European Adventures - Part 2: The Start of Things "Taking My Breath Away"

Ok - so back to the trip a trip trip!

Day Three

We got up and had an annoying breakfast (it was included, but it was kinda gross).  We then headed out to the Elevator - seriously - sounds dumb - but it was amazing.  You take this old school elevator up to the top and it overlooks the city of Lisbon.  Here are some pics:

After that we headed back to the airport to pick up our car.  We got there and our tiny lil guy was waiting for us.  We had a silver Fiat - pretty much amazing.  We named him Jorge.  My sister used to drive a stick, so thankfully, it was like riding a bike.  She jumped right back on that horse! 

From the airport we drove out to Belem.  This was one of my favorite little towns.  Parking was super annoying and this guy was trying to "direct" us.  We thought he worked there.  So we get out and ask how much the parking is, he tells us "its free, you just have to give me tip".  Ummm, what?!  Why would we just have to tip you, but everything is free?!  Kinda shady - but we threw him a few Euros and off we went (hoping that it would prevent him from breaking into our car full of all our belongings).  We grabbed a quick lunch and then headed to the Cathedral.  This was one of my first "take your breath away" experiences.  It was gorgeous.  Here are a few pics:

After that I had my next "take your breath away" experience - only this time with pastries.  We went to the famous shop in Belem - seriously kids - it did not disappoint.  I was in a sugary heaven.  This is what I ate:

1 custard delishousness and 1 chocolate croissant of amazingness.  Seriously - if you ever find yourself in Portugal - this is a MUST.

After we licked our plates clean, we headed to the Carriage Museum.  This is exactly what it sounds like.  It is a museum of all the baller rides from back in the day.  These carriages were off the chain - unreal.  The craftsmanship (sorry for the nerd alert words/statements) is not to be believed. 

When we finished up ooohing and ahhhing over these said carriages it was time to head to the coast! Luckily our car was still there and off we went.  The drive up was gorgeous - all along the water - beautiful.  We reached Cascais (my favorite town).  On our way to the hotel, we made a brief (we'd stay longer the next day) stop at the "Boca do Inferno" - meaning "Devil's Mouth".  This was awesome.  Basically it's a "nature made" thing and over the years all the waves have carved out this little cave-like structure.  So when the waves come crashing through - it looks like they are coming through the "mouth" and it's insane.  Here's a few pics: 

We then checked into the hotel and my sister wanted to take a quick nap.  Sydney and I decided to get massages, perfect for our post plane ride!  We had to go one at a time because there was only one masseuse, but it wasn't that big of a deal.  This woman was worth the wait.  As Sydney said "it was like a slip & slide in there".  She was all over your back and did a fabulous job!  Now that we were thoroughly relaxed, we took it to the next level of relaxation and grabbed a drink at the bar.  We were the only ones there and Sydney fell in love with our bartender.  She actually told him this statement - after he made us the most delicious drinks you could ever taste…"I think that in my previous life I was a Moor and I used to fish at the Boca do Inferno".  He laughed so hard.  Then he gave us a recommendation for dinner that night.  He told us to go to The Palm.  So we headed back to the room. Got dressed and headed out for a night on the "town".  They called us a cab and our cab driver was crazy.  He was telling us all about the "discotechas".  We reached "downtown" and began to look for this place, The Palm.  It was a little annoying because all the servers stand outside their restaurants and try to get you to come eat - so they yell to you and say things to you - it's really annoying.  But we knew we'd loved The Palm when we walked up, the manager (who would later become our BFF Bruno) came out and simply said "here's the menu, if you like, you come in".  LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. 

Little did we know that this evening was going to take on a life of its own.  Seriously things got crayzay.  BUT it'll have to wait until tomorrow!!!  It's worth the wait - I promise!

European Adventures - Part 1: Take Off

Guess who's back?!  It's me - it's me!!  Hello everybody (said with the accent of Aunt Bethany from Christmas Vacation).  

Soooo my European travels were of they hizzy!  I can't even express how obsessed I am.  Fully admit - I was ready to come back to the good 'ol U S of A, but I would go back in a blink and I loved all of it!  I'm def gonna have to break this down into a few entries because things got rull over there.  I'll start you at the beginning and then bring it on home!  You'll just have to bare with me because I'm also in piles of work (worst part of being out for 10 days), sooo it might just take me a few days - but hang in there - it's worth it!!!

Day One

This first day I'll start off from when I woke up.  I decided to not go into work - just had too much to do/think about.  I got a mani and ran around doing last minute things.  I left with plenty of time to get the train station, good thing because they were shooting Batman and traffic was off the chain (this will also re-surface on my way home - they moved locations).  Eventually I got to the train to take to Newark Airport which is where I was meeting Sydney (my sister flew out of Boston, so was going to meet us in Lisbon).  She arrived a few minutes after me and we were on our way!  We both were having panic attacks about our bag weight, but we made it in just shy of a few pounds!  We got through security and everything without a hitch and had plenty of time to spare.  We decided to grab dinner and just relax until it was time to board. 

After dinner and we got our water/magazines/rations, we headed over to the gate.  We both needed to charge our phones and get all set for the flight.  We found an area to set up shop.  Sydney plugged her phone in first (another guy was using the second one) and then ran to the bathroom.  I was sitting there alone when this woman comes flying through like a bat outa hell.  She was all disheveled and her glasses were askew and hair all over.  She walked over to our outlet, looked around (while she is doing this the guy sharing our outlet is staring at me and me at him making a "what's she doing" kinda face). She then proceeds to attempt to take one of our plugs out so she can plug in her own phone.  The guy was like…umm I don’t think that's a good idea.  She then was miffed and sat down in a huff.  She then goes into one of her bags and pulls out 2 huge Crumbs cupcakes - which are ginorm and devours both of them.  

Like face in icing, done and done.  What is going on?!  This all while Sydney is in the bathroom and missing it all!  I couldn't handle it.  All I kept thinking was if this lunatic is sitting next to me for this flight, I might just not go.  Luckily she wasn't.  Once Sydney got back, I quickly switched out our phones, fearful that she was somehow try to swoop in.  A short time later - we were boarding! 

Our flight was as if you took every annoying person and put them in one condensed area.  People were talking (loudly) when they should have been sleeping, people would body check you on their way to/from the bathroom (I had an aisle), the couple sitting next to me had an all out fight - she sobbed for about 3 hours (no joke) and faced me so she didn’t have to see him, basically I got no rest/sleep.  I was so exhausted.  But we were starting vacation so I was also really excited!

Day Two

We arrived in Lisbon and had to take a bus to the terminal.  Got through customs, got our bags, and we were good to go!  We grabbed a cab to the hotel, which we later found out that he charged us basically triple what he should have and we even gave him a tip!  Womp womp!  We got to the hotel and the woman checking us in was bizarre.  They had no information for us for places to have breakfast - oh I should mention it was 8 am.  So Sydney and I wandered into town and searched for food.  We came across "our café" and instantly fell in love.  We were obsessed.  We got croissants and café con leche. Amazing.  Oh and Sydney got a Coke (which she would proceed to get at every single meal of our trip).  After we finished up we decided to wander around the city.  We found the shopping area, a beautiful monument and a few other "spots" we needed to go back to.  By 10:30 we were spent.  The 2 of us had hit the proverbial wall.  We walked back to the hotel and told them we'd be sitting in the lobby when our room was ready, they could get us.  We sat on the couch and both basically fell asleep.  

They took one look our way and low and behold our room was ready!  We grabbed our bags and headed up.  We walked in and were hit by this God awful smell, or as Sydney calls it "a man whore's cologne".  I was so tired I just fell into bed and didn't breath through my nose.  About a 1/2 hour later a knock on the door - it was my sister!!!  She arrived!  She had the same reaction we did to the room, but again, was so tired she couldn't deal.  We all took a nap and then were ready to see the sites!

First up - a trolley ride to the Castle of São Jorge.  

This was gorg - the views from the top were amazing.  And I loved the trolley ride.  We even had lunch up there which was great.  We were all pretty exhausted still, so after we finished up there, we headed back to get ready for dinner.  We had a great dinner with amazing wine in the Barrio Alto area of the city.  It was a fabulous way to kick off our vacation!

Applebalaktic Shock

What's up on this groddy Wednesday?!  Well I've just been split your pants kinda busy lately.  Soo Sydney and I went back to our old stomping grounds this past weekend and it did not disappoint!  Our "class" all day Saturday was long and we were so over it by 3 pm, but we made it through and got some good stuff out of it.  Here's a lil recap of the rest of our weekend!

My train ride down was pretty uneventful - just the way I like it!  I had virtually no issues and just watched a movie and read my magazines.  Syndey got stuck in a boat load of traffic, so it took her about 2.5 hours to make a 1/2 hour trip to pick me up.  She finally secured me and off we went!  Our ride out was good - good to catch up and chat.  Our first whack attack experience occurred as we were stopped at a light heading into town.  This car of hoodlums motioned to roll down our window, 

Sydney did and this was their exchange:

Kid:  Hey ma - you got a boyfriend
Sydney:  What?!
Then they sped away

We finally got to campus and pulled into our luxurious hotel.  Let me explain this - it was anything but.  Here's a lil pic:

 We checked in and got into the elevator.  Immediately we were in for it.  It smelled so rancid, I don’t even know how to describe it.  The doors opened, we were hoping for relief, no go - the hall smelled even worse.  And then…our room.  Sweet baby Jesus.  It was this God awful stench that I kid you not made me gag the second I opened the door.  

We thought it was just "musty" and turned on the air.  Oh here's the other thing - we had no other place to go.  Everything was sold out and booked - this was our only option.  So we quickly threw our stuff down and headed to dinner.  One of our fave places - so delish!  We had to wait about an hour for a table - but it was so worth it.  After dinner we drove around campus and then headed right to Wal-Mart.  We decided over dinner that getting sleeping bags & pillows was going to be in our best interest. Best $25 I ever spent.  Sooo this is what we slept on…I had red, Sydney had blue.

 When we got back, we pretty much went to bed.  We had to be up at 7 am for class, so we didn't want to do anything too wild.  Again, class was ALL day, so nothing crazy happened.  My favorite line of the day was after we got all of our "assignments" and Sydney leaned over and said "I'm going to lose my job because I'm going to be so busy leading!"  

After class, we headed back to hell…I mean out hotel to change and get ready for a night on the town!  We went to our favorite place - 2 hour wait for dinner…womp womp!  BUT we were able to get a seat at the bar so that made it so much better.  An app and a few drinks later we were good to go!  Dinner was delish - despite the worst table ever that we had. Basically it was a "two top" in the middle of the aisle - so awkward.  Everyone could see you eating and just watched - we were totally "on display".  After dinner we headed back to the bar - we were both feeling pretty good!  At one point I looked at Sydney and said "did you guys hear that?!", to which she replied, "yes and I'm just one person - it's only me - no one else". Whoops!  This is also when Sydney told me she couldn't eat a certain food because she'd go into "Applebalaktic Shock".  I'm sorry - what?!  I believe you meant Anaphylactic Shock.  Heart this.  So we did some people judging and then got annoyed with the "younger folk", so we decided to change scenery. 

We went into one of our old bars and I immediately had to walk out.  they still allowed smoking - inside - so gross!!  I couldn't deal for a hot second!  Then we went to the last place of the night - things sure have changed!  Drinks were only $5 - kind of amazing.  The clientele was quite different and the music was good - not the same - but good.  We saw a few people that we knew, including a guy I may or may not have made out with during college.  Sydney thought it'd be fun to talk to him…

Sydney:  Hey (hitting him on the shoulder) - do you remember us?!  I'm Sydney and this is Lizzie.
Guy:  Oh yah - I do kinda (pretending he didn't know exactly who we were).
Awkward silence
Me:  Welp - good to see you!

Shortly after we took ourselves to the late night diner we frequented oh too often as students.  Hasn't changed a bit!  Then we walked home, hopeful that we were drunk enough to not be bothered by the stench and grossness of our room. 

Sunday we went to breakfast, walked around campus and then headed out.  My train home was good, despite having to sprint for it (after the changed the times on me)! 

All in all it was great weekend - even with the awful hotel - it builds character!  Guys - the countdown is beginning today - Sydney, my sister and I leave for Portugal & Spain in 1 WEEK!!!  I REPEAT 1 WEEK!!!  I couldn't be more excited but I have so much to do between now and then!!  AHHHHH!!!

Just a Little Rant

So I'm struggling today to come up with a "topic".  I'm kinda in a bad mood - so I don’t really want to talk - period - buuuutttt for you all I'm trying to make an exception!!  I think I'll go with a little list of a few things:

1.  I went to the gym the other day (not going to say how long it had been) and I was done with my cardio and ready to stretch/do my sit-ups.  I go over to where the mats are and obvi it's crowded - it was like 6 pm on a Tuesday night - that's when everyone goes.  So that's fine - I find a little sliver on the mat, throw down my towel and start my routine.  I glance over to my right and there are 2 people (clearly a couple) that are literally just laying there doing nothing.  Like people  are waiting for spots - but these 2 are just laying there - kinda rolling around.  So I get back to doing what I'm doing and try to stay focused - don’t get annoyed.  About 5+ minutes later I realize that now it's just the 2 of them and me on this mat.  All like scrunched into the corner - and then they start flirty flirt and making out.  I'm sorry - this is neither the time NOR the place for this!!  

I'm literally fuming at this point - who does that?!  Finally I just got up and left and some girl glanced and me and gave me a "look" when I was leaving - like can you believe them?!  People are seriously insane.

2.  I tried to get the new iPhone last night (4s) - it will be my very first one!!  And you can "reserve" them starting at 9pm the night before and then pick them up the next day.  Well it's like hella difficult to get one like this and it's so stressful.  Well of course I get access 3 separate times but freaking Apple decides not to accept my password!!!  I'm on the phone with them and they are all "yah that's the password/ID - must just be a glitch and so many people trying to do this now" - oh really - is that what it is?!  

Thank you sir - now I've lost 3 phones and when you finally "fixed" it - they were sold out.  FML.

3.  I hit a taxi with my umbrella yesterday because I was angry it didn't obey the "walk" sign that I clearly had.  

I mean my umbrella was open and I just let it hit into the taxi - I didn't pull a complete Britney - although I would have enjoyed that.

4.  I'm heading to my 'ole alma mater this weekend.  Color me a dork - but I was accepted into this "leadership" program that they are doing.  I loved school a lot - I know - nerd alert!  So I was really excited for this opportunity - PLUS I get to go back to campus!  AND Sydney got accepted too - look out - things are gonna get cray cray.  We've already decided that we can't go near certain areas of campus tomorrow night for fear of being "sucked in".  We have to be at our "retreat" at 8 AM Saturday morning - serious!  BUT we have nothing on Sunday so things are gonna get wild - PS its also alumni weekend - so I'll prob come back married to someone celebrating their 10 year reunion - I'm just saying. 

So sorry I'm not sorry for this little rant.  It was actually quite therapeutic!  Have wonderful weekends lovelies!!!  XOXO

PS - You're welcome for this...