Lisbon & the "end" of an adventure

Here we are.....my last stop! How did the last 6 weeks go by so fast?!  Where's Zack Morris and his ever-so-convenient 'time-out' when you need it?! Sigh.

So as I left off in my last post, I had a dreaded overnight train from Madrid to Lisbon.  11 whopping hours. 11!!! That's disgusting.  It was the only rail option to get me to Lisbon and trust me, at this point, after nearly 6 weeks of training it, I was ready to hop on a flight to save my sanity.
 As luck would have it though, there were no one-way flights less than $300 so guess what, this girl sucked it up, crossed her fingers and got on the train.

My nerves were kicked into high gear when I got to the train station and saw the MOBS of backpackers sprawled out, waiting on the floor.  Dear God, they can't ALL be waiting for the same train, right??? Uh.... Yeah... As soon as the platform number was posted, it was like Black Friday and everyone got up and ran. Shoot me now.  No offense to backpackers, I'm sure they're all lovely people but I walked by a lot of them and I cursed my over sensitive sense of smell.  So I got on the train, found my seat and hoped for the best.  A few minutes later all you could hear was yelling.  Not some ordinary yelling...yelling as if someone was being attacked.  Everyone looked back to see what was happening.  I couldn't make out what exactly this guy was yelling about but I saw him getting on and off the train, flailing his arms around and just going ape shit.  After a few minutes, things kind of cooled down and the train started moving.  Score...the seat next to me was empty.  I felt a sense of relief and made myself as cozy as possible.  Oh let me add that the overnight train from Madrid to Lisbon does NOT have power outlets at your seat. What. The. Eff. Did I mention that the ride was 11 hours long??? PSA - FULLY CHARGE YOUR DEVICES BEFOREHAND.  Anyways, I saw a guy walk down the aisle with bike tires in his hands. Ahhh...I recalled seeing this guy earlier with a bike so it was him who was going nuts earlier.  He must have been told he couldn't bring the bike on or something and wound up having to take it apart. So yeah, you remember that empty seat beside me? Not so empty anymore. Of course it was the crazy guy's seat.  He sat down and I nearly gagged.  Maybe getting all riled up caused his BO to escalate but frigggggg....this was going to be a LONG ASS 11 hours.  Whoa, this train story has gotten really long. My bad. Okay let me speed through it. Basically, train staff came and moved him. Not sure why or to where but I didn't care because he was gone and I could breathe again.  Slapped on my sleep mask and passed out for pretty much the entire ride. THANK GOODNESS.

We got into Lisbon at 7:30am, so the plan was to take a power nap once I got into my apartment and then tackle the day.  That nap didn't happen.  It was my friend Devo's birthday so what was supposed to be a simple text greeting, turned into 2 hours of ridiculousness over Skype with him and another friend, Amit.  I'd love to post some of the hilarious screenshots but they've got just as many on me so it's not safe.  I promise I'll get to some photos soon though...

The apartment I was staying in was right smack in the middle of the historical centre of Lisbon and was the perfect location to explore the city from.  I don't know what it was about Lisbon but I fell in love with it right away. It also helped that I was no longer roasting in an oven. Thank goodness for mid-20s weather.

Even though I'd never been to San Francisco, Lisbon reminded me so much of it.  The hilly roads, row houses, trams and even their very own Golden Gate Bridge. Okay, so it's not called that but it's pretty much identical to it (it's called 'Ponte 25 de Abril').

One of the first things I noticed, besides the bridge, was a castle at the top of a hill, so what did I do? I went up to it of course! Castelo de São Jorge offered such incredible panoramic views of the city from so many different parts of it...definitely a DO NOT MISS if you're in Lisbon.  A lot of people trek it up to the hill but there's an elevator that also takes you to the top of the hill if you're not up for the hike.

They even had peacocks!

The rest of the day and evening were spent wandering and just staring in awe at how lovely the city was.

Oh before I forget, I need to mention that I did NOT find any place that served chicken like Nando's!! I was hoping for some authentic peri-peri sauce action but that clearly didn't happen.

Anyways....

The next day was a toss-up. Either I went to Sintra, which is a town outside of Lisbon that's dotted with royal palaces and romantic landscape and architecture, or I went to Belém, which was a lot closer and LESS romantic. Guess which I chose?

So, Portugal has these insanely delicious pastries called Pastéis de Nata.  It's a custard tart that is beyond anything you've ever tried before.  I had one on my first day and was hooked.  How can you not love something that you get to pour extra sugar and cinnamon on??? My kinda pastry.  Anyways, my friend Tiago, who is from Lisbon, told me that if I go to Belém, I have to stop by the original house where these pastries were created, Pastéis de Belém.  That of course, was the first thing I did.  This place was like 53rd & 6th at 3am.  No joke.  Since I waited in line for 20 minutes, I was not going to walk out with just one. That wouldn't make any sense, right? How many I had is not important but GEEEEEEZZZZZZ they were definitely the holygrail of pastries ;)

I needed to do some serious walking after that "snack" so headed off to Torre de Belém. I must say, they had a very efficient staircase system  It's a tower, so the stairwells are spiral and narrow, allowing only one-way traffic.  There are several levels to the tower so rather than have people fight their way through, they have what are essentially traffic signals to get people up and down. Seriously impressed.

After a few hours in Belém, I headed back to my apartment and finally met Helen, who was staying in the other room.  She's a student from Spain who just wrapped up her exams so was in full party mode. She invited me out with her and her friends that night so thought, why not?!  I went out to grab dinner (wound up getting some greasy Asian food) and did a little evening wander through town.

Then the rain started and temperature dropped which don't make for optimal conditions to go out in so I pulled a granny move and bailed on Helen.  I know Lisbon is known for it's nightlife but dangggggg, this girl came home at 6:30am. I never would have survived.  This blog post wouldn't even exist.

And just like that, it was my last day in Lisbon...the last day of my Euro-romp. How??? Seriously, there were times that it felt like the trip went by so fast but then when I thought back to Italy, particularly Amalfi Coast where my trip started, it felt like a lifetime ago.  Definitely a bittersweet day though.

Last day meant last day to over-indulge and I did not disappoint.  First stop was Amorinha which is known for it's artisan gelato. Boom. Breakfast done.

We've got mango, tiramisu and stracciatella (weird combo I know but I needed that mango taste....I'm Indian).

Next stop....walk up to Alfama.  Well, I technically didn't walk up to it.  It's up on the hill near the Castle so I took the elevator.  Quick history: this part of Lisbon wasn't demolished in the 1755 earthquake like the lower part of the city was so it was like a step back in time with their very narrow, hilly roads and tiled buildings. GORGEOUS. Everything about this place is friggin GORGEOUS.

Found an amazing viewpoint

I had the most epic lasagna at lunch.  I couldn't even get through half of it.  I don't know how it's humanly possible.

I did walk DOWN the hill though back to the city centre and wandered the shops.  Did I mention that Lisbon is filled with the coolest street performers??  I can't even tell you how much time I passed watching/listening to them.  I posted a video of Mr. Bucketman on my Facebook and if you haven't seen it already, please go check him out!!! Who needs to spend money on instruments when you have pots and pans?  Again, so many talented performers...  I guess they don't call Lisbon Europe's Live Music Capital for nothing!  I wonder if I can post videos to this blog?? Hmmm.  Probably not gonna happen though because it's midnight and my brain is still in vacay mode. Sorry!

As usual, I was craving Thai food so that was the plan for my final dinner of this trip.  I looked up the top Thai restos and found one that was in Bairro Alto, a hip area filled with endless bars and restaurants.

I was so pumped, you have no idea.  Walked over, got more and more excited as I got closer and then I reached my destination. Where's the restaurant??? I was exactly where Google Maps told me to go and at the correct street address but no Thai restaurant :(  Despite there being a million and one options around me, it took me a while to pick a place to eat but of course when I did, the food didn't impress. At. All.  Sangria to the rescue though.  I swear I'm not a lush but you can't just order a glass of Sangria....you gotta go big or go home...Pitchers all the way!

I took a nice, scenic stroll home and that was it. Packed and hit the sack. 

Maybe I should have attempted to have a fun night out since it was the last but I was perfectly content with my Lisbon experience and didn't feel the need. 

I won't get into running for my life to catch my flight (made it with the "final boarding call" lights flashing) OR the fact that there were still people boarding an HOUR after the plane was supposed to take off (seriously WHY??? HOW??? WHY DID I RUN THEN???) OR the fact that the washrooms were out of service while we sat waiting for 1.5 hours on the tarmac but I will say that if you're ever flying Air Canada Rouge and are expecting In-Seat Entertainment, you need to bring your own device (iPad, iPhone, Laptop, etc.), so make sure your chargers are handy! They do offer iPads to rent for $10 but come on, put a screen on the seatback!!!! End of rant.

Okay now for a little bit of retrospective...I promise I won't get too deep....

Going into this trip, I really had no idea what to expect.  I'm an introvert so I knew that being alone wouldn't be such an issue.  I loved being able to spend the day doing what I wanted, when I wanted and not having to compromise on anything. It was my time to be selfish and do me. Yes, there were lonely days. Yes, there were times I wish I had someone to share experiences with, someone else's gelato flavours that I could try but at the end of the day, I wouldn't change a thing.  I had nobody to depend on but myself.  If I needed something, it was on me to get.  If I didn't know where to go, it was on me to figure out.  I tested my capabilties way more than I ever thought I could and probably would have never would have had I not plopped myself down halfway across the world. There's something incredibly empowering about that.

I met incredible people on this trip, visited places I had only dreamt of and spent 6 weeks in a completely different mindset than I ever could have here at home. We really do put too much pressure on ourselves to have it "all figured out".  Life is about growing, changing, taking chances and most importantly, LIVING. Truly living. 

I'm not ashamed to say that I'm 32, single and at a career-crossroads. I have NO idea what I'm going to do next and I'm quite okay with that. 

I've had an amazing life so far. I have ZERO right to complain about anything.  I'm blessed with the best family and friends anyone could ask for.  I've had incredible career experiences and stories to last a lifetime but it took me making a conscious decision to take a real break that allowed me to travel like I have this year. I have no regrets at all. There's no job or paycheck that can inspire you like traveling does and it really does put everything, especially our North American "problems", into perspective.

Maybe I'll take a completely different career path. Maybe I won't. Maybe I'll meet my Prince Charming. Heck, that's highly doubtful. Maybe I've unleashed a travel monster that's going to take me on a whirlwind adventure. Maybe I'll lay down roots here at home.  Who knows. All I know is that I'll be just fine. 

Before I sign off, I just want to give a huge thank you to YOU. Yes you for taking the time out of your day to join me on my adventures (and reading through my long winded stories!). I came home to way more impressive stats than I ever expected with readers in countries I don't even know a soul... Power of the internet, I tell ya. I hope you enjoyed the ride! For those who gave me feedback, thank you! You truly helped keep this thing going. 

This adventure may have just ended but it's really just the beginning...

xo's