Sunshine & Sangria :)

I just got home yesterday from my spring break trip to Portugal! Everything was fabulous: the city, the food, the people and most of all the weather! I wish someone had filmed us when we first stepped outside of the Lisbon airport. We went absolutely crazy! Our flight was early, so we arrived at our hostel before our room was ready. We asked the man at the front desk if we could use the restroom to change into shorts and he thought we were being a little overeager because it was "only" 70 degrees. We then told him that all six of us have been studying in Copenhagen for the past 3 months and he completely understood. After changing into more appropriate attire, the first thing that we did was find and outdoor restaurant. We sat in the sun and drank sangria for hours. It was wonderful. Then, we came to our senses and realized that our poor Scandinavian skin was in dire need of sunscreen. We lathered up and spent the rest of the day touring around Alfma, which is the old town of Lisbon. 

Starting our vacation off right!

The flea market in Alfama

On Saturday night we met up with one of Claire and Annie and my good friends from Gustavus who was visiting Lisbon for the weekend. We ate dinner with her and her friends and then all went on a pub crawl that our hostel organized. It was so great to see another familiar face!

The next two days were pretty tough... We took a train to Cascais, which is the "cosmopolitan" suburb of Lisbon. It's known for it's nice shops and beautiful beaches. We lounged on the beach all day, which was fabulous but also very stupid for someone with my hair color. By then end of the day I was looking pretty rosy. At sunset on one of the evenings, we took the train to Belém to see some of the historical sights of Portugal.

The Discoveries Monument

Fishing at Sunset

Belem Tower

Jeronimos Monastery

On my fourth and final day in Portugal, we took the train to Sintra, which is where the famous Pena Castle is. The castle was one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen. The bright colors and creative architecture made it a truly unique structure. We spent all day walking around the castle and the luscious Queen's gardens that surround it. It was a perfect last day in Portugal.