Been Around the World Don’t Speak the Language

In Spain we managed to get by with our meager understanding of the language, but when we arrived in Portugal we did not even know the most basic words. We could not say hi, bye, thank you, or bathroom in Portuguese, but we got through it and I say ‘obrigada’ to the locals for bearing with us.

As we flew into Lisbon the day after Christmas it was only fitting that the airline placed us on a private jet as a present. When all 14 passengers on the flights arrived at the plane we were all shocked to see that it was a tiny jet. After everyone took pictures of the outside we got some solid group plane selfies and pictures of our view right into the cockpit! Not only were we on a 19-seat place, but each seat had a snack pack with a sandwich, water, earplugs, and a wet nap- RyanAir doesn’t even give their passengers beverages! It was so funny, and such a pleasant surprise to begin our adventure in Portugal on what we like to call a private jet.

After our luxurious flight over, we were refreshed and ready to see what Portugal had in store. On our first day in Lisbon we took a tram to a renowned monastery and then walked over to a famous bakery. The main form of public transportation in Lisbon consists of old, rickety trams. Given the hilly topography, they seem suspect to stalling and breaking down every time them drive up a hill. Nonetheless, we made it to the church, which was cool, but I can’t say much about it. The bakery, however, is home to the famous Portuguese treat Pasteis de nata, and they make it with a secret ingredient. It is a custard filled pastry sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon and it is delectable!

After enjoying our Pasteis de nata we rode a tram that circled the entire city. From here we saw great views off all the hills and all the little shops along the narrow streets. We also got to witness a man tram hopping- he leaned casually against a building at each stop and then hung onto the back of the tram once it began to drive again.

The next day we went to the popular flea market. It was so huge that we could not even make it through the entire thing, but we found some random nic nacks, and Shai was tricked into buying a mini camel.

Once again, we found a ride through BlaBlaCar from Lisbon to Porto. This time our driver was a guy who majored in Tourism, and spoke wonderful English. He explained everything as we drove up nearly half of Portugal for about a 5 hour ride. We even made a stop in his old college town to have the traditional pastry and coffee snack between lunch and dinner. When we finally arrived in Porto it was dark out, but the city was lit up and astounding. The city of Porto is layered along a mountainside with a river running along it. We could see the lights shining on every layer, on the 7 bridges, and off the river. This view was breathtaking-and it really heightened my expectations for my time in Porto.

By day Porto was cool, but not nearly as remarkable as it was at night. One thing that I really liked about this city is the presence of hand painted tile on almost every building. It gave it a personal, united feel. We walked past the several wineries on the river, and then went to a restaurant to taste francesinha, a popular local dish. It consists of layers of different types of meat and bread all covered in a thick layer of melted cheese and topped with a flavorful tomato based sauce. It was an extremely heavy meal, and not the best tasting thing in the world, but I’m glad I can say I tried it.

From Porto, we Shai and I parted with Claire, and went to Paris. We were exhausted when we got there and immediately went to our hostel to take a nap. While this may sound like a waste of a day it ended up being the best decision we could have made! When we finally woke up it was dark out, but we wanted to do at least something so we resolved to walk to the river to scope out a nice view. We ended up walking around a good amount of the city for more than an hour- and we fell in love with Paris. Our midnight walk was straight out the movie Midnight in Paris, and it was a great introduction to the city.

The next day we set out to see all the typical touristy things. First we hit the Eifel Tower with a picnic of baguette, tomatoes and avocado. We ate our snack on the lawn right under the tower and it was the cutest picnic I have ever been part of. From there we walked along the river, stopping at various museums and interesting buildings until we happened upon the Arc de Triumph and then the Louvre. The next day we walked the other way to Moulin Rouge and then sadly had to go to the airport to end our trip in Dublin.

I never thought I would be traveling through Europe for the holidays, but I am so glad I had this opportunity. Every city I went to had something special to offer, and I enjoyed all 17 of the days I spent country hopping!

Vamos a la Espana!

After I finished my assignments and packed up my life in Cork, I set off to travel around Europe for 17 days.

First, I went to Madrid to visit Maddy. Although I was only there for a short time I really got a feel for the city by wondering around. Each district has a distinct ambiance, so walking from one to the next was super interesting; and since it was Christmas time every street was lined in different lights! Maybe the best part of my visit to Madrid was being introduced to Spanish cuisine. We went out for tapas and wine followed by churros y chocolate. The tapas we had are called pinchos and are native to northern Spain. They are essentially slices of baguette topped with anything from salmon and caramelized onion to chicken and cheese.

After Madrid, I took an 8 hour bus ride over to Barcelona. Here I met up with Shai and her sister Tom, our friends Dhiren and Wei from Cork, and Claire, my roommate from Santa Cruz. It was surreal to have a reunion with friends from all over the world in Spain. After meeting up at the hostel we set out to see the city. We happened upon an extremely tall mall with a rooftop lookout. There was an elevator to the top that cost about 2 euros each to ride up, but being students traveling through Europe, we went into the mall and found our way up for free. The view was stunning! I could see the entire city, which is full of ornate buildings, spacious parks, and interesting monuments.

After walking around for hours we had to refuel with some native cuisine. We went to a recommended restaurant to try Paella, a rice based dish filled with spices, seafood, chicken and cooked with a little bit of wine (I think). It is cooked and served giant pans, and then dished out individually. It was tasty, but the meal came with more cultural lessons than we bargained for. Turns out if you are served bread before your meal in Spain and do not refuse it you get charged. However, we were each given a free shot at the end of the meal (who doesn’t enjoy a bit of liquor at 1 in the afternoon) so it evened out.

The next day we toured the famous cathedral La Sagrada Familia. Gaudi, an architect known for his eye for detail, designed it along with several other buildings throughout the city. It was like no building I have ever seen before. Every last bit of the walls was covered with patterns and designs, and the intricate stained glass windows were strategically placed to allow for the entire cathedral to be lit by the sun. In comparison to all of the several other cathedrals I have seen, it was much more modern. Everything was white and sparkling and absolutely beautiful. I think I like the medieval style like the cathedrals in Ireland better, but La Sagrada Familia was definitely impressive.

From Barcelona I continued onto the small town of Malaga in the south of Spain with Claire and Shai. We had an early flight and got there with the full day ahead of us. None of us had any real background knowledge about Malaga but we saw a cool looking Moorish tower and decided to climb the hill it was built on. Again, we stumbled upon an astounding view of the entire city. We could see the beach, the bull fighting stadium, a cathedral, mountains, and so much more! We reached the very top of the mountain at about 10:30 AM, and there was an extremely sketchy man selling shots for 1 euro 50. Oh, Spain.

From the mountain, we strolled to the beach. It was sunny and even hot enough to take off our jackets. We enjoyed bocadillos, mini sandwiches much like pinchos, at a small café right along the ocean. En route back to the hostel we came across a Christmas market. There is at least one in every, so we made a point to explore them all.

The beach was so nice that we went back the next day to just lounge around. Then we went to a modern art museum that was recommended by someone at the hostel. It was weird, as much as I try I cannot understand how some radom things can be classified as art.

After two wonderful days in Malaga we made our way to Cadiz by carpooling with some locals through a ride share website called BlaBlaCar. This was a great and cheap way to travel across Spain, and it gave us the opportunity to meet and talk to local people. The man who drove us to Cadiz was a 24 year old lawyer who surprisingly had spent a month in Cork. He was very nice and spoke English pretty well. I was surprised at how many hills we saw along the road, the landscape was pretty-but at times it looked like what I see while driving up the 101. The coolest part about the drive was that we got a view of Africa in the far distance as we were driving along the most southern part of Spain.

We arrived in Cadiz on Christmas Eve and were greeted with a potluck party. It was weird to celebrate this family holiday with a group of strangers, but everyone was friendly and festive and as we ate, drank, and were merry.

Our one day in Cadiz was Christmas Day so most everything was closed. Since we could not explore the shops we took a walk along the beach and out onto what I think was an old castle or fortress of sorts. My windy selfies in Ireland are NOTHING compared to the ones we took here. It was so windy that we could barley keep our Santa hats on our heads. The weather made the experience 10x more fun though, and that windy beach is how I will forever remember Cadiz.

Next, we made our way to Seville via another ride from BlaBlaCar. This time however we encountered some small problems. The car would not start. For the first time in my life, I spent Christmas Day pushing a car up and down a small ally in Spain trying to get it to start. After several attempts to fix the battery, and several more tries to start the car while we were pushing it the guy say down at the wheel and prayed for it to start. This worked, and we were on our way to Seville.

We arrived at the hostel the night of Christmas Day, so after exploring for a bit me, Claire, and, Shai had a little snack exchange and card making party to celebrate with ourselves. The next day we wondered around the city-it is pretty modern and had a ton of stores along every street-kind of reminiscent of 3^rd street in Santa Monica. There was also an extravagant building with a huge square and fountain, we could not figure out what it was, but we got some great pictures of it.

Having covered almost the entire southern coast of Spain, it was time for us to hop the boarder over to Portugal. Spain was amazing. The little beach towns were quaint and cute, but also had interesting historical sites scattered within them. I finally got to utilize my three years of Spanish and taste more ethnic cuisine.