Summertime sadness...

Hey guys, 

I am really sorry for not posting anything in such a long time. I suck with blogging this semester, I know. It is just that this semester is so exhausting. I have literally no time for eating, let alone blogging. Every now and then I want to scream and cry at the same time because the amount of work for this semester is crazy. Summary writing, pronunciation diary, Proseminar paper, German exams, the list of tasks seems to be endless. I cannot wait for Christmas, and especially for February when this crappy semester will finally be over.

What keeps me going are the great memories from Lisbon this summer. I remember how hard I worked last year to be able to award myself with an awesome trip, and that is what I want to do next year too. Let me give you a brief description of why you should visit Lisbon!

1) Tiles or "azulejo" in Portuguese

There are very few places in the world that can pride themselves of maintaining the tradition and artistic use of tiles. They are used to decorate interiors or whole facades of houses or churches. Azulejos are present in so many corners of the city, at viewpoints, metro stations, church fronts, or on walls of important buildings. In Alfama, the “azulejos” show the images of saints. They are placed at the entrance of houses as a form of protection. Throughout the Bairro Alto or the Chiado areas, some of the facades of houses are filled with this Portuguese form of art. Each group of them tells a story. Azulejos are a big part of Portuguese history and culture. They are the symbol of Portugal and hence are found on every corner in the city. „What the ...., are those azulejos? This looks fabulous“, this was something I was saying to my friend almost every day.

2)  People

My friend Jasenka and I were staying at a hostel on Praça dos Restauradores (city center). It was our first hostel experience. We were skeptic in the beginning but it turned out to be the best place we ever stayed at. Our hosts were amazing young people from all over the world who made us feel at home, when I say home, I really mean it. They would make pancakes for us every morning, organize typical Portuguese dinners, sing karaoke or take us out to Bairro Alto to experience the nightlife in Lisbon. People in Lisbon are in general very nice and will try to help you as much as they can and as much as their language skills let them (their English language skills are not the best) Oh before I forget, that is the hostel: http://www.goodmorninghostel.com/

3) Beaches
Swimming in the ocean was on my “To do list in Lisbon”. I almost did not do it because one week was not enough for everything me and Jasenka had planned. The last day of our trip we managed to arrive at the beach around 6 pm. Even though the sun was still out, there were not many people there. Jasenka refused to go into the water since it was really cold, around 12C. The only people in the water were surfers trying to catch a good wave. Without hesitation and without listening to Jasenka, who was screaming at me because I might get a cold or a bladder inflammation, I ran into the water like Pamela Anderson does in Baywatch hahaha :D. The minute I was in, I was happy. It did not bother me that the water was freezing or that the sun was going down, I did what I came for. Portuguese beaches are in general very beautiful because they are sandy; the problem though is that the water is freezing in comparison to the Mediterranean Sea.

4)  Food and beverages

I do not think I need to talk about Portuguese wines, do I? They are world famous for a reason. I could easily get used to drinking them every day ;) Then there is Ginjinha or simply Ginja, a liqueur made by infusing Ginja berries (sour cherry) in alcohol and adding sugar together with other ingredients. Ginja is served in a shot form and is relatively cheap. Only one euro per shot!!! What is really cool is a little shop that sells Ginja in chocolate cups. After you drinking your Ginja you eat the chocolate cup. Delicious! A must try while in Lisbon!

5) Nightlife

Oh my gosh, what do I tell you about the nightlife? I cannot put into words what a great time I had in Lisbon. Prior to flying to Lisbon we didn't really inform ourselves about the nightlife, we just wanted to get surprised by it and boy did we get surprised! The first night we went out, we ran into a Croatian bar. Can you imagine our surprise? The guy that worked there is from Serbia and his name is Kristijan. Kiki is the party king of Lisbon. He knows everyone and everyone knows him. Not only is he fun to be around and a great host but also a wonderful person. He took us to the best places in Lisbon, introduced us to many interesting people and gave us the time of our life. We also met Tom and Maxi, two brothers from Germany, Andreas and his friend from Switzerland, a lovely gay couple from Russia, two French guys who are models for Gucci and Marc Jacobs and the owner of the best nightclub in Lisbon. I want to thank every single one of them for making our holiday unforgettable. They are a great bunch of people who have the heart in the right place. I truly hope to see them all again next year. If you are ever in Lisbon you should visit Urban Beach Club. It is a club above the ocean with a breath taking view of Lisbon. While dancing through the night you can see the skyline of Lisbon and the stars and the moon and in the morning you see the sun coming out and greeting this amazing city. An experience I will never forget! 

I highly recommend visiting Lisbon. It is a city with rich history that offers so much to its tourists. In my opinion it is not as beautiful as Vienna but it is certainly a city worth visiting. Lisbon, as well as whole Portugal, was hit very hard by the global economic crisis. Poverty is visible on every corner. High unemployment rates caused many people to leave their homes in the center of the city resulting in lots of abandoned buildings. They are rotting away because no one is taking care of them. Another thing that was rather disappointing to me was the fact that Lisbon is dirty. People throw trash on the streets and no one cares about it, no one will pick it up. It is not something I am used to. In Austria you could get punished if you throw something just like that on the street. There is so much more I would like to tell you about Lisbon but I do not want to bore you out and I think you should all check it out by yourself. TAP Portugal offers really cheap flights (mine was 140 euros from Zagreb) to Lisbon and hostels in Lisbon are also very cheap and comfortable. According to one survey Portugal has the best hostels in the world! My trip motivated me to start learning Portuguese. The grammar is not that hard but I am still struggling with pronunciation.  But I can do it.

Now, I need to get back to my English homework. Oh joy. You gotta do, what you gotta do.

Have a great week guys! :)

XOXO A. 

"Once a year, go someplace you have never been before..."  :)