PORTUGAL

8/6 – This morning we arrived into our last port of Lisbon! We hustled off the ship around 9am after the customs briefing and set out to explore the city we had heard so much about.  We spent the majority of the morning roaming about the area aimlessly and trying to get a good lay of the land. We made our down into the main shopping district where the streets are very clean and the large squares are very attractive. After a bit of browsing about we sat down to lunch at a street café and celebrated the fact that we were not in an Islamic country anymore and that Ramadan was a non-issue! Our course of choice, a hamburger! After a nice meal we decided we would walk back to the ship to get packed and prepared to check into our apartment. It turned out to be a long walk so we hustled along getting our gear together and then returned to our apartment via taxi.

 The apartment turned out to be a great spot! It had plenty of bedrooms and comfortably slept our group of eleven. After hanging out for a bit and napping we went out to buy groceries to cook a family dinner. We cooked a huge pasta dinner and began the evening festivities. We ran into some other SAS kids on the street and found a fun bar where a surf/reggae band was playing old American covers, pretty rad!

 

8/7  - We rallied the next morning to make tracks to a beach so we walked down to the local train station and bought some tickets toward Cascais. A local had told us that Carcavela was a cool spot so we got off at that stop. You walked down a dirt path for about a quarter mile that reminded me of the Trestles hike but not quite as far. When you emerged from the path there was a main road with lots of small restaurants right on the boardwalk. We chose a place and sat down for a class of Sangria and a chicken sandwich. Let me make this clear, if you ever find yourself on the beach at Carcavela ordering lunch, DO NOT order the chicken sandwich. It looks like mayo, smells like fish, and tastes like things not appropriate to be written here. Anyways after that little false start we set up for the afternoon on the beach and took a nice swim, to our surprise, COLD water! We are officially out of the Mediterranean. Unfortunately no surf was happening but I read that it is more of a winter spot. After a couple hours beachcombing and tanning we took a train back to town and the villa. We were still in search of the mythical street in Bairro Alto where main drag was so tonight we set out to find it. After some navi-guessing and wrong turns we eventually found the spot! I've never been to Bourbon St. in New Orleans but I imagine that's the closet comparison. Every door is a small bar with music flowing from the inside and people are shoulder to shoulder up the entire street, which is about a mile long. Walking up the street feels like trying to get from the hot dog line back to your seat during halftime of an early 2000's USC v. UCLA football game! Anyways we befriended two locals who showed us some good spots along the route and it was a great night!

 

8/8 – Around mid-day we got up and headed down into the main square to cruise around and get some souvenirs. Strauss and I split off from the girls who were going to shop 'til they dropped at one of five Zara's in the area along with dozens of other women's clothing stores. We were on a quest for two things, funny hats and Chinese food. Somehow we stumbled upon both along with numerous other hilarious spots all over town, including one accordion player who had a Chihuahua holding his change bucket, that guy definitely earned a few of my Euro cents. Eventually we returned to our villa to rest up for our last night in port on Semester at Sea! Because it was Lucy's birthday we had a small party at the house and a bunch of SAS friends came over. We headed back to the crowded streets with a ton of fun kids and danced the night away knowing that our small group of great friends may never return to repeat these experiences again together.

 

8/9 – Well we awoke and cleaned out the apartment to prepare for check out. Midway through we all agreed that a last family meal was necessary so all eleven of us trekked back to the Chinese Buffet and enjoyed what was probably one of the most hilarious meals yet of the trip. It was a classic way to end our time in port and after finishing the last of the chores at the apartment we made our way back to the MV. We boarded around 4pm and took one good last look at Portugal as we walked up the gangway for the last time. We spent the next few hours sharing stories and pictures with other SAS friends and ate dinner on the back deck as we pulled out of port.

 We are now steaming due west at a bearing of  270⁰  . We are making about 400 miles each day by traveling at 20 knots in decent seas. Sleep is hard to fight off as we are completely exhausted from the past two months of travel and the steady rocking of the ship is soothing. On our voyage home we will have lots of work to get done to wrap-up classes and what not but we will also have plenty of time to reflect on what an incredible journey this has been! Each day has brought new experiences and with the right mindset and the right friends, humor can be found in each and every one. This trip has been non-stop fun with an incredible amount cultural learning every day.

 Stay tuned for more posts from the sea and hopefully pictures of some of the great sunsets we see out here.

 Globally yours,

Jeff