On Friday morning, we ate breakfast at a cafe outside, scrambled eggs for me (when I saw it on the menu, there was no way I wasn't going to order it...who cares that they were probably 8 euro) and the Sevillan version of pa amb tomaquet (tomato/olive oil/garlic scrubbed on bread) for dad. From there we got a cab to the train station where we both were about to step into entirely unknown territory. We rented this little, red, two-door Fiat for the weekend to drive to Lisboa, Portugal. Who came up with that ridiculous idea?! Well I did. And even though when I realized I was going to be the navigator of this 5 hour excursion into a new country I became beyond stressed, I'm oh so glad we did it. After sitting in the car for a good 30 minutes getting everything situated, taking it for a parking lot spin to test everything out, learning that we don't know how to drive it in reverse and having to ask for help to figure that one out, I attempted to use the map and the Eurocar receptionist's directions to get us out of Sevilla. Turns out (who could've guessed) that the directions turned out to be something totally different than what I read on the map or had been told. I was almost certain I'd taken us off on the wrong ramp and was just praying (jokingly) for a sign somewhere posted that said "HEY: PORTUGAL THIS WAY".... but not a minute later we came upon this sign (see above). It was a miracle. We had gotten out of the city without a single wrong turn. That's the moment I knew we were going to be fine- no not fine, we were going to do great- on this road trip.
A little over 5 hours, a random stop in Evora to look for a chapel made of bones (no such luck), a few ridiculously pricey toll booths and 2 mixed CD's later, we were dumped into Lisboa in about the same fashion that Sevilla threw us out. There was almost no traffic the entire way but as soon as we crossed into the city limits of Lisboa (at 5:00) the clearly-labeled mapquest directions became jumbled again and we were passing streets, crossing lanes, making turns, and taking exits of traffic circles faster than I could keep track of where we had started. Again, I thought we were lost, but my dad took a right turn onto a less-busy street and as we looked to our right, there it was: the Tiara Park Atlantic Hotel. It was our hotel, just right beside us, as if we'd meant to take all the crazy turns in order to make shortcuts to our destination. Yep, definitely gonna be a good trip.
view from our hotel window
Although we were wiped out and I could've just gone straight to sleep, we ventured out to find dinner (I was also pretty hungry since our potential lunch stop in Evora turned out to be a total bust). We walked down the very steep Lisboan hills into the city center, then back up to the Bairro Alto. Eventually we landed on a little place with no one inside. It looked off the beaten path, not too touristy, and most importantly- open. It was still so early for dinner and I think the restaurant staff were surprised to have customers at 5:30 but there we were and the dinner was awesome. Cabbage soup for me, tomato soup for dad as appetizers, delicious bread and olives (which, as we learned later, is a Portuguese tactic to get your money...they put bread and butter on the table when you sit down like normal restaurants do, but they charge you for each thing separately. You've been warned), and mushroom chicken/spaghetti carbonara as our main dishes. We left stuffed and relaxed in the hotel, and I watched extremely American television until I fell asleep.
Saturday: We wandered out early while it wasn't raining, even though the sky looked ominous from our hotel window. We walked down into the Baixa, noticing all the things we didn't see the night before. The cobble stone streets are out of this world. Such intricate designs- and covering every walking space in the entire city. The buildings were colorful and everything is so hilly that it reminds me of San Francisco, but its rough around the edges. There's a lot of empty, vacant buildings, although they are still gorgeous. Tile walls, huge doors, artful windows. We had breakfast in a pastry shop where my first order was sub par (a sausage croissant=cold hot dog wrapped up in a mini piece of bread) but the sweet pastries were to die for.
Dad from outside the shop, admiring the goods
More walking. and even though the sky grew darker and darker, it was still gorgeous. We walked down to the port, the market by the water, back up some winding streets, and somehow stumbled upon the path the castle.
We spent about 3 hours exploring this awesome castle, and if you're ever in Lisbon and enjoy 360 degree panoramic views of a city, I recommend going. You can see the castle up on the hill from any point in the city, and you can see just about every building in the city from some part of the fortress. It went on forever, too. When I thought I'd walked around it all, there was another wall that led somewhere else with another tower to climb and see a different view from.
We spent the rest of Saturday exploring different little streets, going through the shopping district of Chiado, taking rests on various benches to people-watch, have ice cream, coffee, dodge the rain, etc. All in all we probably walked 10 miles up and down the 70 degree hills of the city. By the time dinnertime came around, we were more than ready to pop a squat for a while. We sat outside at a restaurant with a view of the castle and ordered salmon and a seafood stew (they're known for their seafood, especially cod). The shrimp were as big as my hand and they served them to us completely whole. I didn't love having to see their little eyes in my food, but once you got passed that the stew was delicious. Much better than paella, I have to say. After dinner, more pastries (why not? You're only in Lisbon once...) and we called it a night. I have to say that having a nice hotel to stay in when you're traveling is so grand. I'm used to staying in hostels and they're generally fine, but when you can have a comfy bed to just sink in to, a room to yourself, a TV to watch, and you don't have to wear shower shoes, you just really learn to appreciate it.
Not my pastry of choice, but this huge dessert with hard-boiled eggs baked into it were everywhere. A Portuguese specialty, perhaps? I'll never know, but I was definitely intrigued.
Sunday: Slept in instead of waking up early to make a side trip to Sintra or Belem since it was raining. It would've been cool to visit, but the rain was pretty steady and it would've meant more navigating a foreign city, foreign country, in a foreign car, and with the time crunch to get back to Sevilla. We went looking for a leisurely breakfast Sunday morning but Lisboa, Portugal, had checked out for the day. Not a soul was out on the street, much less a store open- and it was 10 am. We settled for fruit and pastries in the one store we could find and hit the road back to Sevilla. The drive back was equally easy, plus we knew where we were going which took a lot of the stress off. Riding along in a car is so much more preferable to me than driving, and I love listening to music with my dad (the first CD was a mix he made for me during my senior year of high school, filled with popular songs from his senior year, and the second CD he brought along was one I burned for him as a father's day present years ago), so it was great to just sing and eat gas station snacks as we drove through the beautiful Portuguese countryside. Maybe its the tolls that keep everyone away but we had the rode to ourselves, and it made it all the more relaxing.
Back in Sevilla we checked into another hotel and went out for tapas (ahh back to the tapas) before going to La Carboneria to see some flamenco. It was the most crowded I've ever seen the place and we ended up having to stand at the bar to see, but I'm still glad we went. It was a little taste of Sevillan culture and I think my dad appreciated seeing and hearing it.
Unfortunately on Monday I was running around a little bit like a chicken with her head cut off-- I had class, I wanted to show dad the Triana market, I had a meeting with my philosophy professor, I had to study for an exam at 5, I had class again, I had to meet with a group to study for another exam on Tuesday, I had to go back to Cristina's for a change of clothes, I wanted to show dad the park, dad left his good jacket in Lisbon so we were going to try to find him another, and I wanted to take him to La Confeteria for dessert. Somehow I managed to configure my schedule to fit most of it in. The highlight of the day though was buying to-go sandwiches from Starbucks (pretty much the only place you can get take-away food if its not fruit or veggies), an avocado, a mango, and humongous strawberries from the farmer's market and taking it all to Maria Luisa Park for a picnic.
It was a perfect day for the picnic, and it was something I'd been meaning to do for a while. I think I might have found a "spot" too. I love it when I can find a place that is in public or just in my path of travel on a daily basis that I can call mine. I have one at UNC where there's almost never anyone sitting, so I call it my spot. Sometimes I go there in between or after classes on a warm day, or I'll sit there at the end of the semester before I leave for a long time just to think or reflect. I found a place in the park that is so quiet and comfortable to sit. I studied some here while my dad walked around, and I could easily see myself wandering back there much more over the remainder of the semester. The day was crazy, but I got everything accomplished that I needed to, I think (at least I hope) my dad still had a good day, and this little respite a midst the craziness was a real blessing. When I think back on it it makes me realize that there is always, and there must always, be time for you in a day. No matter what you have to do, what you need to do for yourself is just as important. I'm tired of eating bread and fatty meats every day, but when I have free meals available I'm reluctant to go out and find a more expensive meal. But the fresh fruit and pesto sandwich was just what I needed that day, and it'll be worth it again to skip out on one of Cristina's mystery soups to have some time for myself in the next coming weeks. Life is full of obligations, some of them we're excited about fulfilling and some not so much. I'm coming to realize that the more fulfilled we are through the little things, the more rested and energized we feel to complete all of them.
Tuesday morning dad had to be at the airport at the crack of dawn so I hopped in the cab with him and got dropped off back at Cristina's on his way out. It was unbelievably cool to have him here and show him my life for the semester, as well as to experience something totally new with him. I know we'll look back on it years and years from now and have nothing but good things to say. Plus we have enough pictures to relive it all again and again...and again.
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