After an overnight train in the most uncomfortabl sleeping positions humanly possible, we arrived in Lisboa at 730am on June 11. We were cursed with sleeping in a car full of sorority girls from Oklahoma who wouldn shut up about their useless superficial jargon and full-fledged popularity contests. We had a kick out of making fun of them with the pretty Spanish girls sitting to our right. What a difference!
We showed up to Lisboa with the knowledge that we would be sleeping in a tent in a dude's backyard. We found so much more! Joao is a Portuguese Anarchist who uses his house to host people from all over the world as they travel through Portugal. It is similar to a tent city. He also even has people stay in his room as well. The most he has ever had stay at the place at one single time is 17. Now, he has about 7. The place is tentatively called Hatch8. It is an awesome vibe around here. We have been doing work all day in the backyard to clear it out in order to set up room for a movie projector against the huge wall.
While being here, we have met some awesome people from all over the world who we have gone out with. The first day. We took a trip out to a place called Sintra with a dude named Gerald. He is from Austria. In Sintra, we hiked about 4km up a hill to see this gigantic castle. For those outside the realm of th metric system, that is about 2.3 miles. It was straight up though! Anywyas, the castle resembles something made of Lego. It is huge, and completely unreal. It overlooks what seems to be all of Portugal. You can even see the ocean from the top. We came to the conclusion that is one of the coolest places that any of us have ever been in life.
The next morning we headed of to a place called Evora. I started off the day with cooking breakfast for evryone. A gigantic egg scramble with bell pepper, potatoes, and onions. In Evora, we went to a place for lunch that was recommended to me by one of my favorite high school teachers: Eric Fleming. The place is a small tavern called Taberna Tipica Quarta Feira. It is simply a door off to the side of a small street that one would never even guess to look into. Th meal costs 20£, but you get quite a serving. They only serve one meal a day, so you just eat whatever the give you. They also serve you a full bottle of wine. They started us off with some jamon serrano, bread, and cheese fondu-type thing. Then came some stuffed mushrooms with garlic and herbs. Soon after, we were given four huge slices of broiled pork, some olive oil fried potatoes, wild rice, and spinach. We were full so soon because we are not used to eating so much anymore. Then, the funny little man brought out a bowl full of cherries and this peach pastry type thing. It was similar to a cold french toast (for lack of better terms). To finish it off, he allowed unlimited shots of a traditional hard alcohol. That was a bit harsh at 50% alcohol. No wonder Mr. Fleming is such a fan!
After eating, we went to visit a place called Capela Dos Ossos. That directly translates into Bone Chapel. For those curious, it was a church made of human bones! We went out there with Gerald and another dude staying at Hatch8 named Rafael. He is from France. He left France with only the clothes on his back, and a jacket. He has been here in Portugal for a few weeks now. He has been wanting to move out to California just to play music. He was speaking with us a lot about it yesterday in the car. This morning, we woke up to find that he bought a one way ticket to San Francisco. He took our advice on th bay, and wants to live in Santa Cruz. Cheers to Rafa.
Last night was quite the evning. It was the festival of the patron Saint of Lisboa. The evening is called Festa Santo Antonio. It happens once a year. It is an all night event in which people come out to the streets to party until about 7am. I crashed around 3, but Nino went th distance. We started the night off with some homemade sardines. It is the traditional dish of Lisboa. We ate the fish with about 20 people right outside the main area for the party. We enjoyed a deep conversation about philosophy for about 2 hours. Three of us are philosophy majors. Joao is an electrical engineer that is a genius in metaphysics. The conversation got really heavy, and we nerded out far too beyond the line of normalcy. Later, we all went out and roamed the streets. It was nothing like I have ever seen.
The next day, all of Joáo's family came over to celebrate the festa as well. People here in Europe don't just spend one good night out. Instead, it is usually a week long occurrence. It was very interesting to see his entire family over to celebrate in his backyard tent city. No one was even phased. Everyone just seemed to embrace the atmosphere, and helped with cleaning it up and making due with what was there. It was quite different compared to the family outings I am used to where everything is expected to be perfect. People seemed to enjoy the spirit of the event more than the presentation. We cooked sardinhas on the homemade barbeque. In fact, we have cooked many things over the bonfire. The other night we even cooked a pizza. Homeland and Freedom.
We showed up to Lisboa with the knowledge that we would be sleeping in a tent in a dude's backyard. We found so much more! Joao is a Portuguese Anarchist who uses his house to host people from all over the world as they travel through Portugal. It is similar to a tent city. He also even has people stay in his room as well. The most he has ever had stay at the place at one single time is 17. Now, he has about 7. The place is tentatively called Hatch8. It is an awesome vibe around here. We have been doing work all day in the backyard to clear it out in order to set up room for a movie projector against the huge wall.
While being here, we have met some awesome people from all over the world who we have gone out with. The first day. We took a trip out to a place called Sintra with a dude named Gerald. He is from Austria. In Sintra, we hiked about 4km up a hill to see this gigantic castle. For those outside the realm of th metric system, that is about 2.3 miles. It was straight up though! Anywyas, the castle resembles something made of Lego. It is huge, and completely unreal. It overlooks what seems to be all of Portugal. You can even see the ocean from the top. We came to the conclusion that is one of the coolest places that any of us have ever been in life.
The next morning we headed of to a place called Evora. I started off the day with cooking breakfast for evryone. A gigantic egg scramble with bell pepper, potatoes, and onions. In Evora, we went to a place for lunch that was recommended to me by one of my favorite high school teachers: Eric Fleming. The place is a small tavern called Taberna Tipica Quarta Feira. It is simply a door off to the side of a small street that one would never even guess to look into. Th meal costs 20£, but you get quite a serving. They only serve one meal a day, so you just eat whatever the give you. They also serve you a full bottle of wine. They started us off with some jamon serrano, bread, and cheese fondu-type thing. Then came some stuffed mushrooms with garlic and herbs. Soon after, we were given four huge slices of broiled pork, some olive oil fried potatoes, wild rice, and spinach. We were full so soon because we are not used to eating so much anymore. Then, the funny little man brought out a bowl full of cherries and this peach pastry type thing. It was similar to a cold french toast (for lack of better terms). To finish it off, he allowed unlimited shots of a traditional hard alcohol. That was a bit harsh at 50% alcohol. No wonder Mr. Fleming is such a fan!
After eating, we went to visit a place called Capela Dos Ossos. That directly translates into Bone Chapel. For those curious, it was a church made of human bones! We went out there with Gerald and another dude staying at Hatch8 named Rafael. He is from France. He left France with only the clothes on his back, and a jacket. He has been here in Portugal for a few weeks now. He has been wanting to move out to California just to play music. He was speaking with us a lot about it yesterday in the car. This morning, we woke up to find that he bought a one way ticket to San Francisco. He took our advice on th bay, and wants to live in Santa Cruz. Cheers to Rafa.
Last night was quite the evning. It was the festival of the patron Saint of Lisboa. The evening is called Festa Santo Antonio. It happens once a year. It is an all night event in which people come out to the streets to party until about 7am. I crashed around 3, but Nino went th distance. We started the night off with some homemade sardines. It is the traditional dish of Lisboa. We ate the fish with about 20 people right outside the main area for the party. We enjoyed a deep conversation about philosophy for about 2 hours. Three of us are philosophy majors. Joao is an electrical engineer that is a genius in metaphysics. The conversation got really heavy, and we nerded out far too beyond the line of normalcy. Later, we all went out and roamed the streets. It was nothing like I have ever seen.
The next day, all of Joáo's family came over to celebrate the festa as well. People here in Europe don't just spend one good night out. Instead, it is usually a week long occurrence. It was very interesting to see his entire family over to celebrate in his backyard tent city. No one was even phased. Everyone just seemed to embrace the atmosphere, and helped with cleaning it up and making due with what was there. It was quite different compared to the family outings I am used to where everything is expected to be perfect. People seemed to enjoy the spirit of the event more than the presentation. We cooked sardinhas on the homemade barbeque. In fact, we have cooked many things over the bonfire. The other night we even cooked a pizza. Homeland and Freedom.
Where is the kidnapping story?
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