It’s coming up on two weeks since I have sent an update out and a lot has happened. Here is a little teaser, we found the “City of God” in Portugal (not a good thing), I woke up feeling like a knife had been shoved into my chest after partying in Ibiza and we got pulled over on a scooter and had it impounded. Two weeks of excitement…….here we go.
Last time I left you we were contemplating going to Alicante for the weekend and I was about to head to the Arabic baths. Well we did go to the Arabic baths but audibled out of Alicante and headed to Portugal instead. Little bit of foreshadowing, Portugal great, Lisbon awful.
So the baths were amazing. We paid 21 euro (student rate) for an hour and a half of warm, hot and cold pools located in the side of a hill followed by a 20 minute massage. The insides were lined with Moorish tiles and were about 6 ½ feet tall. The lighting was dark and I was waiting for a Russian mob fight to break out at some point, just seemed right. It didn’t happen but that didn’t take away from how great these baths were. The massage was amazing, oils and all. The best part might have been the mint tea breaks in between pools. For any of you that have never had great mint tea, you are missing out.
We end up going to see Flamenco up where the gypsy’s live. The gypsy’s continuously harass everyone by trying to give you either a lighter or rosemary. If you end up taking either they nag and mess with you until you pay them. They really hate it when you just give it back to them, real annoying. Well it was nice to see that they were not out and about for this late night dance endeavor. This was the first time I had seen flamenco in person and it was intense. The singers sound like they put their whole life into each note and the dancers look like someone off stage has a gun pointed at them. The emotion and intensity they express is something not to miss, very impressive. Now that being said, I am cool never seeing flamenco again or at least not ever paying to see it again. Cool as it was, not worth the blank euro I paid to see it again. Marking that cultural check box once is all that is needed, definitely worth that one time though.
The next day a couple of the local Spanish students took us to the beach. It was about an hour away and it was a beautiful day for it, real hot. So five of us packed into her “daddy’s” car and headed out. The sand out there was nice but very rocky in certain places. The water was absolutely freezing, other than those two things it was a great time. We stayed out there most of the day and came back that night. Great trip.
We ended up deciding to go to Portugal that night after the beach and the only way that made sense was to drive. So Nash, Deuce (roommates) and I rented a ford fusion and departed on quite the journey. We decided to stay two nights in Cascais which is a small beach town about an hour outside of Lisbon. This was the best decision we made. The drive took about 7 hours and I took on the role of Morgan Freeman and drove those two little Miss Daisy’s the whole trip (movie driving theme to continue). I enjoyed driving for the most part but as you will read later, I have no idea how I did not crash that little euro machine. Nash was actually a great ride along partner but Deuce slept most the time. Rule #1 of road trips is you don’t sleep while the driver is driving. I actually volunteered to drive but one didn’t know how to drive stick and the other wouldn’t drive in a city. Seeing that both of those things are necessary for this trip, there really wasn’t much choice of who drove.
Cascais was beautiful we got free bikes from the tourist center and rode all around the town and up the coast. What a beautiful ride. Huge rocks followed by beautiful beaches. It was the drive that all the postcards were taken on. We came back and caught the Portugal v. Brazil game which was intense. It ended in a tie which was probably a good thing because we legitimately saw just as many Brazil fans as Portugal fans. A riot might have occurred had a tie not happened.
We end the night by going to the Casino in Estoril that inspired Ian Fleming to write the James Bond novel “Casino Royale” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casino_Royale_(novel). The creator of James Bond was stationed in Portugal and he followed a double agent there. In commemoration of this Nash and I both dropped over 50 euro at the roulette tables. Seriously what are the odds of black hitting 8 times in a row? Unfortunately we didn’t have the US government there to buy us back in like the movie, reality sucks. Still a great night though.
The next day we drive to Sintra which is a little city built around three castles. One of the castles legitimately looked like the Magic Kingdom castle in Disneyworld (see pic attached). The best part by far was the driving though. All the castles are up huge hills with the windiest roads leading up to them. I switched from Morgan Freeman and worked on my best Jason Stratham as I worked my way up the hills over and over again. I felt like a 10 year old playing a racing game in the arcade, probably not the mentality I should have when driving up dangerous roads but it was a blast.
We then head to Lisbon, this is where the story turns to the dark side. At this point we all were tired and needed siestas. As we drive into Lisbon it becomes clear that we have a small idea where our hotel is and have no idea the actual address. Frustration builds. Next the city is about as a$$ backwards and confusing when it comes to its one ways and chutes and ladders-esque curvy streets. Frustration builds more. Europe refuses to display street signs and Lisbon was the epitome of this so we could not navigate ourselves via streets signs either. Frustration grows more. We hire a cab to drive us to the hotel he fails. Frustration increases more. We ask the police to help us, they tell us they only speak Portuguese and then they tell us in English where the hotel is. We still can’t find it. More frustration. We find the “City of God” and dead end in the middle of it. For all of you who have never seen the “City of God” it is a movie based on the slums of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and is not a place you want to visit. We are eyed down by every prostitute, thug and drug dealer in the place and we quickly turn around. Now this whole time I have switched from into Jason Bourne style driving. I turned down and reversed out of more tiny one ways and almost hit more people and cars due to the confusion and tiny, horrible, overcrowded, hectic, crazy streets of Lisbon. I don’t want to pat myself on my back but I have no idea how we didn’t hit anyone or anything. This is all while driving stick in an extremely steep hilly city, I think my brother and dad would have been proud, my high school driving days weren’t the most impressive and they let me know it. I truly feel like more of a man due to this driving experience.
So we still have not found our place and I am about to slam the car into the next wall we see out of pure frustration. So we decide to stop and ask a hotel if they know where the hotel is and if not if we can stay there and just eat the reservation. They point out that it is right down the road and we easily find it. Unbelievable, we had driven by it about 5 times. I am pumped until they tell me I have to park in their tiny parking garage. I stunt car’d that entrance by jumping the curb while simultaneously swinging the car 90 degrees to the left mid jump and then straightening it out upon hitting the ground with the tires with a tiny sidewalk in between the street and entrance. Getting out the next day was fun one too. The walls were covered in carpet with markings left from all the cars hitting it. We make out without a mark, get lost heading out of the city and finally make it on our way home. 7 hours later we drop that abused piece of machinery off and call it a trip.
Other reasons to hate Lisbon:
1) They bring you bread, cheese, olives, pate and sometimes meats at the beginning of a meal without being asked and then charge you for everything you eat.
2) They speak Portuguese.
3) They are not nice people in Lisbon.
4) City was built by re-tards.
Portugal great, Lisbon awful.
The next week is our last in Granada. We rented scooters one day and drove all around the city. I personally had only driven scooters a couple of times and it was a blast. The only problem was the fact that we rented them for a full day so my roommate Nash and I decided to ride them to class the next day. He decides not to wear his helmet though. This is a bad idea. In his defense the guy we rented the scooters from told us we did not need them or euro driver’s licenses. Turns out we need both. He gets pulled over and ticketed 100 euro for not having his helmet on. Since he has no helmet or drivers license they impound his scooter and it costs another 60 euro to get that out. I hid down the street and he covered for me when they asked where I was…..thanks buddy. Still a fun time, expensive experience though.
The last night nearly our entire program goes out on the town. We start with cana’s and tapas, move to Mojito’s and Salsa and finish at the Discoteque Granada. Half the class was missing the next day and after class I head out to Madrid to meet up with my buddy Perin so we can catch our flight to Ibiza that night.
The program was great, my roommates were awesome and I really liked everyone in my class. We had some amazing local students that made it a truly Spanish experience and I am forever in their debt for taking us out and hanging out with us. The classes were even interesting. Granada is officially my favorite city in Spain.
After four weeks in Spain I have come to the realization that I truly love Spain. The only thing I would get rid of is all the cigarette smoking, I about flipped out at one point because of it. Other than that I could definitely live here. I have to take my final today and will fill you all in on Ibiza and Morocco next week. Sorry about the Ibiza tease you are just going to have to wait a bit to hear about the knife in my chest. Don’t want to write an entire novel for this update. Hope all is well with everyone, miss you all.
