April 27- May 4
My school had quite a few days off at the end of April and beginning of May giving us a second spring break and time to travel. I decided to first go to Lisbon, Portugal for the weekend and then to Athens and Rhodes in Greece. The way I planned it wasn’t the most organized and wasn’t ideal in terms of who I was spending time with and when I was in Athens and Rhodes but I was able to still have a great time and see Lisbon and some of Athens.
On Friday the 27th I flew with Alex to Lisbon, we left Granada at 7am on the bus to Malaga where we flew out at 11am. The flight was only about an hour and with the time change we got to Lisbon at 11:40am, we took the bus into the city center and went to our hostel to drop off our bags. I spoke with the front desk about recommendations on what to see and do and we decided to walk to one of the miradors, the look out points, to see the city. The mirador we chose was called Belvedere of Our Lady of the Hill. It wasn’t too bad of a hike but it was very uphill and both me and Alex had a bit of a cold so we were exhausted when we got to the top. We spent a while up there, looking at the city and relaxing before walking back down. Once we were back down the hill we went and hung out in one of the plazas, there was a nice turf area with fountains and a few cafe-type restaurants. We got smoothies at one of the places and hung around for a bit, we met a few people and hung with them for a while before going to explore some more. We walked around, looking a graffiti and some of the churches, we went by the Santa Justa Lift but didn’t end up going up because there was a long line and it was kind of expensive. While we were walking down one the streets there was a man with two adorable black lab puppies so I went over and asked to pet them, there was women with him who explained he was deaf and she was translating for him, he said the puppies were a year old and very excitable. They were super cute and we had been chatting with the women and man for a bit when the women said his wife had arrived and had more puppies, a lady then walked up with a reusable grocery bag and when she opened it there were two tiny puppies inside, a yellow lab and a brown lab. She let me hold me the brown lab who she told us was only a month old. It was so cute and I had to resist the urge to run away with the tiny puppy. Yet I somehow managed to leave the puppy behind and we continued our exploring. We walked down to the port, took a few pictures, saw the Lisboa sign and watched some kids dance to some street performers playing music. By that time it was getting a bit late and was going to get dark soon so we walked back to the hostel, we went through Barrio Alto, the bar and night scene neighborhood, we stopped at a few view points on the way. Back at the hostel we hung out and waited for our friend Jamie to arrive, she changed her plans at the last minute and took a bus from Granada to Lisbon. She got to Lisbon around 9pm and met us at the hostel, we were going to go out for dinner but we were all tired so we decided to just make noodles at the hostel before going to bed.
The next day I woke up around 9:30am I had agreed to go on the 10:30 walking tour with Jamie and Alex but when I woke up they weren’t awake and didn’t answer my messages. I was a bit annoyed that they promised to go with me but ended up bailing at the last second but I was’t really surprised either. Alex ended up messaging me as I was leaving to go on the walking tour telling me she was going to go back to bed and would see me later, so I went to the center of town to Rossio Square and meet up with the guide for the free walking tour. The guide was very friendly and welcoming and the group was small so we got to know each other a bit while discovering a bit of the city. We went to the Igreja de Sao Domingos a church that has survived through two major earthquakes and a fire. They left the walls burnt and ashen and only repaired the roof, it gives the church an interesting look, it was very cool. Then we saw the lookout at Elevador Castelo, then the Arco do Castelo, Miradouro de Santa Luzia and finally Santo Antonio Church. The tour was really good and the guide offered to show everyone a good place to go to lunch so with her and few of the others on the tour we went to Restaurante O Portas. They served typical Portuguese dishes, I got bacalhau which is just cod fish, it came with really tasty potatoes. After lunch I met up with Alex and Jamie and we took a bus to the Tower of Belem, it was raining and they didn’t have jackets or umbrellas so they decided to just get a coffee at a restaurant while I went and saw the tower. It was really rainy and windy but I was still able to get a really good view from the top of the tower of the ocean and surrounding area. The tower was used as a military tower for awhile and aided in Portugal’s global discoveries. After seeing the tower I went to the restaurant where Alex and Jamie were and they said they wanted to back to the hostel so we took an Uber back and hung out talking for a bit, they decided to nap but I decided to go back out and explore some of the Barrio Alto neighborhood. I found a lot of really cool graffiti and saw the Miradouro de Sao Pedro de Alcantara and the Church of Sao Roque. I got dinner at a small cafe close to hostel and went back to the hostel after to hang out and chill.
I woke up around 10 on my third day in Lisbon, we had talked about going to Oriente and riding the Telecabina which is a gondola that gives you a view of the coast and the sea. While I was ready and up at the time we had a agreed on, once again Alex and Jamie were not and decided that they didn’t want to go so I went alone. I took the metro which was very easy to navigate and figure out. It was unfortunately raining and really windy when I got there so I couldn’t walk around the garden and park area with out getting soaked so I took the gondola from the south point to the north, got a drink and grilled ham and cheese at a small food place then took the gondola back. My flight was at 3pm to Athens that day so after the gondola I took the metro to the airport and hung out there waiting for my flight. Alex and Jamie had originally told me they would go straight to the airport but they somehow ended up messing around in Lisbon and didn’t get to the flight until it was boarding. Luckily they still made the flight and had no issues. The flight was three hours and it was a really nice airline so we got a dinner and free drinks, the dinner was really good and I am glad we paid the pricey ticket for good service. When we got to Athens with the two hour time change from Lisbon it was already 9pm. I wanted to take the metro from the airport to my hostel so I went in search of that while Alex and Jamie got picked up by a driver to take them to an Airbnb and we split up. The metro was very confusing and hard to locate in the airport so I didn’t end up getting on a train to the city center until 10:30pm meaning I got to the center and my stop at 11:45pm, I went right to my hostel, checked in and went to bed.
I woke up in Athens around 9am and planned to go get breakfast that was included with the hostel but after I got dressed and packed and went to the dinning room there were no tables or anywhere to sit and all they had for breakfast was bread and meat so I grabbed a few pieces of bread but then walked to the center of town. I dropped by bag off at a luggage locker facility where I only had to pay 4 euros to locker my bag for the day. After dropping my bag I wandered around a bit and found a place to eat. I got an orange juice and ham, cheese and tomato sandwich and in Athens they give you free bottles of water which is amazing and crazy because in Spain and in a lot of other european countries water is expensive and hardly ever free. Then I went to the Ancient Agora, where all political activities and social gathering in ancient Athens use to take place, it was very cool to see and the museum with all the sculptures was incredible. The Agora was where I say my first Athens turtle! There are turtles in Athens! Turtles! It seems crazy, to me at least. I don’t really even know why but there are turtles roaming around Greece, in the streets and in the bushes and shrubs, they aren’t even really that slow, but the first one I saw in the Ancient Agora did fall down a pretty big hill so I’m not sure they are very smart. I spent the majority of the time I had the first day in the Agora, I walked around the shopping and flea market streets a little, I bought some new converse type shoes and ditched my old ones, before taking the metro back to the airport. At 5pm I flew to Rhodes one of Greece’s islands close to Turkey. When I got there our very kind Airbnb host arranged for his brother to pick me up so when I got there he was waiting for me. We drove 20 minutes to Faliraki to the Airbnb and he dropped me off, Nina and Kate were already at the Airbnb so I met up with them there. We hung out and caught up for a bit and then got dinner at a place on the beach, they served italian and greek food so I got some cheesy noodles that were delicious and we got pita bread dippers for an appetizer. In the restaurant there were a few cats wandering around trying to beg for food, they didn’t look or seem sick and they let you pet them but clearly had the main objective of food as they jumped up on chairs and people. After dinner we just hung out in the Airbnb before going to bed.
The next day we slept in until about 10:30, got ready, ate a breakfast of some cereal and a banana at the Airbnb and headed to the beach. The beach was only a 2 minute walk from where we were staying which was amazing, the beach had chairs and umbrellas, only 5 euros to rent a chair for a day! Not bad! There were also a few different stands offering various water activities, we talked to one of the guys and they offered us a speed boat ride for 20 euros a person, we agreed and paid him our 20 euros, he recommended we lock our stuff in the locker and maybe buy a drink at the shop so we did both then returned. When we got back a man named Costas took us in a speed boat to another beach, we were confused when he docked, thinking he was our boat driver but then they explained that we were meant to drive a speed boat for an hour with no driver/guide. As the other guy had told us to leave our bags we had no ID or credit card but that wasn’t a problem and even though we had just gotten alcoholic drinks it was ok. I had only taken one sip so I offered to drive and they basically just handed me the keys and we were off. It wasn’t hard to drive and we had no issues thankfully but I was a bit stressed to be given the responsibility of a boat. We tried to anchor and all jump in but not long after we jumped in the boat was drifting so I drove in circles while Kate and Nina swam to shore and saw a few caves. We only had the boat for an hour so it wasn’t super long but it was a very cool experience. After the boat we hung out on the beach for the majority of the day, we got lunch at a place nearby. 3 euro gyros, a deal and tasty. Eventually we went back to the Airbnb to shower and relax before going to one of the fancier places on the island to eat for dinner. All the food in Greece was really cheap and the fancy restaurants we affordable, we got calamaris for appetizer and I got a delicious Greek Salad for the meal. I was starting to feel a bit sick at this point in the trip, I had a cough and was tired, headache and my stomach had started hurting so after dinner I called it a night but Kate and Nina went out to a bar around 10pm and met up with some guys Nina had been messaging with on Instagram, She had a great time meeting up with them and they ended up getting lots of free drinks which is cool.
The second day in Rhodes we woke up late, ate the same breakfast of cereal and a banana then me and Nina walked around some of the shops for a bit while Kate slept a bit longer. Nina bought a cute new swimsuit and I just got some basic souvenirs. After our shopping we went back to the apartment, got ready for the beach and all three of us went to the beach to hang out. We spent pretty much the whole day chilling at the beach, lounging in the sun or under the umbrella, we did some swimming and got lunch at a snack bar on the beach. I got a chicken burger that was’t bad, not the best but good. Around 4pm we left the beach and went to a fish spa where the little fish eat the dead skin off your feet, it was weird and tickled a lot but my feet were definitely smoother afterward. Then we packed up everything at the Airbnb and took a taxi to the airport, we had to hang around the airport for a few hours before our flight but it didn’t end up being a a full flight so I got a row to myself which was nice. We got into Athens around 10pm and since Nina and Kate had a morning flight at 6am they decided to sleep at the airport while I took the metro back into the city center. When I got off my metro stop it wasn’t far to the hostel, I checked in and went up the room, everyone was already sleeping when I got there which is always the worst. I hate when I have to go in and find a locker and bed without any lights, trying to navigate with my flashlight on my phone without blinding anyone else or waking them up. Somehow I managed and fell asleep pretty quickly.
The next morning was a walking tour at the hostel that left at 10 am so I woke up at 9am to get ready and eat breakfast beforehand. I didn’t feel very good when I woke up but I still went on the tour. We got to see a lot on the tour and the guide knew a lot of cool facts so it was an interesting tour. We started by seeing the Temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian’s Arch, we walked by the Panathenaic Stadium and through the National Garden to see the soldiers outside the tomb of the unknown soldier. It was a very interesting routine we saw them do, the outfits the guards wear are very specific and look unbearably hot but somehow they don’t pass out. Every Greece male is required to service in the military for a minimum of 2 years but only special soldiers are chosen for the position of a guard outside the tomb and outside the parliament building. We saw the guards do their half hour routine before moving on to Hellenic Parliament, the Roman Agora, we then walked up a hill across from the Acropolis to see it from a distance. Walking up the hill made me realize how sick and awful I felt. After it was over I went to my room in the hostel and took a nap. I was throwing up and feeling very gross in general and I didn’t really want to move but at the same time I really wanted to see more of Athens and see the Acropolis so after an hour and a half nap I went out to the Acropolis. I didn’t spend a lot of time actually looking at the Parthenonas or the anything but I got to see it all for at least a little bit before I went back to the hostel for some more rest. I ate some noodles for dinner and spent the rest of the night sleeping in the hostel.
I was able to sleep in late the last morning before going on the metro to the airport. I had to spend quite a while at the airport doing nothing and ultimately our flight was delayed for an hour but I meet up with Alex and Jamie and Lui so I hung out with them. We flew from Athens to Barcelona and Barcelona to Granada, from the Granada airport we took a bus into town and to my apartment. I ended up throwing up on the bus which sucked but around 11pm I was home and in my own bed. I slept and was able to see a doctor the next morning who diagnosed me with Bronchitis and travelers diarrhea both of which were no fun. A week later however I am much better and only have a little cough left.
I am glad I was able to go to see Lisbon and some of Greece, I am also glad I didn’t travel much with Alex this semester because of how different our traveling personalities are and how it adds to my anxiety.
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