PORTUGAL: LISBON

I went to Lisbon! Katie, Karly, and Sarah Jane flew out on Thursday night, and I met up with them on Friday morning. I originally didn't book this trip with them because I didn't know when my clinicals were going to be, but once I found out when they were, I was able to book the trip! (My clinicals are this week! Wish me luck!)

I flew out early Friday morning and watched the beautiful sunrise from my window seat! It was a quick flight, and I had no one sitting in the middle seat! I went with my family friend Kyle, and we landed at 6:50 a.m. before taking an Uber to the hostel to meet up with the rest of the group. 

We stayed at the Lisbon Destination Hostel, and it was amazing! The lobby had plants everywhere, and we were in a really good location around the city. Once we met up with the group, we stopped at a grocery store to get some snacks before our excursion later in the morning. 

We booked a snorkeling, kayaking, and cliff jumping tour at a nearby beach, and it was so much fun! 

The weather could not have been more perfect. Even on the other days we were in Lisbon, there was not a cloud in the sky, and the temperature was at least in the 80's every day. 

This trip to Lisbon was extra fun because, besides our normal group, we had two special guests: Kyle and Karly's older brother Jack, who was visiting last minute for the week. Even better, we were celebrating Sarah Jane's and Kyle's birthdays.

Before starting the tour, we got into our gear before kayaking out to the island, as you can see in the photo above, to start snorkeling. While we were getting ready, we met a group of guys that were on the tour with us who graduated from UW Madison. Even crazier, one of them was from Cedarburg, Wisconsin!

While snorkeling, we saw cuttlefish, sea urchins, starfish, and sea cucumbers! I loved snorkeling, but nothing can compare to snorkeling in Roatan. I wish I had brought a waterproof camera because we weren't able to bring our phones, and my tour guide does not have the best photography skills. 

A photo of me holding a starfish our tour guide found!

Even with the sun out, the water was super cold. At first, I was going to skip out and just wear my suit, but I made the right choice by wearing the wet suit. 

After snorkeling, we kayaked to the other side of the beach and climbed through a cave to get to the cliffs we were going to jump off of. It was low tide, so we could only jump off once, but I'm still glad we were able to do it. 

Once we got back to the beach, we packed up the gear and played a bit of beach volleyball before driving back to Lisbon. 

Once back at the hostel, we got ready to head to dinner. Karly's brother, Jack, met a guy named Felix from Australia and asked if he could tag along with us for dinner. Of course, we didn't say no; the more, the merrier! 

I talked to Felix for a bit, and he was super cool! He just graduated from high school and was spending the rest of the year traveling and working as a ski instructor. Before coming to Portugal, he spent a month in Japan working at a ski resort. After Portugal, he's off to Poland to work at another resort! How cool! Of course, I had to talk about snow skiing and water skiing in the US with my family. 

You would think I've gotten sick of food halls, but they are just too good! We went to Time Out Market, and it might have taken my top spot for favorite food hall. 

For dinner, I got garlic shrimp and an Aperol Spritz. Amazing! 

After dinner, we all walked to the marina to watch the sunset. 

I have been in desperate need of the sun and the ocean, so it was so nice to relax and watch the sunset with all my friends. 

A group left to head to a rooftop bar while Emma, Katie, and I followed the sound of music to a DJ. 

We danced together for a bit before meeting up with the rest of the group and ending the night playing Cards Against Humanity with a few drinks. I am awful at this game. We played through the entire deck, and I only won once.

The next morning, we were up bright and early to head to our surfing lesson! We stopped at the grocery store again to get more snacks and drinks for our beach day. 

While at the grocery store, my friend Emma thought she got a sunscreen stick, but instead ended up with a neon green zinc stick. The poor tour guide thought we were crazy for how hard we were laughing as she smeared it all over her face. 

I was so sad because we couldn't take any photos while we were at our surfing lesson! I have no proof, but take my word for it, I got up and surfed!

I thought since I've paddleboarded many times before that it would be a breeze, but it was more difficult than I thought. It was frustrating because one moment you would get up and ride the whole wave, and the next wave you would fall instantly. But I did get up a handful of times. 

After our lesson, we decided to stay and spend the rest of our morning and mid-afternoon relaxing at the beach we were at, Carcavelos Beach. 

This day was so needed. These last couple of weeks have been very stressful, as finals are slowly approaching. So having the day to not think about an exam grade was necessary. We even swam in the water! The water was freezing, but it felt so nice under the hot sun.

We left the beach around 4 to go back to the hostel to shower and get ready for our booze cruise!

This trip just kept getting better and better! The cruise was about two hours long, and we were definitely the youngest people there. But we kept to ourselves and had our drinks while looking out the window. 

We booked this tour at the perfect time because it was during the sunset. 

The sunset was absolutely beautiful, and we got to watch it as we went under the 25 April Bridge, built by the same company that built the Golden Gate Bridge. 

After the cruise, we went back to the food haul to get a late dinner. It was a far walk, and we all decided to take Lime scooters there to save time. During the weekend, my phone service wasn't working, so I couldn't order a Lime scooter. So, I rode on the back of Karly's! Due to safety concerns, I couldn't take a photo while we were on it, but I left a photo of our sick ride.

I guess I was still dreaming about the food from Italy and got a diavola pizza. I cannot be stopped.

We went to bed early that night so we could wake up early on Sunday morning to pack in as much sightseeing as we could before our flights.

The first stop was Sao Jorge Castle! The views were gorgeous, and we got to see all of Lisbon.

After that, we slowly made our way to a market, making stops along the way at various shops. My favorite was this beautiful tile shop full of trinkets. Portugal is known for tile and cork, so I had to get a few souvenirs.

Once we got to the Mercado de Santa Clara, I wanted to buy everything! They had adorable clothes, posters, and jewelry. Katie and I couldn't resist and got matching anklets.

Next, we walked to the pink street to see the rainbow umbrellas.

Next door to the umbrellas was the Dallas Burger Joint. We all got a big table together and got burgers. They were delicious and so needed after our long morning of walking.

We finished off our last hours in Lisbon by getting last-minute souvenirs and getting a classic Lisbon treat, pastel de nata.

Best Part of the Trip: Our beach day! The weather was perfect, and I got to relax, read my book, and swim in the ocean.

Worst Part of the Trip: There was, honestly, nothing wrong with this trip! The only thing is that I wish I drank more water!

Overall Thoughts: This was a great trip to end my semester on! I'm looking forward to my last trips of the semester to Sevilla and Valencia! But I'm most looking forward to my week at the hospital!