Hello! Tibby here and I just gotta tell you that July 28th was the longest day of our trip. It all began once the day began, at midnight.
We were in Sevilla, Spain, and we boarded a bus bound for Lisbon, Portugal. It was an overnight bus and we were curious as to how this was going to go. As we got on, we had to head towards to back of the bus to find seats, and we ended up sitting amidst three families traveling together with small children. Behind us sat a family (with two sons, one close to our age, the other in high school) from France. Kyla immediately popped a few benedryl, to help with her cold. We then both settled in for what we hoped would be an easy, and child-cry-free, ride into Lisboa (Lisbon). Someone out there must have been praying for us, because praise the Lord, we both were able to get a few winks of sleep. The bus traveled for about 3 hours before stopping at a rest stop for a bathroom break. The driver told us we had 10 minutes. I'm beginning to wonder if "10 minutes" isn't just a general statement because we were definitely there for 45 minutes. Once we were done there, we were back on the road. The rest of the ride was as expected. Some stolen moments of sleep, some jerky turns, and a few children whimpering and crying. It was 5am (Portugal time) when we pulled up at the main station in Lisboa. (The drive took 6 hours total). I think Kyla and I were maybe able to get about 2 or 3 hours of sleep throughout that ride.
We clambered off the bus, got our bags together, and found a space to more-or-less camp out in the station until we figured out what to do. We had a hostel booked and we had their phone number. It was about 5:30 when we gave them a call using the bus station payphone, desperately hoping we could come and crash somewhere there rather than on the floor of the bus station. So Kyla gave them a call and remarkably, a lady answered. She told Kyla that we couldn't check in because our room wasn't going to be ready until noon. She told Kyla that there would be a staff person there by 9:30am and that we could come then. Kyla is such a sweetheart and accepted that fate. Once she filled me in on the details, I decided I couldn't be that sweet and that there was NO way that I was going to sit in that bus station for 4 more hours. So, I then called the lady and asked her if she had a common room or something where we could just come and hang out until we could check in. At first, she was told me no, but then she kinda mumbled some stuff and then clearly told me that she would call the manager and that I should call her back in 10 minutes. I said alright, and then we waited for those few minutes before calling her again. She then gave us some great news! She said we could come at half past six and she would have a woman meet us there to let us in, but that we couldn't have our room until noon. I wholeheartedly agreed to that because that meant we got to leave the bus station! So, we gathered our backpacks and headed out of the station to find a taxi. It wasn't long until we found one and were on our way to the hostel.
TAXI DRIVER STORY
The taxi driver immediately asked us in English where we were from. We told him the United States. He then asked what part. We told him Colorado. And then he responded with something that totally blew my mind. Here's how it went:
He said, "OH! The black guy!"
Us: "What?"
Him: "The black man."
Us: * deer in the headlights look *
Him: "12 killed. 12 killed. Joker. Joker."
Then it dawned on me...I asked him: "Are you talking about the movie theater shooting?"
Him: "YES! Very sad. America is all about guns. Everyone has a gun. America shoots everybody. Here in Portugal, no guns. We don't shoot. It's sad, one man hurt 72. America is all guns."
Kyla and I just sat in shock. Here we were, in Portugal, in a taxi, at 6:30 in the morning, and this man immediately identified Colorado with the shooting. It really is astounding when so much of the world knows SO much about the States, yet we know SO little of the world.
It still rocks my brain, even now while re-telling the story.
So anyways, after that discussion with the taxi driver, he drove us to our hostel where we paid him, got our bags, and walked into the door. Many hostels in Europe are like large apartments that have been converted into several smaller bedrooms. So, this one that we were attempting to find was one of those. So, since we didn't know what floor of this building it was on, we couldn't take the elevator and instead had to trek up every single floor, in all of our hot mess, until we found it. Thankfully, it was only 3 floors up! Ha!
We arrived, and knocked somewhat quietly because we didn't want to wake anyone that might be asleep, yet we wanted to let whatever woman we were going to meet know that we were here. Well, no response came from inside the door. So, we knocked again, a little louder this time. We waited....and nothing happened. So we knocked again. And nothing. Then we noticed this little buzzer next to the door, so we buzzed it a few times...and again, nothing. Slightly annoyed and very exhausted, we eventually gave up and figured that well, at least we knew a staff would be coming by 9:30. So, with all of our bags still on us, we just sat down on the stairs, and before we knew it, we fell asleep. Seriously. With all of our bags, on a flight of stairs, we were out in 2 minutes. Next thing I know, I hear some creaks coming from the elevator, so I kinda pick my head up enough to nudge Kyla awake and before we can really come to our senses, the elevator door opens and this sweet woman steps out and introduces herself. She let us into the hostel, showed us around, checked us in, and then let us crash on the couch!
We slept until about 9 am when there was so much commotion going on that we couldn't have slept anymore. True to their word, by about noon we were shown to our room and we were able to settle in; feeling more than content at the thought that this was the last hostel we were staying in!
We were getting hungry for some lunch, so we decided to venture out to find a grocery store. We didn't have to go too far until we found one. We made a few purchases, and then came back to the hostel, where we have a kitchen, and we made ourselves lunch!
After that, it was time to see a bit of Lisboa! There is a really old tram system here that dates back to the 1920's. So we hopped on the famous line (#28), and went for a ride.
We got off at a really cool looking point that overlooked the city and then out into the port. We took photos, and took in the view. From there, we just wandered all over, without even thinking of using a map. We just went for it! We did pause at a little bakery for a snack, where we both snapped up some deliciousness. We even stumbled upon a little church and we went inside to check it out!
After that, we just kept walking the streets and taking in the sights. We even saw several different street performers. There was a lady attempting to do some flamenco dancing. She wasn't too terrible, but she really didn't compare to what we saw in Sevilla. One that we stopped at for a little was a group of people that were doing an open mic type deal and we stopped to listen to two Australian guys play some classic tunes.
After listening to them, we then found our way into a pretty cool square. In Portuguese, it's Praca do Comercio. We took that in for a while before making our way back to a spot where we could catch the tram back to our stop.
We were still feeling a little groggy, so we decided to head back to our hostel to rest for a bit before heading back out to eat dinner.
During our rest time, Kyla napped, and I used the time to skype home to talk to my family and wish my baby brother a happy 18th birthday. Unfortunately for me, he was out camping with a friend, so I didn't get to talk to him; but it was WONDERFUL getting to talk with my family!
It started to get late when Kyla and I realized we needed to go get dinner. So we walked to the next block over where we had walked by a restaurant earlier in the day. We were definitely there at closing time, yet they were very nice and let us come in anyways. We decided to be a little adventurous with a food choice, so we ordered a dish that said it had octopus in it! We were also going to order something that said it had salmon in it, but the guy said they were out of it. So I just pointed to the next thing down on the menu, which said "sea bass". We also ordered some Port wine because we were in Portugal and had not yet tried any!
They served us the Port first in tiny little glasses. At first I was thinking, "man! We're getting jipped!" But, Kyla and I soon discovered that it's good they only give you a tiny bit because it is definitely just a sipper drink. If you drink it too fast, it tastes exactly like cough syrup. If you sip it, it's sweeter and much more enjoyable!
Then our food came! We were seeking adventure, and we got it! Kyla's dish had octopus and shrimp in a soupy rice mixture. My sea bass came as the WHOLE fish, with a boiled potato and some veggies. I'll be honest, I wasn't really 100% sure how to go about eating that fish, but hey, I figured it out and it was delicious!! Kyla equally enjoyed her octopus dish!
We finished eating, and returned to our hostel for the night. And now, it is time to sleep... good night from Lisbon!!
We were in Sevilla, Spain, and we boarded a bus bound for Lisbon, Portugal. It was an overnight bus and we were curious as to how this was going to go. As we got on, we had to head towards to back of the bus to find seats, and we ended up sitting amidst three families traveling together with small children. Behind us sat a family (with two sons, one close to our age, the other in high school) from France. Kyla immediately popped a few benedryl, to help with her cold. We then both settled in for what we hoped would be an easy, and child-cry-free, ride into Lisboa (Lisbon). Someone out there must have been praying for us, because praise the Lord, we both were able to get a few winks of sleep. The bus traveled for about 3 hours before stopping at a rest stop for a bathroom break. The driver told us we had 10 minutes. I'm beginning to wonder if "10 minutes" isn't just a general statement because we were definitely there for 45 minutes. Once we were done there, we were back on the road. The rest of the ride was as expected. Some stolen moments of sleep, some jerky turns, and a few children whimpering and crying. It was 5am (Portugal time) when we pulled up at the main station in Lisboa. (The drive took 6 hours total). I think Kyla and I were maybe able to get about 2 or 3 hours of sleep throughout that ride.
We clambered off the bus, got our bags together, and found a space to more-or-less camp out in the station until we figured out what to do. We had a hostel booked and we had their phone number. It was about 5:30 when we gave them a call using the bus station payphone, desperately hoping we could come and crash somewhere there rather than on the floor of the bus station. So Kyla gave them a call and remarkably, a lady answered. She told Kyla that we couldn't check in because our room wasn't going to be ready until noon. She told Kyla that there would be a staff person there by 9:30am and that we could come then. Kyla is such a sweetheart and accepted that fate. Once she filled me in on the details, I decided I couldn't be that sweet and that there was NO way that I was going to sit in that bus station for 4 more hours. So, I then called the lady and asked her if she had a common room or something where we could just come and hang out until we could check in. At first, she was told me no, but then she kinda mumbled some stuff and then clearly told me that she would call the manager and that I should call her back in 10 minutes. I said alright, and then we waited for those few minutes before calling her again. She then gave us some great news! She said we could come at half past six and she would have a woman meet us there to let us in, but that we couldn't have our room until noon. I wholeheartedly agreed to that because that meant we got to leave the bus station! So, we gathered our backpacks and headed out of the station to find a taxi. It wasn't long until we found one and were on our way to the hostel.
TAXI DRIVER STORY
The taxi driver immediately asked us in English where we were from. We told him the United States. He then asked what part. We told him Colorado. And then he responded with something that totally blew my mind. Here's how it went:
He said, "OH! The black guy!"
Us: "What?"
Him: "The black man."
Us: * deer in the headlights look *
Him: "12 killed. 12 killed. Joker. Joker."
Then it dawned on me...I asked him: "Are you talking about the movie theater shooting?"
Him: "YES! Very sad. America is all about guns. Everyone has a gun. America shoots everybody. Here in Portugal, no guns. We don't shoot. It's sad, one man hurt 72. America is all guns."
Kyla and I just sat in shock. Here we were, in Portugal, in a taxi, at 6:30 in the morning, and this man immediately identified Colorado with the shooting. It really is astounding when so much of the world knows SO much about the States, yet we know SO little of the world.
It still rocks my brain, even now while re-telling the story.
So anyways, after that discussion with the taxi driver, he drove us to our hostel where we paid him, got our bags, and walked into the door. Many hostels in Europe are like large apartments that have been converted into several smaller bedrooms. So, this one that we were attempting to find was one of those. So, since we didn't know what floor of this building it was on, we couldn't take the elevator and instead had to trek up every single floor, in all of our hot mess, until we found it. Thankfully, it was only 3 floors up! Ha!
We arrived, and knocked somewhat quietly because we didn't want to wake anyone that might be asleep, yet we wanted to let whatever woman we were going to meet know that we were here. Well, no response came from inside the door. So, we knocked again, a little louder this time. We waited....and nothing happened. So we knocked again. And nothing. Then we noticed this little buzzer next to the door, so we buzzed it a few times...and again, nothing. Slightly annoyed and very exhausted, we eventually gave up and figured that well, at least we knew a staff would be coming by 9:30. So, with all of our bags still on us, we just sat down on the stairs, and before we knew it, we fell asleep. Seriously. With all of our bags, on a flight of stairs, we were out in 2 minutes. Next thing I know, I hear some creaks coming from the elevator, so I kinda pick my head up enough to nudge Kyla awake and before we can really come to our senses, the elevator door opens and this sweet woman steps out and introduces herself. She let us into the hostel, showed us around, checked us in, and then let us crash on the couch!
We slept until about 9 am when there was so much commotion going on that we couldn't have slept anymore. True to their word, by about noon we were shown to our room and we were able to settle in; feeling more than content at the thought that this was the last hostel we were staying in!
We were getting hungry for some lunch, so we decided to venture out to find a grocery store. We didn't have to go too far until we found one. We made a few purchases, and then came back to the hostel, where we have a kitchen, and we made ourselves lunch!
After that, it was time to see a bit of Lisboa! There is a really old tram system here that dates back to the 1920's. So we hopped on the famous line (#28), and went for a ride.
We got off at a really cool looking point that overlooked the city and then out into the port. We took photos, and took in the view. From there, we just wandered all over, without even thinking of using a map. We just went for it! We did pause at a little bakery for a snack, where we both snapped up some deliciousness. We even stumbled upon a little church and we went inside to check it out!
The statue behind me has a huge mustache just like mine!!
After that, we just kept walking the streets and taking in the sights. We even saw several different street performers. There was a lady attempting to do some flamenco dancing. She wasn't too terrible, but she really didn't compare to what we saw in Sevilla. One that we stopped at for a little was a group of people that were doing an open mic type deal and we stopped to listen to two Australian guys play some classic tunes.
After listening to them, we then found our way into a pretty cool square. In Portuguese, it's Praca do Comercio. We took that in for a while before making our way back to a spot where we could catch the tram back to our stop.
We were still feeling a little groggy, so we decided to head back to our hostel to rest for a bit before heading back out to eat dinner.
During our rest time, Kyla napped, and I used the time to skype home to talk to my family and wish my baby brother a happy 18th birthday. Unfortunately for me, he was out camping with a friend, so I didn't get to talk to him; but it was WONDERFUL getting to talk with my family!
It started to get late when Kyla and I realized we needed to go get dinner. So we walked to the next block over where we had walked by a restaurant earlier in the day. We were definitely there at closing time, yet they were very nice and let us come in anyways. We decided to be a little adventurous with a food choice, so we ordered a dish that said it had octopus in it! We were also going to order something that said it had salmon in it, but the guy said they were out of it. So I just pointed to the next thing down on the menu, which said "sea bass". We also ordered some Port wine because we were in Portugal and had not yet tried any!
They served us the Port first in tiny little glasses. At first I was thinking, "man! We're getting jipped!" But, Kyla and I soon discovered that it's good they only give you a tiny bit because it is definitely just a sipper drink. If you drink it too fast, it tastes exactly like cough syrup. If you sip it, it's sweeter and much more enjoyable!
Then our food came! We were seeking adventure, and we got it! Kyla's dish had octopus and shrimp in a soupy rice mixture. My sea bass came as the WHOLE fish, with a boiled potato and some veggies. I'll be honest, I wasn't really 100% sure how to go about eating that fish, but hey, I figured it out and it was delicious!! Kyla equally enjoyed her octopus dish!
We finished eating, and returned to our hostel for the night. And now, it is time to sleep... good night from Lisbon!!
Hey ladies! Looking forward to getting you home Kyla - Tibbs, I'll bet you are ready for your own bed as well! Just wanted to let you both know that Port Wine is not called Port due to it being in Portugal! It is a very sweet dessert wine - very rich and taken only in small doses as you discovered. Just a wee FYI.....enough of it and you'll sleep wonderfully and Ky will forget about her cold! Enjoy your last day abroad! HUGS - BETH OM
ReplyDeleteOh yes, we most definitely are! Can't believe when we see our next nightfall we'll be home!! But ya know what we found out - at least legit Port wine (called Porto) is actually from a particular region in northern Portugal and yeah, it's not named after Portugal, but rather a town here called Porto...who knew!!! It's like that whole champagne thing - other wines can be called port, but only wines called Porto can come from here! It was very cool to learn, but I gotta say that one sip was enough for me. lol! Anyways, I love you and miss you and can't wait to see you!!!
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