Darren Ting. Margaret Lee. Rachel Hung.
Off to the country of Portugal and Spain.
1st day: Edinburgh-Madrid-Lisbon.
Don't ask the obvious question why. It is way cheaper travelling through Madrid to get to Lisbon thank Edinburgh TO Lisbon.
First of all, I have to, have to, have to rave about the hostel we stayed in.
Living Lounge Hostel Lisbon
The best hostel I have stayed in since I came to Europe.
It has a private video room with an array of films that you can watch, a bar, an old style kitchen with long wooden tables (very Harry Potter-ish) and it's bedrooms are ALL themed.
Yes.
THEMED.
Ours is 'Blow' by Dirty Cop (no idea who on earth that is) and it is covered in multi coloured spots which looks good to lick off the wall.
Colourful baubles = happy dreams
The kitchen There are 3 floors in total and each floor, I repeat, Each Floor... has a common room that is stylishly decorated.
Our floor was entitled 'Friends' - The Garden, and yes, they had faux grass, park chairs and also a bird cage.
An indoor garden - what more can you ask for??We stayed one night and left the next morning for Sintra.
The UNESCO world heritage site - apparently it's castle is second to none.
Let's compare it to MY favourite castle of all time - the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany.
Hm...
Ok, now let's compare a postcard shot of both places...
Hmmm...
Based on the mere fact that Disney modelled his Magic Kingdom castle out of Neuschwanstein Castle, I think the latter wins.
After 3 hours of photo taking in the castle (yes, over the top I know), we headed of to the next stop which as Quinto de Reguilera.
Not expecting much, I was very much bowled over when we entered this DOTA- like map.
Full of secret passages and underground pathways, we got ourselves very much lost in its large terrain.
Fountains sprouted in the most unlikely places, we came across an unused well called the 'initiation well' that seemed to sprout out from the centre of the earth. We also stumbled upon a water basin with flowers, tendrils, and greenery covering every inch of it.
Lovely.
We stayed the night in Sintra, at this rather dodgy hostel that was above a bar called 2 Squared Hostel. It was €17 per night for a 6 bed-mix dorm. Not the cleanest nor the brightest hostel unfortunately and the toilet is eww... but alright for students who are travelling on a budget.
The next day dawned and saw us putting our organisational and planning skills to the test.
In one day, we had to visit 3 places, all accessible only by bus and also according to a very rigid timetable. It did not help with the fact that as soon as we stepped out of our hostel, the sky began to pour.
My hair! Destroyed.The first place was to Moor Palace, a supposedly beautiful building with huge interiors, 1000 doors and rooms (or something like that, you get the idea) that seemed almost impossible to pass it up.
However, according to the timetable we had, we only have about 1 hour and 30 mins to spend in Moor Palace in order to catch our next bus which is to, Capo Da Rocha, the most Western point of the Europe continent. If we missed that bus, we can wave bye bye to Capo Da Rocha and also our final destination Cais Cais. In fact, we will have to start devising another way to get back to Lisbon as Moor Palace is right in the middle of nowhere.
Made it to Moor Palace we did, and also to Capo Da Rocha with the one and only bus that day.
To be honest... don't come here. Ain't worth the increased adrenaline and cortisol levels.Capo Da Rocha Explained:
After Capo Da Rocha, we took the final bus to Cais Cais which is a very popular beach during the summer months. October is no summer month and with the rain, yes, the beach was deserted.
Oh, how much we love you Edinburgh!But we were there anyway, so please do not complain.
The final stop was Lisbon, checking back into our lovely, lovely hostel.
The next day saw us going to Belem.
City of the famous Portugese Egg Tart and also the Monument of Discoveries that symbolises Henry the Navigator and his voyage across the world. It was €1.50 for students to ride the elevator up to the top of the monument where we got a bird's eye view of the area. Imagine how happy we were with the perks we get with our student status.
Until we went to the Belem Fortress and climbed to the top.
And saw the exact same view.
For Free.
#$%^&*!!!!
€1.50 can get me 2 Portugese Egg Tarts!!! Bah.
But of course I had to get my money's worth out of the €1.50 I paid.
We got back just before sunset and wondered down the tiny streets of Alfama, getting lost in its sea of mazes.
This is another good reminder that I should never grow fatter than what I am now - God forbid, I will get stuck in one of those alleyways and die a slow and hungry death.
Castelo de Sao Jorge which is situated right in the middle of Alfama was easy enough to find- Not, but worth every bit of the effort put in. Lots of turrets and courtyards to walk into, stones and rocks of different shapes and sizes, stairs that lead to a inch-wide platform overlooking the city... in conclusion, every corner was a photo taking opportunity.
Which is exactly what we did until the light faded too much to support our photo taking frenzy.
The last day in Lisbon was spent wondering around the city at such a leisurely pace that we even had time to stop at a cafe to have tea. I can get use to this money spending, easy peasy lifestyle - pronto.
Most of our meals were eaten in restaurants, aiming for seafood and yes, seafood is abundant in Portugal.
With all my travels, I have to say, the best seafood I ever had is still in Hokkaido, at 10 times the price of other places.
Snow crab in Portugal... Mmm.. Delish:-
Snow Crab in Hokkaido... Alive and kicking...
How to fight?!??!?!
0 comments:
Post a Comment