I arrived early because my train got in around 9am and then I lost an hour changing time zones so it was 8am. Luckily, my hostel was in walking distance to the train station. I walked in and was immediately greeted by a guy who was all smiles and all English-speaking. It was so nice because prior to this, I had stopped to get a pastry and couldn’t remember how to even speak English myself—I was saying “please” in Spanish, “thank-you” in French and just basically nothing when I was asked a question. He offered me breakfast with fresh squeezed orange juice and was so friendly when I asked to store my stuff until check-in. I even had a chance to change and use internet and it was super-fast internet. J That’s such a luxury. 
The Se' (Church)
Next, the guy even planned out my day. Sometimes, that’s all I need because when I go places alone, sights kind of all blur together. The castles begin to seem the same (unless they look like one’s from Disney). So I followed the route he gave me. I went to the Castle of Sao _____. Tried to take my time and at an apple as I stared at the view from the gardens. It was incredible and you see the whole city, including the suspension bridge that looks exactly like the Golden Gate in San Francisco. I couldn’t help but feel incredibly lonely all of the sudden, because I often get bouts of sadness that come on suddenly in crowded places or beautiful sceneries when I have no one to turn to to comment on the view with. So I cried with my sunglasses on. No one was the wiser and I was happy about that. Luckily, I steal napkins wherever I go, so I had a stash in my purse to choose from.
View from Above of Lisbon.
Pretty castle gardens.
Inside the Castle.
The Arch near my hostel.
To make myself feel better, I decided to try to be the typical girl and see if chocolate was the cure. I found a pastry place near my hostel because the castle and the Se’ is not far from it. I sat down with a big chocolate-filled cake and a small sugar donut with carmel filling. Then two American girls walked in. I could tell by how they talked.
We chatted for a while and they listened to me vent about my blah feelings and they said I should join them in going out to a nice Portugese seafood dinner and an Irish Pub after. I told them, “yes! An Irish Pub!!”. At my hostel before I left that morning, I tried to ask around if anyone was celebrating St. Patty’s Day. No one really even knew what it was because they were all from Portugal and they apparently don’t celebrate the college national holiday here. So I was stoked to hear I would have to find friends while celebrating alone in a pub. This invite made me day, so after saying goodbye and agreeing on a meeting time, I went shopping. And spent.WAY. TOO.MUCH. MONEY. But I bought a bathing suit (it’s red, Mom!) and a dress and some perfume cuz I ran out of my other kind. So stoked on the purchases so I tried not to burst my first European shopping trip happy bubble by reminding myself that I can now stay 2 less days in Europe. Eh. Whatevs.
So I went off to Belem, where it’s more of a place of monuments and cool museums. I got there kind of late cuz I took my sweet time and I got off the wrong tram stop at one point, but I was okay with that. Because like I said, I get kind of jaded by all the castles and buildings and monuments after awhile—they all seem the same. Sad to say….
Cool Statues.
The Monestary in Belem.
Passed by the extremely cool looking Monestary. Then, I headed for the Torre. It was a former lookout tower for the area. On the way, I saw this big thing that was dedidcated to Vasca De Gama for when he set sail for the Americas. That was pretty sweet.
When I got to the Torre, I asked a guy to take my picture in front of it. He was wearing a Yankees jersey, so I asked where he was from. He said San Francisco. And so our 20 minute chat begun. By the end, we realized we missed the last hour of the Torre’s opening time. Eh, we said. Then his friend emerged from the shops and offered me a beer. We sat down and all chatted for awhile. Mario and Adam had been backpacking Europe since Decemeber. They’d been a lot to Eastern Europe, and everywhere else too, and to almost all of the major Futbol team’s games around Europe. I hope to meet them in Barcelona and maaaybbe go to a game they have the weekend I’m there. We went to the famous pastry shop nearby. They were custurd-filled little mini-pie things that have brown cinnamen on top. They were cheap, and the lines were crazy. I got two because I didn’t realize how filling they’d be. The places to sit, well there were sooooo many. Didn’t realize how popular this place was, but apparently they need 4 sections of a building to house everyone eating these pastries. They were awesome.
Dedicated to Vasca De Gama.
The Torre.
I parted with Mario and Adam bc it was time to meet Kerry and Mary, the two girls I met earlier, for dinner.
Mom and Dad, you’ll be sooo proud. I ate fish! I ate tuna, and cod and salmon. My dish was a cod with cheese dish that resembled mac and cheese and had some potatoes in it too, so it wasn’t that fishy. I had some of Kerry’s tuna and it was amazing and Mary’s salmon was awesome as well. We sat and ate for hours and I had the Portuguese Porto wine. Very different. But still yummy. We all shared a chocolate dessert and I absolutely loved these moments, just enjoying Portugal with amazing company.
We headed to the nearby Irish pub, but it was not happening. No crazy St. Patrick’s Day partying like we’d hoped. We ran into Mario and Adam because I told them to meet us there. Then we all decided to go to the other Irish Pub in town bc it might be more crowded. And it was. It was amazing. And there was a live band and lots of beer and people from all over and the night ended amazingly. And late.
And so the end to a very emotionally-draining day. Because that’s how traveling alone is. You have extreme highs and extreme lows. And sometimes, my lows are almost unbearable.
So today, I’m off to Sintra. And then I’m meeting up with Marina, whom I met in Scotland on my Highland’s tour. Excited to paint the town with a local!
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