Lisbon/Portugal 2010

Unfortunately I had been sick for last 5 days before this trip, so I wasn't very sure I would survive alive. I got a terrible cough and fever, and it seemed like it would continue for a very long time. And the best part was when my eyes decided it's time to get red :D



My friend from the same classgroup came to my place 20:30, and we had ordered a taxi to take us to the airport (Airport Yellow Taxi), and it cost 34€/2 persons. The cheapest choice here.
We were supposed to be at the airport at 04:00, and check in immediatelly we got the flying tickets. But as we noticed, time flew pretty fast and people of our group came there a little bit late.

It was -5C when we departed, and when arrived, it was +15C, so it was a lil bit a reliefment to get to Portugal with my health condition.
We jumped immediatelly to the bus of sightseeing tour and we got pretty good image of the Lisbon at the first hour of our arrival. Actually during that bus trip we got the whole image, and I guess it didn't change at all during the trip.
The guide told us many 'great' clubs and bars, and it seemed he forgot to tell us more about the history of Lisbon/Portugal, the normal life of people, politics etc. Surely the younger part of our travel group would have bored to death if he would have told us those things, but I think it would have been great to hear something wider information.

Our hotel, Turim Suisso Atlantico, is a 2 star hotel. We got no special expectations for the hotel, so there were no disappointments. The hall of the hotel was impressive, it got all marmoric cool creamy look and everything, and we thought our rooms were something similar.
Unfortunately they weren't :D Our rooms were plain and small. Wall-to-wall carpet was 'the weirdeness'. The best part was that the hotel wanted to upgrade their two star system to four star system, so there was some sort of building contract going on. Drilling, banging and yelling. Oh that was something...nice.
But, since this trip was free, no complaining.



I, Paula, Jutta, Inka and Sanni decided to go to see the Castle of São Jorge, a historical castle that has been on the highest hill for many centuries. Because it was very sunny day, it was very pleasant to visit the place. Surely I think it must be the one of the most photographed and visited tourist attraction in Lisbon, but during our visit there were a small amount of people around. So it was quiet and nice, and in the end of our sightseeing we just sat on the stone bench and tried to tan :D



After our first touch of the history, we went to see the shopping places. What a luck we got, because the sales had started just for the time of our trip, and everything seemed so cheap (*3*) I actually bought a pair of high heels, which are pretty common but really beautiful (15€).
In the evening we went to the local food market. Gosh, after getting back to the hotel, we fell asleep immediatelly we put our heads on the pillows. (21:00). So that must tell you how 'stressful' and tiring day this was.

♥♥♥

Notes:

The architecture of Lisbon is pretty strange. It's full of historial buildings, but yet the street walls are a mixture of ceramic mosaics and stone. If you think that the wall texture is beautiful, or there's some beautiful particulars, it will be ruined by air condition machines. Oh I hated to photograph the walls because of them ;(
The other thing was the street art, graffitis. You cannot believe how they disturbed and ruined the buildings! I have no idea what kind of idealistic message they had in themselves, but they were annoyingly everywhere.





Food is seriously cheap (compared to Finnish food). How about this? Chips bag + doghnuts + tissues + coca cola. Finland = 9-10€. Portugal = 3€. The snacks/'small food' here is like a good meal in Finland. Germany sausage with fries and 'english egg', salad and some rice = 4€.
Though your dining at the outside can be disturbed by strange fellows who try to sell you something like sunglasses, umbrellas, drawings, watches and drugs. But they will leave when you narrow your eyes and say over 5 times "no", like in French.
The best slogan was "Buy one get one", and the second best was "Shoe puts."