Tryp Oriente Hotel Lisbon

Well its a Business Class lounge, so actually its all good, as we have unlimited drinks, food, magazines, showers and most importantly for me free wi-fi. I actually have time to catch up on all those things that I haven't had time for........including checking out possible accommodation for our trip, good kite spots, as well as emails, Facebook and wind and weather reports from the ...

... I did it. <br>On Thursday I left my house at 7:30 am to go to that UNRISD conference I mentioned in my last blog. Then I went to my professors office hours to ask about my paper, then I grabbed lunch, hit the library for 2 hours before heading to the airport. A busy day led to a very anxious flight. By anxious, I mean I made 8 to-do lists in a 2 hour and 20 minute flight. That flight felt longer than my trans-atlantic treks. I flew EasyJet, one of the main ...

Hello Everyone!<br>Sorry it has been so long since my last post, I'm horrible at keeping up with stuff like this. <br><br>The weekend of Halloween, me and my friend Lauren went out of the country for the first time since we've been in Spain. We went to Lisbon, Portugal. It was incredible. Unfortunately, we only had roughly 24 hours there (we had to make it back in time for class on ...

... this museum. <br>After this we walked across a couple streets to the water, where there was a long board walk with two key sites. One was a massive statue built in the Portuguese Age of Exploration. It was built in order to be the first thing the sailors/explorers saw when they returned home from a voyage. It is like a greeting back into their home. We got to go to the top of the statue for only a euro (with our "student" discount) and got the coolest view of Lisbon from up ...

We started with a city tour of Lisbon, with Laura, our local guide. We saw what was left of Lisbon after the 1755 earthquake (the monumental area), as well as the city centre. There was mosaic footpaths, the Belem Tower, a monument to Henry the Navigator and Jeronimos Monastry, which housed the tomb of Vasco de Gama. In here we used the Whispers for the first time, where the guide talks to a ...

... way and back-alley of Lisbon and were not to be toyed with. We arrived at the airport, only to get lost for 30 minutes or so trying to find the check-in counter. In our defense, it should be noted that it was no-where near any place it should have been. Our ultra-early, red-eyed arrival at the check-in assured that we did, indeed, get bulkhead seating - except in Portugal they apparently spell it "blockhead". After an unexplained ...

... hour bus trip to Lagos, which is in the south of Portugal, famous for its beautiful beaches, surfing and watersports, partying and relaxing. I have left myself 6 days here as I need some time to really relax and unwind before I jump head on into my crazy Moroccan culture tour in a week and a bit. Tonight im going to enjoy my last night with a doona and have hopefully a delightful sleep before my next adventure. Well better go because an episode of Nip/Tick has just begun and i cant miss this.

... see tons of impressive artifacts, like solid gold and silver gifts given to the king of Portugal back in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The museum also had a collection of portraits of all the Portuguese presidents. After that visit, our mini bus was going to stop back by the hotel; however due to a protest that was going on downtown, traffic was awful and we ended up riding in circles for an hour, but it was a good introduction to the city and I snapped a ...

... are host to a Moorish castle hundreds of years old, and the Pena National Palace which was very colourful with some pretty cool architecture, and a view out to the coast which is the western most point in mainland Europe. The walk up, down and around the hills was pretty cool. Very green as can be seen in the photos. A little touristy, but still bearable. Back in Lisbon we went for a walk along the river Tagus, saw the 25th of April ...

... who she'd never met before) and explored Lisbon all day and night! It was a blast! We saw nearly everything you'd look for in a travel book. The castle, museums, the beach, the river, the night life district, the local living situation, the stores, shops, and restaurants, the marinas, the parks, you name it, we did it! We got back after a long 12 hour bus ride on Tuesday night. *photos coming soon.. get excited!!*