« »

Home Sweet Hostel

Once Steve and I decided to spend a month in Lisbon, it didn’t take long for us to settle in.  Individually we developed our own little habits like we had as roommates back home.  But we also made more than sure to join-up for our share of adventure every week.

Basically, the plan was to hold-up in Lisbon and wait for the meanest part of winter to pass us by.  So we had to get back into a little bit of “normal” life.  In addition, we made it a point to continue to keep things as reasonably low budget as possible.  This basically meant that most days we would just lay-low.  Now, for Steve and I that can mean two totally different things.  To most people that know me, I’m pretty laid-back.  But Steve is uber-laid-back.  I definitely need a certain level of excitement and/or stimulation each day to keep me from going bonkers.  Fortunately, being in a foreign city and meeting new people on a regular basis definitely helped me out with this.  During the day I settled into a type of schedule.  I’d roll out of bed a little after 9 and stumble downstairs for the free breakfast.  Sometimes this was quick, and I’d be back upstairs fairly quickly.  Other times, I’d find myself in great conversations with new and interesting people.  I never knew how long this would go on for.  Like one time I got to talking with two young ladies from Trinidad and Tobago for quite a while.  The longer the conversation went on, the more comfortable they felt speaking like they would back home.  Awesome accents!

After breakfast I’d usually head back to the room.  Depending on when I got to bed the previous night, I might catch a few more Z’s.  But usually I’d do some reading, and then hop online to catch-up on news from back home.  Then I would actually try and do a few exercises, and when you have extra roommates that can get a bit interesting.  Naturally, I’d grab a shower next.  Now, I had to do a bit of research on this.  Turns out, the best place for a good shower was on the 4th floor.  Sergio had told us that for some reason the water stayed hotter longer, the higher up in the building you went.  Not only that, but there was a larger, single bathroom up there.  Whenever I could grab that I would.

Lisbon. Photo by Massimo Catarinella.

Lisbon. Photo by Massimo Catarinella.

My morning routine would usually stretch into the afternoon and honestly, I had no reason to rush…which was great!  Most of these afternoons would find me heading-off into the city.  I had one spot with a great view that I would hit quite frequently.  Often though I would just venture off and wander the streets.  If I came across a great place to sit down and relax, I would.  I enjoyed just sitting while those around me hustled off to do this and that.  Yes I confess to doing a good deal of people-watching.  This one day I had a great view of a Dutch guy doing his best to impress a group of Portuguese girls.  Dude needs to work on his game a bit, but it made for some great entertainment!

As evening came on I never knew what would be in store.  Some nights would be very low key and I would spend time online.  I’d use most of this time to catch-up with friends and family back home.  Other nights, I’d find myself in a group of people where I was the only native English speaker, and we’d be off and doing something.  Often this would involve a Slovenian or two.  Up until Lisbon, I’d never met a Slovenian ever (bonus points if you know where Slovenia even is…I did, but I’m a nerd like that).  During my time here I met 6.  Two of them wound-up being roommates for about 2 weeks.  I loved going out with new people from different parts of the world.  Conversation was always great, and there was never anything uncomfortable or awkward about it.  Everyone was just inquisitive about everyone else.  Music, culture, politics…I found myself in so many great discussions while I was here.  Some nights I’d get to bed at a decent hour, and others not so much.  As usual in life, you really hit it off with certain people and time can just fly by.  I think my Lisbon-record was 5am.  That, was a great night.

It didn’t take us long to find some places that we would hit regularly.  Pingo Doce became our weekly stop for groceries.  It was always crowded but had some decent prices.  Cafe’ Instanbul became our hot-spot for a good kebab.  4 Euros would get us a doner and some Pomegranate Fanta.  The first step in addiction is admitting you have a problem, and I confess that both Steve and I became regulars here pretty fast.  If not by name, we knew the staff and they knew us as soon as we walked in the door.  We’d just sit there and enjoy a great meal and watch what I believe was Bangladeshi TV.  Good stuff.  Resto was the club we went to for some ginga while checking out some great Fado (ginga is a drink, Fado is traditional Portuguese music).  The first night was the best due to this one particular singer.  She was absolutely amazing, and I can say I haven’t been that enraptured by a vocalist in a long time.

At least once a week we made it a point to get out and do some exploring together.  We hitched a ride with Sergio up to Porto and wandered around there, we added a Dane to our number and took the tram out to Sintra for the day, and an invigorating hike at Cabo Da Roca found us at the westernmost point in continental Europe.  Then again though, very good times found me back at the hostel almost as much as when I was out and about.  One thing is for sure, I’ll never forget February 2010…

Dave

Comments (4)

 

  1. felice says:

    ack!!! wanderlust taking over! must fight it…
    dude! your trip sounds amazing!!!
    (now, do tell about your most recent fb post?!!!)

  2. uncAl says:

    Thanks to you and Steve Ive added Lisbon to my must do list. Now, can you go check out Scotland for me and Italy for her? Any chance that is you w/hat in the YES! HOSTEL website pics?

  3. uncdoug says:

    that’s got to be DAVENY next to Ringo . . fer sure..i agree, Lisbon and environs sound pretty intesting – Yes, head to Tuscany then on to Scotland. . . .

  4. daveNY daveNY says:

    I hear you Felice, a bad case of wanderlust going on right here… Al, not sure that could be me with a hat on. My fro is a little to big to support most headwear these days! Yup Doug, that’s me! Italy and Scotland are on the list for sure. In Denmark now and off to England next!!

Leave a Reply