Lots of Love for Lisbon #HogsAbroad

Midterms are over so it’s time to catch back up on real life. 
Lisbon has been one of my favorite trips so far…the other one being Porto, Portugal. In conclusion, Portugal is a MUST visit destination.

---

FRIDAY

Left Salamanca, Spain at 1am and got there at 7am with no sleep in between because it was so hot in the train, there was no way to catch some shut eye. Alas, my group and I trekked on and squeezed in as many activities as we could that Friday.
Just on Friday we…

• Checked into the neatest hostel called Look out Lisbon! that couldn’t have been more perfect. The breakfast in the morning included the yummiest bread you’ve ever tasted with homemade jam, the place had a beautiful overlook of the city, and the place had hospitable staff who took us on our own private excursion to Sintra (which you’ll hear about later) and let us choose what we wanted to do.

• Right next door to our hostel was an Asian buffet where you could fill a box with fried rice, sushi, and all sorts of fabulous things for 3 euro and ended up eating there for two nights in a row! It was too good to resist.

• Went to a famous pastry shop called Pastéis de Belém with Pastéis de Nata (custard tartlets) that pastry shops all over Europe try to recreate…sadly they can’t recreate the tartlet and the ten-minute line that wrapped around the side of the building.

• Visited the Belém Cultural Center with an amazing contemporary art exhibit that we had fun at.

• Hiked up a mountain to the Ajuda National Palace that I plan on moving into next week :) it was beautiful beyond compare.

---

 SATURDAY

We came across lots of rain but it’s a city that is so gorgeous that the rain doesn’t even faze you until you almost slip and fall to your death (and no this didn’t happen to me:).

• Sao Vicente de Fora: this is the flea market we hiked up another mountain to get to. There were tons of different things that they were selling but the gold, silver, and copper kitchen ware stuck out to me immediately. It was beautiful when the drops of rain hit the fragile pieces and made different peaceful sounds on them. This flea market had Chanel and Dior perfume for dirt cheap but we were too rushed I didn’t get to buy anything.

• Then, we ventured off in an old old Land Rover to the fairy-tale town of Sintra!
• I will just show pictures of this place because words can’t describe how magical this place really is…
  

• We ended our Sintra trip at the Western most point of Portugal called Cabo de Roca which made me really want to head to the beach…a warm beach.

• Then, after we got back we all went to the Asian buffet for the second night in a row and stopped at a restaurant to listen to some Fado music that was so impressive that we could’ve stayed all night to listen to it!

---

SUNDAY

• My two friends and I went for a run in the morning by the Port and came across the most beautiful rainbow ever.

• Then for lunch we went to a traditional Portuguese lunch with lots of cod, bread, rice and vegetables. This lunch was easily one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time, they really value the quality of food here.

• This day started and finished with the mindset of eating yummy food. We ended our day at a famous indoor market called Time Out Market where the best restaurants in Portugal had booths with all sorts of different food and desserts.

---

If anyone ever goes to Europe you HAVE to come here!
The people, food, and places are all off the charts awesome!!! I would visit again:)
--
Read more from Gabrielle at https://gabriellemuscari.wordpress.com/.
If you're interested in the AIFS Study Abroad in Salamanca: Semester or Academic Year program, check this out: http://www.aifsabroad.com/spain/salamanca/