The Mams do Portugal

Thursday was Mara’s 21st birthday so the mams (Anna and Mara) and I went to Elizabet's for yummy tapas and celebrated with delicious, and very potent, home-made sangria, champagne, and cake. We went to Le Cyrano with the St. Jordi crew, but Anna and I had to leave before going to the club with everyone because we had a 7:30am flight to Portugal the next morning. So after less than 4 hours of sleep Anna and I went to the airport. We were pretty exhausted/ hungover sitting in the Barcelona airport and resorted to eating egg mcmuffins and splitting the magical muffin. It's okay, we survived. 

Lisbon from the castle overlook

We arrived in Lisbon pretty early in the day, had some coffee, and made our way to our hostel. After dropping off our things we started our day by walking to the Sao Jorge Castle. On our walk to the castle I noticed that Lisbon is covered in tiles. If you are not aware, I LOVE tiles. I loved all of the cute tile stores and buildings covered in different tiles. I was in tile-heaven. Then we got to the castle and had the loveliest time walking around the grounds and enjoying the views of Lisbon. We also walked along the edges of the castle and went to the archeological site. Then as we left the castle we had the most traumatizing experience…

AHHHHHHH

When Anna and I entered the castled we noticed a bunch of peacocks and peahens (female version of a peacock) sitting in a tree. It was so odd, but also really cool. We took some pictures and moved on with our lives. Then as we were leaving we saw a peacock with all of this feathers raised. Again, we thought this was really cool so we ran over to see the peacock and take some pictures. Then it dawned on us: peacocks raise their feathers as part of their mating ritual. Next, we saw a lone peahen in front of the the peacock. The peacock was standing on its toes, twitching its feathers, and rumbling it's butt. The peacock had the peahen in site. Then the peacock pounced, mounted the peahen, and bit the peahen's neck. Anna and I literally SHRIEKED and ran behind a tree--we were genuinely scared (and scarred). Meanwhile, tons of peple rush over to watch this horrifying experience and take videos. We had to run away as the peacock continued its terrifying ritual. I will honestly never think of peacocks the same way. 

**if you want to be scarred, just youtube "peacock mating ritual"...beware. 

After this life-ruining experience, we went to lunch. We left the touristy part of town and found a nice restaurant with outdoor seating. We had some buffalo mozzarella and I had a cannelloni with wine (kind of pretending I was back in Italy). Then we walked around and and shopped until I found the plate of my dreams. It is this giant sunflower plate and it warms my heart (I love glassware). 

Bolos & cappuccino

After a short nap Anna and I ventured to Belem, for the famous Pasteis de Belem bolos. Bolos are these amazing Portuguese pastries, and this shop is famous for making them. On our bus ride to Belem we encounter a grumpy old geezer. I was sitting next to an old man with my legs crossed and he hit my leg with his umbrella (as a signal for me to uncross my legs). I was not a fan. Then he proceeded to sprawl out and invade all of my leg room. Such a grumpy geezer. It was okay because we had such a positive experiences at Pasteis de Belem. We had cappuccinos with our bolos and were so happy. Our waiter was also really friendly and put brown sugar and powdered sugar on some of the bolos for us. We just had to buy the cute little teacups after our meal because we were so pleased (and they were really cheap). 

Anna and I walked around Belem for the rest of the evening, saw the monastary, the torre (lol), and we really enjoyed this giant fountain that changed colors. We also liked making weird sound effects to the colorful fountain as it exploded. We went back to the center of town, but were oddly not hungry for dinner. Instead we found a restaurant and had a bottle of wine, bread, olives, and a dessert for dinner. 'Twas a good decision. 

Fountain and monastery in Belem

The next morning we got our free breakfast at Yes Hostel and we left for LAGOS! We had to take a 4-hour bus from Lisbon, but the time passed quickly and was so worth it. We got to the place we were staying and realized it was literally a 4 minute walk from Praia Dona Ana beach, which just happens to be the most beautiful beach in Lagos. We were also shocked because our hotel/hostel/villa (?) was so cute! It had these pretty gardens all around the pool (it had a heated pool...) and a cute little coy pond. We also had a private room with our own bathroom. And the best part was that we only paid 12 euro a night!!!

Mmmm seafood

Our first stop in Lagos was Prato Cheio, which was a highly rated Portuguese restaurant. We became best friends with our waiter and talked to him for about an hour about Portugal and Spain, and he was so sweet. We also had the best seafood ever. I had squid (with tentacles) and shell fish. I've never had better tasting seafood in my life. UHG SO GOOD. 

Next, we went straight to the beach. We were simply blown away. The pictures of this place really don't lie, it truly was the most beautiful beach I've ever been to. We laid there until the sun went behind the cliffs and it got a little chilly. But don't worry, we got to lay by our pool and had direct sunlight. The happiest of times. 

For dinner we went into town and walked around all of the little streets before settling on a pizza place. We are only slightly ashamed of our choice to eat pizza in Portugal...but it was really good! We both had Hawaiian pizzas and I had a White Russian with my pizza. I'm laughing out loud as I recount how weird/hilarious this meal choice was (but no regrets). We decided to be adventurous and try an Alexander brandy after our meal. We had to make stank-faces as we choked down these nasty dranks, but it's okay. 

The groom-to-be Chris

After dinner decided to stay in town and do some bar-hopping. We went to this one low key bar with live music, which was really great. Next, we went to MJs Bar, because it was highly rated on trip advisor. When we arrived we notice the bar is completely filled with 40-50 year old men, one of which is wearing a dress. I have no idea why I didn't think this was this was weird at the time, but Anna and I waltzed right in. We soon realized we were crashing a gay british man's bachelor party. We became the hit of the part because we were the only girls there and were the only people under the age of 40. We met the groom to be, Chris, who was wearing the white dress and boxers. We took some tequila shots with him and danced the night away to songs like "We are Family" and "Celebration". Wow such a great night. 

Wine at Camilo Beach

The next day we had a full day in Lagos and planned to spend the entire day at the beach. I'm going to start off by saying this was the most magical day ever. We woke up and went into town for breakfast at Oedon Cafe. It was only 3.50 for a giant pancake, 4 pieces of bacon, and 2 eggs on toast. Yesssss, Then we went to Praia Dona Ana and laid. It was pure bliss. I even leaned against a rock and read on the beach. Man, we were SO happy. We then bought a bottle of wine and explored the next beach, Camilo Beach. This beach was much smaller than Praia Dona Ana, but there was this cool little cave that connected to another beach where's we laid, drank some wine, and chatted. We could not get over how beautiful our surroundings were, or how beautiful this day was. We did however have one small mishap when a big wave came and almost washed all of our belongings away. Anna went into fight or flight mode and saved her camera, and her phone went for a little swim in the ocean (but it still works!!).

Ponta da Piedade

After regrouping, and laughing about how much worse that could have bee, we walked back to our villa and laid by the pool. More bliss. Next, we went to a little snack-restaurant that overlooked the Praia Ana Dona beach. We got a pitcher of sangria and had hamburgers/hot dogs as we got to look at this incredible beach. Once again, we were SO happy! This was followed by more laying by the pool, until we mustered up some energy to jog to Ponta da Piedade. Our cab driver told us to visit this place, and it wasn't too far from our villa. We had to go down a bunch of stairs, but the stairs led to these incredible grottos. I really wanted to visit Capri while abroad, but Ponta da Piedade filled my Capri-fix (at least for now). We then walked to the edge of Portugal and watched as the sun began to set. Also, there were these fields of little cacti/flowers surrounding us, which was beyond cool. We agreed that we HAD to come back here the next morning with our cameras. So we finally left this beautiful area, jogged back to the villa, and got ready for dinner. 

We walked into town with a restaurant in mind, and then we passed a restaurant called "Nah Nah Bah". We saw that there were a ton of people inside. and decided to just go there instead. Here we had the most delicious fish tacos. Just picture this: corona battered fish with avocado, cotija cheese, spicy salsa and pineapple sauce in a corn tortilla with lime chips and a piña colada. The mams were SO pleased. 

The next morning we were depressed because we knew we didn't have much time left in Lagos. We went back to Ponta da Piedade to take our pictures and then we then went back to the restaurant that over looked the Praia Dona Ana beach for breakfast (lol hamburgers for breakfast). We held back tears as we said goodbye to our beautiful beach and took the bus back to Lisbon.

Stunning Praia Dona Ana Beach

Once we arrived in Lisbon we were on a mission to quickly find bolos and find the Aerobus. It was magical that we found both simultaneously. We grabbed our bolos, got on the bus, and headed to the airport. This time we tried almond bolos, which were so0o0o good. We chilled at the airport for a pretty long time while studying for our finals, and then we drank some Porto on the plane (because we failed to drink it in Portugal and were curious as to what it was). 

All I can say is that this was the most fabulous last trip while being abroad. Anna and I had the most pleasant time possible. All of our food and beach dreams came true and now I know that I NEED to return to Portugal. 

Mommy in Barca!

Mommy and I at Parc Guell

Luckily on Monday we had a day off to recover from spring break. I was not nearly as exhausted as I expected to be (thanks to my relaxing last 2 days in Sorrento) and it was nice to finally go on a run after eating endless pizza and pasta for 10 days. All of the trees in the park were blooming and it was the loveliest day to be outside. The park was filled with kids, balloons, and dogs, and it put me in the happiest mood. I'm already getting sad that I'll be gone soon and I'll miss Turo park :( 

Later that night Anna and I suddenly had the need to plan a trip to Portugal. I really wanted to visit Portugal, but didn't think I would have time on this trip. We planned everything out, got super excited, and we were ready to book our flight. We decided to skip class the following Monday to extend our weekend in Lagos. Literally seconds after Anna purchases her flight she says, "I hope I don't have anything due in Spanish class that Monday..." It turns out her Spanish oral-final is that Monday. Cue the freak out. All we could do is wait/pray her professor would let her reschedule. 

Tuesday felt long because I was waiting to finally see my mom!! She arrived in Barcelona with her friend Moira that afternoon, and right after class I rushed over to her hotel and we were finally reunited! We went to Cuidad Comtal for dinner and for her first tapas experience. We spent a long time there just eating, chatting, and drinking wine. I made sure she went to sleep early that night so she wouldn’t be too exhausted for our very busy week.

Also later that day we learned that Anna’s professor is a saint and is letting her take her final early—so we are going to Portugal!!

Barca Game!

The next morning my mom, Moira, and I went to Parc Guell. This park gets more fabulous each time I go. This time, the ugly construction was finished (WOOHOO) and all of the flowers were in bloom. We had a lovely day just strolling through the park. Later that night I was super excited to finally go to a FC Barcelona game. Mara and I met up with my mom and Moira for the game and we had amazing seats. We were 10 rows away from the field and it was awesome. Barcelona played Almeria, and beat them 4-0. I can’t lie, seeing Messi score a goal in Barcelona was a pretty cool moment. We finished the night off with pastries and went to sleep.

Thursday after class I met up with my mom and Moira for dinner. We went to Casa Alfonso, which had fantastic tapas and wine. I especially loved the crispy eggplant with honey and goat cheese mmmmm. Afterwards, we went to a madrigal performance at Palau de Musica. This venue is stunning, and I was happy to go back and actually get to hear the acoustics in use.

Friday I took my mom and Moira on a tour of Barrio Gotico and El Born. They loved the Barcelona Cathedral, and this time I was able to go to the top of the cathedral. We spent a while on top of the cathedral admiring the bell towers and the city views. Afterwards we walked around El Born and grabbed some lunch, while also sharing a pitcher of sangria. We went to the Picasso museum pretty tipsy after finishing our sangria…(there was a lot of laughing about “Las Meninas”). We also bought tickets for the Dali exhibit, which was inside of the Picasso Museum. The exhibit was awesome and compared a lot of their works, which I thought was really cool.

With giant meringues

Before heading home, my mom and I felt the need to buy these giant meringues. I had seen these meringues outside of the Jaume I metro stop all semester, and I had always wanted to try it. This was a big mistake. These meringues were HUGE and we made a huge mess. I expected the meringues to be hard like American meringues, but these were the equivalent of giant marshmallows. There was so much sugar on them and I thought my teeth were going to fall out. Sadly we had to throw away more than half of the meringues, but we had a good laugh.

Saturday my mom and Moira went to Montserrat, while I had to stay home and write a final paper L Sad times. But that night I rewarded myself by revisiting OTTO ZUTZ! Otto Zutz is the first club we went to in Barcelona, and we always refer to it as “our club”, even though Mara, Anna, and I haven’t been back there since the very first night (throw back to getting stuck in the elevator). We started off the night at Le Cyrano, which is always a good time. We then got in a cab with a really rude cab driver who was shit-talking Americans in Spanish, and we had him pull over and got out of the car (good times). But all ended happily at Otto Zutz. My personal favorite moment was us singing/screaming the lyrics to She Will Be Loved (why was this playing at a club? Idk, but I’m not complaining). The whole night was a mess, but the best kind of mess.

Wine Tour

That night I went to sleep around 3:30am, and had to wake up at 6:45am for a wine tour with my mom and Moira. I honestly have no idea how I survived. Even being hung-over and exhausted, the wine tour was awesome. We started at Jean Leon’s vineyard, and learned how he went from being a taxi driver, to meeting Frank Sinatra, to becoming a successful wine producer. I have mad respect for Jean Leon. Next, we went to the Bodegas Torres Winery. We started with the wine tasting and cheese pairing (mmmm I love cheese). I was a big fan of the wines we tasted here. At this point, we had drunk 5 glasses of wine before 11am. After this tasting our group got on a little tram for a tour of the vineyard and everyone was drunk. It was pretty hilarious to watch all of these 40-60 year old women drunk at 11am and putting their hands up on a tramcar pretending it was a roller coaster. Our last stop was at Freixenet Winery which is a Cava vineyard. This tour was a little more informational and the guide told us more about the process of making Cava. The factory was HUGE and they had us in these very old/dark cellars with their aging Cava. After the tour we had our final tasting, and had lots of yummy tapas.

Karaoke

After getting about 3 hours of sleep the night before and drinking wine all day, I needed a nap. After my nap I went to dinner with my mom and Moira, and then I had a glass of wine with my mom at the hotel bar (MORE wine). It was nice to just hang out with her—I had missed her a lot! From there, I met up with my friends at George Payne for karaoke night, where St. Jordi killed the game by performing Down, Fergalicious . Beautiful Girls, No One, and Wonder Wall. It was tons of fun, but I was exhausted from running around all day.

Donut man!!

Monday was my mom’s last day in Barcelona, so I skipped classes to spend the day with her. We went to Brunch and Cake in the morning (always a good start to the day) and I got to some shopping with my mom YAY! After some shopping I also FINALLY got my “donut man”. Let me explain: there is this donut that is shaped like a little man and I have seen him all around Barcelona. Many times I have even said “I KNOW HIM” (similar to Buddy the Elf and Santa). The day finally came where I bought and ate donut man. I also learned that he has a whole little donut family, and his official name is “Bouldaman”. I was way too excited about this donut.

Parc Cuitadella

We then spent the day by the ocean and at Parc Cuitadella. It was a beautiful day to be outside, so we just sat on the benches at the park for a long time. Then we had a (fake) traditional Barcelona night. We had seafood paella and then went to a flamenco show. The show was good, but I still think the one I saw in Sevilla was much better. We had some gelato before going back to my mom’s hotel where I had to say goodbye L I’m sad she left, but I’ll be back home so soon! Which by the way is terrifying and I am not ready to leave Barcelona!!

In other news: this week the roomies and I ("the Mams") dyed fun minion eggs hehe and today is Mara’s birthday, so let the celebrations begin!

Also Anna and I leave for Portugal tomorrow, which will be my last trip while abroad—GASP! 

Rome & Sorrento

ROME:

After our busy morning in Florence we were ready to collapse on the train to Rome. We were also dreading our hostel because we got used to the "good life" in our hotel and we were supposed to be in a 6 bed mixed room. We arrived at the Yellow Hostel and they told us we had a free upgrade to a 2-bed private room with a bathroom. Our jaws dropped and we were so thrilled. We got settled into our room and went to dinner right across the street. 

Becca & the limoncello

We ate outside (still delusional/confused as to which city we were in) and had some wine, bruschetta, delicious shrimp pasta, and tiramisu. We were very happy and asked for the check. Then the waiter asked if we wanted limoncello on the house. How could we reject this offer? We also had not had any limoncello yet, so we were excited. We had our drinks, thanked our waiter, and asked for our check again. Then the waiter offered us more free limoncello...so why not? This time he brought out champagne flutes filled with limoncello (much more than the first round). After this drink we were ready to go. That is, until he brought the entire bottle over and filled the glasses again. One bottle of wine and 3 large limoncello glasses later, Becca and I definitely had the "gigs". We were having fun but NEEDED to leave because we stayed out way past our bed time and had to wake up early the next morning. 

We woke up, had breakfast at The Yellow Bar, and checked out of our hostel. Funny story: these girls asked for mimosas at breakfast and the waiter told them that no alcohol was being served that day. They had signs all over the bar that said no alcohol was to be served in Italy. All day I believed this (and told people about it)…until Becca happily told me it was an April Fools joke (she told me at about 10pm after we had wine with dinner…).

ANYWAYS, we took a cab to our hotel, dropped off our bags, and hopped in another cab to the Vatican. This was a lot of movement for early in the morning. We miracously found Anna at the Vatican museum and went through it together. I was really wowed by all of the museums, but also pretty overwhelmed. They were just so much art EVERYWHERE. Every ceiling and wall was so decetant; it was beautiful, but my eyes were numb by the end. My favorite parts were the Sistine chapel (incredible) and finding some Dali pieces in the modern art exhibit.

Hop on/off bus

We had lunch with Anna where we got to chat while eating yummy calzones and pasta. We also had some gelato (of course). After, Becca and I started the 48 hour use of our hop on/off bus. We bought these tickets in advance and planned to use the bus as transportation. We got to sit on the top of the bus and enjoy the sun while also listeing to fun facts about Rome and classical music in the background (the classical tunes will forever be stuck in my head). We quickly learned that the bus route was very long, but also very relaxing. So overall we loved the bus and used it as an excuse to sit when we were tired. 

We went to our hotel and got situated in our room and it was great! (Shout out to the Ginsberg family!!) We had a pretty balcony, robes/slippers, and complimentary apples (I really liked the apples).  After re-grouping a little we went down the Spanish Steps (they were right next to the hotel) and then visited the Trevi Fountain. Sadly, the Trevi Fountain is under major construction and looked pretty sad. They put a picture in front of it with a little pool for people to throw their coins…pretty pathetic/funny.

Harry Potter shots

Next, we got a yummy crepe (totally necessary) and got back on our hop on/off bus. We took the bus around for over an hour and got off to walk to Tastevere and met Courtney for dinner. Trastevere was a cute area and very different from the city-center. We had dinner with a group of people at Dar Poeta, where we had some amazing pizza (can’t get enough buffalo mozzarella). After dinner Courtney made sure we had the "real" Rome experience. She took us to three different bars. Also, in this area bars are literally just BARS. There is a bar for ordering and very limited standing room because drinking outside is acceptable, which is awesome. So at the first bar we had Harry Potter shots (aka shots that were on fire and disgusting). Next, we went walked to this AMAZING place with chocolate shots. This silly old man fills a chocolate cup with baileys and deliciousness and then you have to drop the whole thing in your mouth. The shot was genuinely tasty (unlike chocolate liquors). Lastly we went to another popular bar and hung out until grandma-Lexi and grandma-Becca needed sleep. But we were glad we got to see Courtney in Rome and happy she took us out for some fun drinks J

Roman Forum

The next morning Becca and I had coffee in our fluffy bedsand were loving life (I am converting her into a coffee-lover mwhaha). We got onto our hop on/off bus again to go to Colosseum. I really loved the Colosseum and was surprised how intact it was. We had great weather (once again), which made the experience even better. We had a quick lunch break where I had my first salad in forever, and then we went to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. They were both BEAUTIFUL, and I felt like I was walking in an ancient garden. The place was huge, there were pretty views, the history was interesting, and I loved it.

Trevi Fountain

After a big morning of ruins, we crashed. Finally, all of our moving around had caught up with us and we needed a mid-day nap. We woke up and met up with Becca’s brother Jesse who had landed in Rome that day. We had an early dinner together (it was pizza...who is surprised??). Then we went to the rooftop bar on our hotel, which had incredible views of the city. It was especially pretty at sunset with our wine and treats.We ended the night by walking to Piazza Navona and saw it all lit up. We also got gelato at Frigidarium where they dip the gelato in dark chocolate (YUM). On our way back we went to the Trevi Fountain again and threw coins into the pathetic fake pool to ensure we would return to Rome!

I love love loved Rome. I just need to make sure I go back to have more time in this wonderful city and also to see the Trevi Fountain (not under construction). 

Colosseum

NERANO/SORRENTO:

The following morning we woke up to meet Becca's parents who drove us all to Nerano. Nerano is a small town right outside of Sorrento. Her family is wonderful and they have so many entertaining stories, so the drive went by quickly. Becca might have thought otherwise since she was sitting in the middle during all of tiny winding roads. We eventually made it to the breathtaking villa they rented. The owner, Tony, met us there and kept saying, "you haven't seen anything yet" as we kept climbing higher and having better views of the ocean and mountains. It was a beautiful day outside and we couldn't get over the view. Tony served us fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and cannelloni, along with prosecco and white wine. ~heaven~

View from the villa

We spent the afternoon laying outside, reading, and relaxing (which was much needed). For dinner we went to a restaurant right on the beach at the end of the hill. We all shared a bunch of dishes (our version of Italian tapas). Nerano is famous for its zucchini pasta, and it was my favorite dish of the night. We also got a cake sampler for dessert, which was very yummy. The Ginsberg family members are seriously the nicest/funniest people (minus Becca…hehe).

Lemon tree farm

It was expected to rain the next day, so I was happy when I woke up to nice weather. I ate my breakfast outside and enjoyed more of the view. We then all went into Sorrento for our food tour (the Ginsberg's know how to eat). This food tour included a lot of food. We had a pastry, arancini (fried risotto ball), a panini, a variety of limoncello, different lemon desserts, buffalo mozzarella with tomatoes, gnocchi, and gelato. I especially loved all of the lemon trees and walking through the lemon tree farm. Everything from the tour was delicious, and we were very full afterwards. The tour was also great because we got to walk around Sorrento and see the town. Afterwards a nap was necessary. 

We spent the late afternoon watching Modern Family and TV on the couch. Relaxing felt so nice after over a week of constant moving. I also got to participate in their family Passover Seder, which I thought was pretty cool and I got to learn about Passover! My last meal was at another restaurant on the beach and I had the zucchini pasta again (it was so good). 

The next morning the Ginsberg's took me to the Naples airport (which was beyond nice of them) and I was sad to leave them. If my mom was not visiting me this week I probably would have blown off school and stayed with them the rest of the week mwhahah. But I am so excited for my mom to come on Tuesday and show her around Barcelona!! 

Unfortunately, it is time to say goodbye to my pizza-pasta-gelato diet (I'm magically still not sick of it). I ate the best meals for the past 10 days and had the most incredible time traveling Italy. Becca was the ultimate tour guide and we had so much fun. MISS YOU ALREADY BECCA!! 

Sorrento