Lisbon

Ah Lisbon, the return to western civilization. I was happily surprised to find Lisbon to be a cool, upbeat, easy going city. Reminds me of San Francisco…never been to San Fran, but I bet it would be something similar to Lisbon. Very relaxing port, so this post will be short.

Day1: Today I had my Field Lab for my Public Health class. We listened to a few lectures on the Portuguese Health Care System, toured a clinic, and visited a hospital. I was hoping this would be cooler, but it turned out to be really boring. I learned a lot, the Portuguese have a lot of problems with their system, but there doing a lot better than we are in the states statistically and financially. I got make to the ship around 5pm, went for a run, and then met up with the gang for a nice dinner on the coast. We ate with Keenan and Chelsy’s marine biology class, it was fun and the food was solid, got the salmon risotto and Nick, Kindle and I shared a bottle of Vinos Verde and Vinos Rosa…very good. After dinner we walked along the coast, had some drink…it was a fun night, maybe too fun haha.

Day2: Went for a good AM run and then was off to my visit of Sport Lisboa Benfica’s stadium. It was a cool stadium, had a great lunch in the stadium’s restaurant overlooking the futbol field. Got to walk on the field, see the locker rooms and AT room, it was a worthwhile trip and now I get to say I’ve been to a legit European futbol stadium. After the tour I went for another run, and met up with Keenen and Chelsy for dinner. We had a wonderful dinner in the Baro Alto in a small brick restaurant. Got the salmon with broccoli and potatoes…very good. After dinner we just explored.

Day3: Got up relatively early to go to Sintra on my own. I hoped on a train having no idea what stop to get off of…only knowing it should take about 40 minutes to get to the right station. So, at 40 minutes I hoped off at Estalio, a nice town right on the Atlantic. I then went to the bus station, saw a bus with a sign flashing Sintra, and after a 30 minute ride got to Sintra…worked out surprisingly well.

                Sintra was gorgeous! The town center was amazing, the palace had great views, and the Moorish castle was so cool! I didn’t have time to go to the Pena Palace, but from afar it looked really pretty. After touring around I made the long trek back to the ship, picked up snacks for the 8 day trek back to Boston, and then went for a run. The last two nights were long, so I just stayed in this night…had dinner with Mark which was cool.

Day4: Went on a bike tour with Nick and Kindle today. Rode the bikes for a mile down to the ferry dock to take the boat to Caparica beach, very nice, very relaxing…more laying on the beach and napping then biking haha. After the tour Nick, Kindle and I had a nice lunch in the city, looked through a few shops, and then walked back to the ship.