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.

Tenerife

Another month has blown by! I'm not sure why time is going so fast but I'm now happy to say Kyle has made it to Spain to visit. Before his arrival I went to the Canary Islands with my roommate Tara for 4 nights.  On Friday we missed school and got a head start on our flight to Tenerife (one of the seven islands).  Tenerife is the biggest of the islands and also has the volcano Teide, which is the 3rd largest in the world.

We stayed in a hostel called Lagarto, which is owned by Italians.  Although the hostel was in the middle of no where, we had a nice time there.  Tara and I had just been to Valencia the weekend before this trip so it was nice to escape the usual tour of a big city.  Instantly from the plane ride I thought of Costa Rica when touching down in Tenerife.  I hadn't seen landscapes similar to those in Costa Rica since I left in 2010.  We instantly felt calm and relaxed once we arrived, transitioning into a pure vacation mode!


Tenerife landscape

 


Beaches in the north

The first day we wandered around the area of the hostel and discovered a beach with natural pools.  The water was super cold so I didn't go in but Tara did. 


The natural pools- with the ocean water flowing in and out

More natural pools..and some super powerful waves

 


Anyone who knows me knows that I don't care for swimming but even if I did...I wouldn't mess around with this water! It was freezing cold and super strong.  It makes for good pictures though :)

Tenerife was a trip of firsts.  It was our first vacation away from major European cities.  We hitch-hiked for the first time (don't worry it was super safe else we wouldn't have done it).  We also relied upon www.couchsurfing.com to help us since we were so secluded.  Neither Tara or I had used couch surfing before, which is usually used to sleep on random peoples' couches for free in exchange of meeting new people around the world.  It is a popular website that uses various ways to verify the hosts and surfers in order to guarantee a safe and happy experience.  Tara had booked our hostel in Tenerife but we knew we should have rented a car, so I decided to contact couchsurfer hosts in Tenerife to see if they had free time to show us around the island.  I got three responses from hosts and decided to choose one named Rayco.  He's a local from the island and a working artist.  He offered to come pick us up and show us around for the day (driving his car of course).  We had no other way of really exploring the island by foot so we went with it! Guess what? It was an awesome experience.  Not only was he super friendly and easy to talk with (in Spanish) but he was generous and didn't charge us for gas or anything.  He drove us up into the Anaga mountains and around Santa Cruz (the capital).  He literally spent all day showing us around and we stopped for lunch and gelato too.  He even offered us to stay at his place for free...but we already had our room at the hostel so we passed.  We wouldn't have learned about Tenerife from a local's perspective if it weren't for Rayco, we are very appreciative of the time he spent with us.


I was probably way too close to that cliff but it's a great shot!




The "Lion head" rock in the Anaga mountains

 


It's pretty cool! Looks just like a lion huh?

Me on one of the "black sand beaches" the black sand is from the Teide volcano.

A fisherman's bar where we ate after we had been walking for hours

Tara and I had walked all day alongside the coast and ended up at this restaurant by the ocean.  It is one of the most popular in the area and had about a 45 minute waiting list, worth the wait!  We ordered what everyone else seemed to be ordering, which are the dishes below.


This is Gofio -  produced locally and is added to many foods and also to warm milk as a drink. It is made by grinding toasted cereals such as wheat flour, barley, corn or chickpeas. This is combined with water and made into balls, called pella. It takes the place of bread in a meal. It can be used in soups.

 


Typical food of the Canary Islands tends to be simple dishes of grilled meat and fish with papas arrugadas (salted potatoes).  It's typical to put "MOJO" on the potatoes.  Mojo - This is a piquant sauce which may be orange, red, or green depending on its ingredients that is eaten with fish or meat or potatoes and is the most typical food of the Canaries. This dressing has olive oil, vinegar, garlic, salt and spices. For red mojo, the spice is paprika. For green mojo, the spice is coriander, and it may contain cilantro and parsley.

Remember when I said I don't typically swim or even get in water?  Well I still can't believe what I'm about to say...I went scuba diving with sea turtles.  Yeah, diving! No formal training or preparation was included in the price either. Just a quick run down in Spanish, a little translation help from an Italian, and there you have it...scuba diving.  The owner of the hostel is the guy on the right (Matia from Italy) and he asked us if we wanted to go on this diving with turtles excursion.  For 50 euros (transportation, professional diver, equipment, air tank) we signed up!  I've been snorkeling in Costa Rica before, but never diving.  The professional explained how to breathe with the oxygen tank and went over a few hand signals but that was about it.  We went to the south of Tenerife for the diving because there are always sea turtles in that area.  I'm not sure where I sparked up the courage to do this considering I thought I almost died once white water rafting and swore never to put myself in scary positions again.  Whatever, I did it! 

The instructor and I giving the "everything is okay" sign

 


Tara getting in the water ready to dive

It was a good thing that it was just Tara and I because we sure needed a LOT of time to adjust to the breathing.  We were both terrified at first and almost chickened out and went home.  It was very hard to get over the concept of only relying on the oxygen tank while being submersed below the water.  Tara tried to go diving first but had a little anxiety about the situation and ended up stepping out while I went under. Once I finally got the hang of it (and the instructor calmed me down), I went under and stayed under for about 30-40 minutes.  It was amazing! I saw lots of fish and before I knew it....a giant sea turtle.  The instructor had a hold of me the entire time and swam me over by the turtle.  It literally got an inch or two from my face and he told me to touch it but I freaked out and said no.  It was so awesome to be so close to it though! Matia (Italian) was taking underwater photos the whole time.  I am currently trying to get those pictures back from him! I really hope that the one with me by the turtle turns out well because it was a great experience.


The volcano Teide (with snow on the tip) from the plane



View of the island from my plane

Overall I stayed in Tenerife for 4 nights and left Tara early to get ready for Kyle's arrival.  We had a great time and saw a lot of the island.  Teide (the volcano) wasn't open for the public to hike it because it still had snow on it while we were there.  You could see if from certain angles though which was beautiful.  The landscapes, mountains, the ocean, the food, hostel..everything was amazing.  We even tried to have a night out with 4 Italians one of the nights but it ended up being a bust and the night life was a little strange.  I left Tenerife on a Tuesday morning, landed in Seville, caught a bus to Badajoz, stayed there for the night and headed of to Lisbon the next day. Kyle was due to land on Thursday, March 28!

Las Fallas, part 3

I've covered a basic introduction to Valencia and the festival, the events, the fires, the fireworks, etc..now on to the food, typical fallero/a outfits, the lights, and the City of Arts and Sciences.



Paella from "Baldo" restaurant in the city center.  Made with chicken and rabbit

Paella (pa ay yah) is a very famous dish in the country of Spain and was created in a village outside of Valencia.  They argue that you haven't had real paella until you've eaten it in Valencia, the home to this yummy dish.  The original paella is cooked with veggies, rice, chicken, and rabbit.  There are many variations of it; seafood, veggie, black paella (made with squid ink), and fideau (made with noodles instead of rice).  We knew we had to taste this dish since we were only visiting for a few days.  I think we ended up eating it three or four times.  Once in a restaurant and the rest on the streets.  Since Las Fallas is a community event, what better than to cook huge pots of paella to bring everyone together?



Different types of paella served to go in the streets

The waiter bringing out Fideau (with noodles) which is the type we ate

Black paella.  Tinted from squid ink

yum

Next to paella, there was a frenzy of fried goodies stands EVERYWHERE! Churros for days, fried pumpkin pastries, and many more.  This part of the festival reminded me of the 4th of July.  I tried the pumpkin pastries because I love things all pumpkin but either mine were bad or they aren't really pumpkin because I didn't taste it :(


pumpkin buñuelos

The drink of choice for Valencianos is horchata, so of course I tried that too.  I loved horchata when I lived in Costa Rica.  It was amazing.  Turns out that in the Latin American countries, they make it out of rice milk and cinnamon.  In Valencia, it's made out of "chufas" which are tigernuts.  The taste was different, I wasn't too fond of it.  I'll stick with the Latin American version :)


A famous Horchata shop

Fartons are the pastries on the right.  It's typical to dip them into your horchata, just like they dip their churros in thick melted chocolate.

There were also hundreds of markets set up all around the city too.  Selling rings, bandanas, junk, candy, toys, firecrackers, you name it.  I'm guessing these stands were set up for the tourists because the locals were all busy doing their Falla duties and marching around in their princess outfits :)



The first Falla girl I saw

These outfits cost a lot of money according to the locals.  They are made of silk and gold.  They were very nice and I'm sure every Valencian girl wants to be a Fallera to wear these dresses and feel like a princess

The hair do...

 


Men dress up too

The babies on their way to offer the flowers

 


Adorable

If you are still following this super long post about Valencia then cool..because this is my favorite part :) the lights!  These lights were in an international neighborhood called Ruzafa.  They were amazing and played music while giving off a light show every thirty minutes or so.  They were playing some Black Eyed Peas from what I heard.

 


This year they honored the London Tower

 


These are the past light displays

 


I loved walking through the street.  It felt as if I was in Disneyworld or something special.

This weekend was non-stop touring...Tara and I took some time to escape the Falla festival to visit the famous City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia.  It was well worth the 20 minute walk alongside a pretty park to reach the super modern architecture.  The "City" consists of museums and an oceanographic park.  We didn't pay to enter to anything because we didn't have much time and the views from the outside were cool enough.

 


A park in the shape of a man laying down..with slides and places to climb all over..looks fun!

 

 


Simple and to the point...

The view from the bridge

What an eventful and amazing weekend in Valencia. Maybe I will be returning one day when it's a little warmer so I can enjoy the beach (the city sits on the Mediterranean). Until then, I think I have enough memories to last :)