Spring Breaking Part III: Lisbon

Some new friends and I in the main square

I decided to go to Lisbon for a couple days almost on a whim, but was so happy that I did because it really was my favorite city during the trip. It’s not as big as Rome, but still has a lot of cool places to see and things to do. I got in around 5:30 in the morning and since not even the Metro runs that early, hopped in a taxi to get to my hostel. Thankfully they had 24-hour reception, so I was able to check in and sleep for a couple hours before heading out and exploring the city. The first day it was raining when I woke up, so after my free pancakes at the hostel, I went to the aquarium and watched some awesome otters and penguins for a couple hours. Afterwards, the day had turned really beautiful and I took advantage of it by walking along the boardwalk next to the Atlantic Ocean. The next day was also really beautiful, so I went with a couple new friends to the beach. It wasn’t quite perfect beach weather because the wind made it a little cold,

The most delicious pastries ever!

but it was only April so I didn’t even care! I managed to get a sunburn and was honestly happy just because it meant that summer will be here soon! After the beach, everyone else was pretty tired, but I decided to head over to the neighborhood of Belem to try the famous pastry shop and explored along the water. There is a huge bridge in Lisbon that looks almost exactly like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco… Who knew!

Travelling alone was quite an experience, and I learned a lot, both good and bad. It’s kind of a scary feeling to go into a whole new city by yourself, not knowing anyone, but also teaches you to be more outgoing, and that it really isn’t very hard to make new friends if you just be yourself. Lisbon really is an amazing city though, and somewhere I could actually see myself living. Regardless, after two solid weeks of travelling, it is really good to be back in Germany and it feels a lot like home.

The sunset over the Torre de Belem