The hostel we stayed at in Lisbon is ranked in the top ten in the world on hostelworld.com. It was nice. There was free breakfast food out pretty much all day. The dorm rooms were large, airy and spacious. There was free internet available, and 24 hour reception, friendly helpful staff, and plenty of other amenities. But after the last two sweet, family-owned, tiny hostels with private accommodations, moving back into a communal living space like this was rather a step down.
We quickly gained nemeses in the form of a really weird French couple. There was this girl, sitting on her bed in the shared room on her laptop, for basically 8 hours straight. She was there when we arrived in the city and dropped off our stuff, and she was still there when we returned from a preliminary stroll, and still there when we left again for a late dinner. Occasionally, her boyfriend came to join her, and they both sat on the bed, staring at her computer and periodically saying "Ha" in approximate unison, apparently vaguely amused by something they were watching. Needless to say, Sara and I eyed them with distaste.
We didn't get to see much of Lisbon. It was really hilly. We ate some pastries at a little cafe. We also went out to dinner at one of the restaurants the hostel recommended. I ordered the "house steak" which came with an egg and bacon and gravy on top of it. It was quite interesting. This restaurant also sneakily got us to pay for appetizers. They brought a tray with a bunch of cheeses and fish spreads, bread, and olives. I figured they were just giving us a lot of free stuff. But actually they charge you for whatever you eat. Oh well. We also did witness a car/motorcycle accident. I still get phantom pain in my hand when I think about it.
Sara and I both set out and parted ways the next morning. I barely slept because I was stressed out and thinking about getting up at 5 am to get to the airport in time. I had an 8 am flight. So I got on my flight to London/Gatwick and Sara got on her flight back to New York a few hours later. It was really nice to have a visitor and travel companion for those two weeks, and we had a lot of fun together.
That day, Tuesday December 7th was long and stressful for me. I was basically in transit from 5am until 12 am. I flew to Gatwick, then took a bus to London, then was about to get on a bus to Leeds to see Mia at last, when I suddenly got a call from her saying she was in London and not going back for four more hours. So I had to adjust accordingly, change my bus, and seek her out in London. Then we wandered around Camdentown shopping for a while. I adjusted to cold weather, being in a big city, and being in a place where Christmas is more capitalistically in-your-face, and remembered why I'm not crazy about that. Being in Europe, and mostly away from that, up until that point did a lot to show me the other side of a holiday I've never really been able to appreciate before. So that was nice.
Anyway, it was really exciting and great to see Mia again. The week that followed was definitely a week of decompression for me. I was in Leeds to see her, and not to see the place, so I didn't do a whole lot. We slept in a great deal, and I got to know her friends, and we watched some movies, including Jaws which I immediately became obsessed with, and made me want to be a sailor/pirate/shark/shark-hunter more than ever! Mia and I were in pretty different emotional places, and it definitely wasn't the visit I was expecting, but I'm really glad I was there. I also got to hang out with fellow Udubber Helen Please (also the recipient of my self-created goofiest-last-name pass-down). That was super awesome, we hit it off and became good friends, and had a really long and stimulating debate about religion, probably encouraged and set off by my going to a Christmas Carol church service with her. Also at that event I got to try mulled wine and mince pies, very traditional English Christmas fare.
I went to a class or two with Mia and got a better sense of the similarities and differences between the UK and US university systems. Also a cool and interesting thing to do. There was a definite sense of my trip winding down all along. This really took me by surprise. I kept marveling that it felt like it had been so quick, and I definitely could have kept going and traveled more. I think this is an indication that I paced it really well. There was enough variety in where I was going, what kind of living situation I was in, how long I stayed and what I was doing that it stayed fun throughout. And before I knew it, I was on my way back home.
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