Before we came to Lisbon, I had no idea what to expect and what was ahead of us, all I knew was that there was going to be a beach, and we were going to be wearing shorts and or speedos ;)
To start the trip off we land in Lisbon and make our way to our hostel called "Yes" this place was hands down the nicest hostel we stayed in so far this semester! As soon as we unloaded all of our bags Ron and I made our way out into the city to explore Lisbon. Think back from when you jump off anything really high... what are some of the few things you might hear... "canyon ball" or possible "Jeronimo", Well this is the actual Jeronimo Church and museum is there in Lisbon! This is also where the saying came from!
Inside we learned about Alexandre Herculano, this guy was responsible for a lot of the history of Lisbon, and thanks to him this building was existing and the city was stable. He was a poster child for Lisbon and did so many great things for them. They actually have his tomb inside.
As you walk into the Jeronimo you walk through two massive doors into this huge massive court yard, within all the walls and door ways there different rooms explaining the history of the queen and kings rooms and the history of Lisbon.
Ron and I had to do this quickly rush through Jeronimo because there was another part to this adventure, we had to spring accross the city pretty much to try and make it to the last standing castle Lisbon. They were closing in 15 minuets and they said it was close to a 30 minuets away. The whole run there I figured that this was going to be a huge tower, but come to my surprise, it was everything but haha.
Ron and I started to make our way back to the hostel when we came across this...
Not knowing what this huge statue looking thing was, actually I still don't know what it is... But we ran up to it. I'm so glad we did because on both sides are massive carvings of what looks like to be a mixture of soldiers and men working on a boat, reason I liked these so much was because they were MASSIVE! The detail done to each individual one was amazing!
Shortly after that Ron and I were starving and sat down at a little burger place, there Ron ordered a huge burger and I ordered desert for myself, I have a weakness for crepes and this is why!
The next morning, Ron and I both got up and headed down stairs to the main lobby and meet our tour guide. For the first time she was not short!! From there we ventured through Lisbon for almost...4-5 hours? I wish I could put everything we saw in this blog but there is no way I have the attention-span or really the room the put it all in. So here are some of my favorite things I saw on our walking tour.
(this is the back of a hotel after the terrible earthquake so many years ago, they re-build the front for show but this is what remains of the rooms)
(This is the only place I've seen that you are allowed to piss on the building in public, again look at the little guy from Brussels.)
(If you aren't familiar with Banksy , he's an artist that goes around the world and finds funny situtations and makes art out of them, like this one! He also does a lot when there is an empty beer bottle or alcoholic bottle on the ground he will draw up someone drunk next to it, making it look like they were there the whole time.)
After the tour was done, Ron and I headed to the second biggest oceanarium in the world. But before we got there, we stopped at a casino, see Ron is only 20 and has never gambled before, so we went up to roulette table and placed a few bets. We hung out at the Casino for about an hour and then decided to cash out, Dad you will love this. I came out 25 euro richer which now with the new stupid euro jump is around... close to 50 american? As we left the casino all chirpy and pockets full of cash we arrived to the oceanarium.
Inside I feel in love with my new favorite animal, the otter! to me these guys are Monkeys in the water. And everyone knows that Monkeys are the coolest animal in the world!
on the 3rd and final night in Lisbon all six of us went to the beach, but before we made our way there we went to what now is my favorite monument and or museum if you want to call it that. Portugal was discovered before Brazil, but the founders of Brazil were Portuguese, this RIO look alike called the Sanctuary of Christ the King. This monument is massive, it looks over all of Lisbon and was what they said a key to protecting them through WW II.
Then... it was off to the BEACH!!
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