orleans
• Go on a trip with Kyle
• Go to the movie theatre- I haven't been once over here!
• Watch T.V. for hours on end- (I never watch T.V. here and Big Brother will be on this summer!)
• See my nephew, Harper

The perfect example of what I miss about American humor..SNL

 

Kelly and I with Harp last July

I thought I'd miss more things when it came to food once I left the states but I've really been fine.  They all say "peanut butter" is the missing factor when you live abroad but that's not true, I've been able to buy it here.  Another bad habit of mine is ranch dressing, I'm happy to say I've survived without it.  Spain has amazing olive oil and I've been addicted to making my own dressings with it. 

America's obsession

I'm trying my best to live in the present and plan some more trips for June but I can't help thinking about how I'll feel when I get home.  It's been on my mind constantly, I'm thinking it's because Kyle just left.  I also don't have any more big trips planned for the month of April or May.  Let's face it, I'm not here because I enjoy the teaching...I'm here to travel and learn about the language/people..howeeeverrr, sometimes I feel like I've had enough, sometimes I want them to just stop speaking Spanish, or sometimes I just don't want to immerse myself in anything. It's not anything negative they've done, it's just my personality to need my own space every once in a while (hello, only child).  Most of my friends just received the news that they've been accepted to come back to Spain next year.  I'm very happy for them and will keep in touch but I'm also happy with my decision to come home :)

'MERICA...See you on June 25th :) For now, here's to my last few months of an amazing experience!

Albufeira and Lagos

Albufeira is a city in southern Portugal, about a three hour train ride from Lisbon. It is a main tourist destination, due to its coastal location. The city has a population of 22,000, a touristy "new strip", an "old town", and many beaches.  Our weather wasn't suitable for swimming but with a light jacket it was nice in the sunshine.  Our hotel was close to the newer part of town, which we didn't care for.  It was overrun by strange British people and bars/discos. We didn't go out to any of the bars or restaurants in Albufeira, not one.  We did however, eat a LOT of kebabs.  I've had a kebab before because they are all over Spain and extremely delicious.  My mom also loved the kebabs she ate in Sevilla and Granada.  Once I introduced Kyle to one...there was no going back! That's all he craved from then on. 

This is a kebab. They're huge, stuffed with veggies, chicken, garlic yogurt sauce and wrapped in pita bread

 



"A Turkish dish made of meat cooked on a vertical spit, normally veal or beef but also a mixture of these with lamb; a cheaper version of chicken is also found. The dish is also widely known by its Arabic name, shawarma, or in Greek as gyro".



Falesia Beach



Boats and fish = Kyle's happy place


 Since all we did was eat kebabs and walk around in Albufeira, we decided to catch a bus to another southern city in Portugal, Lagos.  Although it was only 20 or 30 kilometers away, it took longer to get there because we made a lot of stops along the way.  We quickly realized that Lagos was less touristy and more beautiful and went back again the following day.  All of the following pictures are of us in Lagos. We walked along the top of the cliffs to reach the famous point of Ponta da Piedade, ate lunch in Praia Dona Ana, visited a museum, the marina, and took lots of pictures (of course).


These are the most popular places to visit in Lagos according to tripadvisor

Lagos has a lot of caves and grottos

 

Yup thats me up there

Our last night in Albufeira just after sunset

The Saturday before Kyle left, we checked out of the hotel and headed back up to Lisbon for the night.  His flight left around noon so we stayed in a hotel near the airport.  We had a nice night and ate at a Brazilian restaurant similar to Texas de Brazil.  Sunday morning was just plain awful and sad :(  I had to get on my bus to leave him at 9am and he stayed behind waiting for his flight.  We had a great time together- the time went quickly! Now I'm looking forward to relaxing and enjoying my last two months in Spain before I'm off to travel again in June.  The day Kyle left, I booked my ticket home to the states.  June 25th will be the day! Exactly 9 months to the date of when I left :)

Sintra and Cascais

Sintra = Portugal's fairytale town right outside of Lisbon.  Sintra is full of royal retreats, estates, castles and buildings from the 8th-9th century, in addition to many buildings completed between the 15th and 19th century.  The most famous building in Sintra is Pena Palace. Built in the 1840s, it is one of Europe's most fantastic palaces.  I had wanted to visit Sintra for a while, but when I realized that Kyle was wanting to see more landscapes and countrysides I thought we would get great views from the palace.  We bought the day pass that Paula had recommended doing so we could visit Sintra and Cascais all in one day. 
 


So..here it is! Pena Palace...or at least what I had dreamed of it being...

 


Womp womp....it was raining :( I still insisted on us going to it though in hopes of the rain going away but it didn't.  You win some and you lose some right? Oh well. We still got to see the insides and beautiful furnishings from the old times.




At least he looks good but that rain and wind combo was pretty harsh




One of the bedrooms in the palace

We weren't in the palace for very long because of the rain.  However, on a positive note...the famous pastries in Sintra, queijadas, were worth the 40 minute train ride.  I also saw these pastries on a foodie show and I wanted to try them once I heard they were cinnamon and cheese filled pastries. 


Queijadas...Kyle says they taste like pecan pies without the actual nuts..all I know is that I loved them



This is apparently the "original" bakery where these yummies come from

Travesseiros, are famous all over Portugal, and it's too bad that I wasn't hungry when we went to this bakery or else I would have tried this one too (I'm regretting it now). These long, sugar coded 'pillows' are best still warm, and they are freshly made all through the day. The outside is a flaky shell, inside filling is with egg yolk and sugar and almond....


Travesseiros

Also worth mentioning are the Pasteis de Belém, or Pasteis de Nata.  They are originally from Belem near Lisbon but they can be found all over Portugal.  These little cups of flakey pastry are filled with an egg and cream custard, often powdered with cinnamon or powdered sugar.  I prefer them warm but they're usually served cold. They are not attractive and sometimes look burnt but they are good.




Nata pastries.. http://casadovalle.blogspot.com.es/2011/03/as-i-have-mentioned-before-i-frequently.html#!/2011/03/as-i-have-mentioned-before-i-frequently.html

Next stop: Cascais, an old fisherman village. Although we had bad luck in Sintra with the rain, Cascais had better weather and we were able to walk around. We didn't pick up a tourist map or ask anyone for directions, which was nice for a change.  As we walked around we stumbled upon the marina and a nice area to sit down for lunch and watch the giant waves and fisherman fishing.


We made this triangle leaving Lisbon-to Sintra-to Cascais-and back to Lisbon




Cascais

 


Cascais

Throughout the trip I kept telling Kyle what was the "popular" thing to eat as we looked at the menus.  I'd say he tried nearly everything you're supposed to eat when you visit Portugal, minus the sardines.  First, they are the kings of ham and cheese sandwiches (Mistos).  One of the best ham and cheese sandwiches we had was at the bus station.  It was on "God Bread" which is another sweet pastry I love.  It's a soft, sweet bread with coconut....with the ham and cheese it was the perfect combo of sweet and salty.

 Pão de Deus can be translated into “God's Bread

 

Then there was the "Bifana" which is so popular in Portugal that McDonalds has it on it's menu. Basically a slice of pork steak in a roll of bread, the pork having been lightly sautéed, sometimes with garlic and/or other spices, so that the meat is warm and juicy. 


McDonald's adapts to every culture!

Next is Bacalhau, THE dish of the Portuguese. It's salted, dried cod that is said to be cooked a different way for every day of the year.  We ate two variations of Bacalhau.  The first was "Bacalhau à Brás", made with shreds of salted cod, onions, fried potatoes and scrambled eggs and usually is garnished with parsley and black olives.


Bacalhau à Brás. Warning, DON'T add salt to this! It's already very salty

Portuguese also have a lot of meat pies and pastries.  Pastries of Bacalhau are also very delicious.  They are full of mashed potatoes, cod, and parsley.


Codfish pastries

After Cascais we went back to Lisbon for the night and relaxed. On Saturday we went to the thieves market, fish market, and walked around a bit before dinner.  We also went to visit the street art, which was a few metro stops away from the city center.

This one is my favorite.  All the buildings seem to be abandoned but the art is cool.

   The next day we were off to Badajoz to stay in my apartment for a couple of nights.  I asked Kyle to cook for Tara and I, so we went to get ingredients for étouffée.  Tara, being from Montreal, speaks French so we asked what étouffée means, or where it comes from. It turns out to literally mean "smothered" or "suffocated", from the verb "étouffer". I'm pretty sure she will be down to visit us sooner than later after listening to us talk about how good the food is in Louisiana.




Cooking shrimp étouffée and fried cod

On Tuesday, Kyle went to my elementary school to have class with my 5th grade students.  The first class was an ask and tell session where they got to know Kyle.  They had some issues pronouncing his name which was cute, "Kai-lay- Lan-ay".  He made sure to mention Alabama and football during his visit :) After class we went to get ready for the second half of the trip, Albufeira.


We went from Badajoz-to Lisbon by bus and-to Albufeira by train

Kyle made it to Lisbon!

I had a blast in Tenerife but I couldn't help but drift off to think about my upcoming trip with Kyle from time to time.  We had been going on 6 months without seeing each other and I couldn't believe that all that time went by so fast.  I remember waking up super early on Wednesday and taking care of all my cleaning, laundry, packing, etc just because I couldn't sleep.  I left for Lisbon around 3 and checked into my hostel- I had my alarm all set for the morning to go to the airport!


Lisbon is a super hilly city (7 main hills) with look out points scattered throughout.  Lisbon is also Europe's sunniest capital- for the most part we had decent weather.

On Thursday I went and waited at Lisbon's airport, which seemed like an eternity.  He was pretty tired and jet lagged (its a brutal trip) but that's expected.  I didn't really think about our room not being ready until 2p.m. so we had to hang outside around Lisbon until it was ready (whoops).  This was the point that we started to be approached by drug dealers. Later, we researched and found out how lax the drug laws are in Portugal.  Within the first couple of hours we were offered drugs left and right.  I guess this is something Lisbon is known for and it got pretty annoying!  Men just kept approaching him asking him if he wanted drugs and we just laughed and walked away from them. 


I'm not even sure what this building is but I took a photo for some Spaniards and they returned the favor and took our picture here :)

Once our room was ready..we were able to lay down and relax.  Our room was in a bed and breakfast type of place in the central part of Lisbon.  We were perfectly located next to everything which was nice.  This was my 4th time in Lisbon so I had an idea of the layout of the city.  I really like Portugal in general, especially Lisbon. I'm more comfortable there than  in Madrid so I had Kyle fly in there.  Also, its a 3 hour bus ride from Badajoz and I'm familiar with the Oriente station which has the bus, metro, and trains (it's also very close to the airport).  I've been reading about Lisbon ever since we left...


"Lisbon is Europe's second-oldest capital (after Athens), once home to the world's greatest explorers like Vasco da Gama, Magellan and Prince Henry the Navigator, becoming the first true world city, the capital of an empire spreading over all continents, from South America (Brazil) to Asia (Macao, China; Goa, India). The former launch pad for many of the world's greatest voyages is now where modern travelers discover..." http://www.golisbon.com/

10 Reasons Why You Should Go to Lisbon

1. CULTURE: It's one of the world's great historical cities, with characteristic and surprising sights, cultural treasures, and a beautiful setting that make it a paradise for walkers and photographers.
 
2. VALUE: It's one of Europe's best values -- officially Western Europe's least expensive capital.
 
3. LOCATION: It's the closest European capital to the United States and just around a 2-hour flight from all the other major European cities.
 
4. CLIMATE: Its mild climate makes it an ideal year-round destination. Even in winter, when most other European cities are freezing, in Lisbon high temperatures rarely go below 10C (50F).
 
5. RESORT: It is the only European capital located so close to sandy beaches, enabling visitors to combine culture with fun by the sea.
 
6. SIZE: It's a compact and intimate city, ideal for a short city break or a longer romantic stay, with a lively café culture and a nightlife that is one of the most vibrant in Europe.
 
7. VARIETY: Its surroundings offer an incredible variety of tourist attractions, from fairytale palaces in one of Europe's most romantic towns (Sintra), to world-class golf and fun in Europe's largest casino in Estoril, to surfing in Cascais or escaping to a natural park in Arrábida,  to dolphin-watching in Setúbal.
 
8. GATEWAY: It makes a perfect base to explore many of Portugal's most outstanding towns and villages.
 
9. SAFETY: It's one of the safest European capitals. Tourists are always automatic targets in all big cities and visitors should beware of pickpocketing in Lisbon, but serious random violent crime is practically unheard of in this city.
 
10. WELCOMING: It's a friendly city with a cosmopolitan population, welcoming to all visitors and families with children, and open to minorities and alternative lifestyles
 
The last time I was in Lisbon was for my 23rd birthday with Kate.  She brought up a good point that Lisbon is like New Orleans.  It's not the most beautiful city but it has a lot of character and also a street car!  Kyle and I didn't ride it because it had a long line (more tourists where there this time) but I have pictures from when Kate and I were on it.




Us in the back





The inside of the car





Lisbon street car

 

Us at another look out point.  On our way up the hill to Alfama, the old part of the city that has the "Thieves Market" every Saturday. Alfama was occupied by the fishermen and the poor: its fame as a poor neighbourhood continues to this day. The 1755 Lisbon Earthquake caused considerable damage throughout the capital, but the Alfama survived with little damage.

We went out to dinner the first night at a very popular seafood restaurant called Ramiro, which was aired on Anthony Bourdain's T.V. show.  This moment was when we discovered how amazing Portuguese bread and cheese is...almost toooo good!  Excuse me ahead of time for talking a lot about the food during our trip but it was just that delicious.  I ordered garlic shrimp and he got snails and mussels but I think we both would have been happy with the bread and cheese.



Portuguese bread.  It reminded me of English Muffins (which I haven't had since I left the U.S.)

This trip was nice because I was able to relax more than when I usually travel with my girlfriends.  I booked us this bed and breakfast because it didn't have one negative review..and everyone raved about the owner and her impressive breakfast spread (I love breakfast).  When we first got there, we were a little creeped out with the decorations.  I was worried at first that I had made a mistake but once we got to know Paula, the owner, we realized she was a super hard working and nice woman. Our room was an explosion of bubble gum pink, I'm talking everytttthingggg was pink and Kyle's face was priceless when he saw it.   The breakfast was amazing and didn't fail to impress! This woman looked as if she hadn't slept in weeks and I'm sure she hasn't slept properly in years because she cleans during the day and baked goodies at night while the guests slept.  We woke up to an array of cakes, cookies, fruit, pastries, meat pies, bread, eggs, coffee, juice...you name it.  I was in heaven because I only get dull food at hostels so this was a big upgrade, plus I have a serious sweet tooth.



This was a crushed cookie and coffee cake called "bolo de bolacha".  It had layers of cream and crumbled cookies with cinnamon and coffee flavors




Her dining room looked like it should be on an episode of hoarders but once you found the food it was yummy

A special cake for Easter Sunday

The cake on the left is a traditonal Portuguese cake they eat on Easter

I left Paula a great review like everyone else because she was a sweet woman and gave us her recommendations for local restaurants.  We went to one of her restaurants and Kyle ordered rabbit (right before Easter) and I ordered soup.  Paula also gave us a heads up about buying our tickets to Sintra (next post) which ended up saving us money.