This week, I was fortunate enough to go to one of my new favorite places on Earth: Lagos, Portugal. I will have to say that this has been one of my absolute favorite trips not only because of the gorgeous scenery and having a ton of really amazing friends with me, but because we went with a travel agency who planned out everything for us. So, all I had to do was mindlessly follow guides around and lay on the beach that they brought us to. My kind of weekend :-)
It started out Friday morning when we loaded up the buses. It was about a 3 1/2 hour bus ride there. When we arrived we checked into our gorgeous hotel. I got to room with Britt and one of my new good friends, Makenzie, who conveniently goes to Madison too :-) It was a triple room, with a kitchenette and looked right onto the 2 pools, not that those were necessary considering the ocean was within a 10-15 minute walk! We first went to stock up on some food so we wouldn't have to by lunch, and we even splurged for the peanut butter. I had been MASSIVELY craving it since I'd been here. The first day we went to a small beach called Dona Ana. It was our first glimpse at Portugal landscape, and it was absolutely gorgeous!
We headed back to the hotel to get ready for our evening. All of us met up before sunset and took the trip out to Sagres, Portugal, which is the most South-Western point of Europe. This is where they thought the world actually ended when they thought the world was flat. I can honestly tell you this was one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen, and getting to see it at sunset was just amazing. One of the best experiences yet. This place is definitely on my list of recommendations for anyone visiting this area! For possible future travelers, the actual name of this area is Cabo San Vicente. Here are some pictures:
That night we went out to eat at a local restaurant called NahNahBah. They lured us in with the fun, beachy-reggae atmosphere, and once they fed us I did not want to leave. I will be completely honest with you when I say that I have found what I want to be my last meal. I had the BEST BURGER I have ever eaten in my entire life. It had juicy hamburger, lettuce, tomato, swiss cheese, pineapple, bacon and their secret sauce which was a tropical mayonnaise. Now, I'm not one to put pineapple in/on anything other than a fruit salad, for instance, ham and pineapple pizza - hate it. But this, my friends, was amazing. If it were possible to marry food, I'm confident in selecting this burger. In fact, I loved this place SO much, that we convinced a group of people to go back the second night, and I ate there both nights. Here are some very poor pictures, but I feel it's important to share with you all, the true love of my life:
So, day 2 was spent basically at the beach the entire day. We went to a beach a little further away at about noon and didn't leave until 6. There were LOTS of red American students on the beach that day. I'm proud to say that I was not one of them, with the exception of the backs of my legs and one awkward spot on my neck I apparently missed with the sunscreen. While it was really nice to have such a relaxing day, it did get to be a little too much time in the sun and a lot of us were dehydrated. My roommate Makenzie actually fainted later that night while Britt was doing her makeup. Luckily, Britt was able to catch her! We watched her like a hawk the rest of the night and made sure she drank tons of fluids and we had no more drama after that! The beach was much bigger that day, and more of what you would consider an average beach, but definitely still pretty!
The last day, we took a bus to a beach that was about 45 minutes away from our hotel. Britt signed up for a surf lesson so we tagged along to watch and relax on the beach. It was unfortunately pretty windy, so we kept getting sand blown into our faces and it was a little chilly as well. But, I guess I can't really complain all that much! This beach was part of a National Park in Portugal and there were really pretty rolling hills around it. Pretty good way to end the vacation I'd say!
Well folks, that's all for Portugal! I'll be leaving for Italy in t-4 days!!! Definitely overly excited for that trip, hoping it lives up to my expectations, although from what I hear from everyone I've talked to, it will!
Hope all is well with everyone. To my coworkers at the DOJ - hope you're all breathing a little easier, at least for a little while, thinkin' about you all over here!
Have a great week everyone!
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