School has been keeping us busy, but we finally had time to go on our first international trip! We took advantage of the puente (Spaniards "bridge" a Tuesday or Thursday holiday to make a long weekend) over Halloween weekend to visit both Lisbon and Porto. Well, we didn't take our own advice and had to submit ourselves to another flight with AirEuropa 🙃 BUT, thankfully we survived and were able to enjoy a relaxing weekend filled with too much food, sweets and vino away from Madrid.
First stop: Lisbon. The capital city known as "The City of Seven Hills" (it lives up to its name...) was a nice retreat from busy Madrid. During our first minutes in Portugal, a frantic woman approached us speaking rapid Portuguese looking for what we gathered were directions. Thankfully, Alex saved the day using the only Portuguese she remembered from her 1 semester of learning it: Não falo português ("I don't speak Portuguese"). Poor woman. We hope she found her way eventually.
We were then looking forward to checking into our quaint AirBnB located in the heart of the city. The couple seemed young, fun and we were eager to pick their brains about the best places to see during our visit. However, (as you probably can gather at this point) there's always a plot twist waiting for us. We arrived to what can only be described as a glorified hostel. Half our roommates didn't speak English and the one middle-aged American man was frequently heard complaining about not being able to get a normal sized coffee (in a thick northeastern accent nonetheless).
After our ~lovely~ check-in experience, we started to explore the city. We began with a trip to the Praça do Comercio which also had a beautiful view of the ocean. We had a coffee in the square and the view was breathtaking.
We were then looking forward to checking into our quaint AirBnB located in the heart of the city. The couple seemed young, fun and we were eager to pick their brains about the best places to see during our visit. However, (as you probably can gather at this point) there's always a plot twist waiting for us. We arrived to what can only be described as a glorified hostel. Half our roommates didn't speak English and the one middle-aged American man was frequently heard complaining about not being able to get a normal sized coffee (in a thick northeastern accent nonetheless).
After our ~lovely~ check-in experience, we started to explore the city. We began with a trip to the Praça do Comercio which also had a beautiful view of the ocean. We had a coffee in the square and the view was breathtaking.
The next day, we hiked up what felt like a mountain and toured the old castle overlooking the city. Once again, we were in awe of the views and loved how the history of Lisbon is still maintained with its cobblestoned streets, red-tiled roofs and Greco-Roman architecture.
On the third day, we planned to leave Lisbon and head to Porto. Upon arriving at the Lisbon bus station, we noticed Porto was not listed as a destination on the departure screen even though we bought our tickets the day before. Katharine approached a security man, hoping he'd speak English, to ask which terminal we needed to wait at. Their exchange was an array of gestures, bows, and names of cities in Portugal. Putting our faith in him, we boarded a bus to "Braga". Then, we noticed all other passengers' tickets read "Fatima". While we did want to see this famous city, it was not part of our plan for the day, so we frantically tried to communicate in a mixture of Spanish, Portuguese and English to figure out if this bus was, indeed, headed for Porto. Nothing really got solved and so we just hoped for the best.
Three hours later, we arrived safely (and correctly) in Porto where we had another unexpected AirBnB experience. Our host was lovely, the flat was charming, but our room was better fit for some dolls or a small child. Even when hunched over, our heads still hit the ceiling and our bed was just a mattress on the ground. Luckily we didn't spend too much time in there because we were too busy exploring the city in the 24 hours we had there. Our favorite part was definitely the river and waterfront (RIP to Alex's lens cap which took a tumble off a high bridge and is now somewhere at the bottom of said river). All in all, it was a great trip, but we are definitely glad to be back in Spain (at least until our next trip!).
Hasta luego,
Alex and Kat
Three hours later, we arrived safely (and correctly) in Porto where we had another unexpected AirBnB experience. Our host was lovely, the flat was charming, but our room was better fit for some dolls or a small child. Even when hunched over, our heads still hit the ceiling and our bed was just a mattress on the ground. Luckily we didn't spend too much time in there because we were too busy exploring the city in the 24 hours we had there. Our favorite part was definitely the river and waterfront (RIP to Alex's lens cap which took a tumble off a high bridge and is now somewhere at the bottom of said river). All in all, it was a great trip, but we are definitely glad to be back in Spain (at least until our next trip!).
Hasta luego,
Alex and Kat