Guest Blogger: Fellow adventurer, Nipheannaboth Long
"Lisbon. This trip was planned and organized pretty far in advanced. But no matter how much planning takes place, no matter how hardcore the organizing is; there always seems to be some kind of twist to the plan.
Sam Platt, an old friend from high school, was visiting Barcelona during his spring break and bought a ticket to Lisbon-adding one more adventurer to the group. The three of us left for Lisbon, Portugal on two separate planes landing at separate times. The first 45 minutes of being in Lisbon were spent waiting on Sam’s arrival. While we waited, I taught some essential Khmer words to Megan as I tried to hide my worries about Sam actually being successful in getting on the plane on time and actually arriving in Portugal despite last minute planning and arrangement. Each and every new phonetic spelling of a Khmer word was accompanied by a growing sense of guilt about Sam being on a different plane on a half-baked plan of him buying a last minute flight to join us in Lisbon. Relieving me of my stress, and of my challenge of teaching Megan useful Khmer phrases, Sam eventually walked through the terminal gate. Obrigado a deus.
Now it was time to find our hostel. Using my very rusty Portuguese, I took on the task of figuring out where exactly our next step would take us. After fumbling around with a language I hadn’t practiced in almost a year I finally managed to get directions to take a bus from the airport towards the coast to a street that would eventually lead to Beira Mar Hostel. The 1.50 euro bus ride was a gradual process of realization that we had left our comfort zones and were somewhere completely new to all of us. I would have paid a lot of money to know what was going on in the heads of the rest of the group. Hell, I would’ve paid a lot of money to know what was going on in my own head. I took note of nearby grocery stores and possible landmarks for some kind sense of direction in this new world. Megan voiced out loud a mental list of places that we had to visit the next day. And Sam sat there comparing his tattoos to graffiti that covered entire buildings. We spent the 30 minute bus ride pointing at illuminated buildings that seemed to glow at night, and marveled at larger than life graffiti art murals until we finally reached our stop. A hastily drawn map of the area was our substitute for a smart phone in our search for the hostel.
At first glance (and even a second glance) the Beira Mar hostel did not look anything like a Backpacker’s Recommendation spot but if there was ever a good example of not judging a book by its cover” , this was it. Hidden in darkness with an ominous looking metal door the hostel reminded me of bad scary movies that pits young college kids against some kind of horrific evil. Trying to differentiate one bad scary movie from another, I thought to myself, “no wonder we got lost trying to find it-it’s a place we probably did not want to find.” After asking a few people we were finally able to ring the doorbell and walk up the poorly lit stairs to check into this hostel.
Completely the opposite of what the exterior looked like, the hostel itself was vibrant and lively. Wow. Crazy hand painted rooms full of color. Amazing kitchen and eating space that was tended to by a sweet woman named Rua. And delicious chocolate milk. As I drank the free lemonade reclining in a cool looking bed, I admitted how wrong I was about Beira Mar.
After breakfast the next morning we found out that the hostel wasn’t the only thing that was hiding its true beauty. Our walk to the grocery store to pick up our adventure food led us to believe that maybe all of Lisbon was hand painted. We could barely stay focused on our task of getting food with castles and shiny coastlines making up the backdrop of this adventure land, soccer magazines and soccer newspapers also added to the challenge of staying focus. Once we did manage to get to the store there was only one thing on my mind: Linguicia. Portugal’s spicier and heartier rendition of the beloved American bacon, Linguicia is just too good not to eat while in Portugal (Sam and I already knew this and it was time we shared our secret with the third member of the adventure).
The creation of the“3LT” Sandwich was the start of our adventures in Lisbon. We visited a castle fortress that sparked our imagination. Sam and I relived our childhood ideas of hide and seek as we ducked and hid behind corners in the fortress while Megan lost herself in between her imagination and her sketch book. We fabricated elaborate life stories for each stray cat we came across. We looked out on the rest of world from binoculars that didn’t work. Sam fought the urge to yell at an overly touristy family taking pictures. We got yelled at for climbing high onto a ledge, the guard that blew the whistle on us (literally) wasn’t Megan’s favorite person and was recipient of a dirty scowl as we walked by him. We came up with one last story for a cat as we ate our sandwiches and left the castle.
After our visit to the castle, we ended our day somewhere without an admission fee. Tired from walking around we made a nonverbal agreement that we just wanted to chill. A balcony terrace overlooking the coast played host to a local hangout spot. A spot that I think kind of found us instead of the other way around. Just a few minutes looking around gave us the impression that this hangout spot has been around for a while. A little bar off to the side provided the drinks for the locals this evening, just like it probably has for any other evening. Two mothers catching up on life. Rap groups freestyling and battling each other. Groups of friends just enjoying each others company. Musicians smoking funny smelling cigarettes. Everyone was too concerned with enjoying the sunset to worry about anything more than who would buy the next round of drinks. And as the old saying goes, “when in Lisbon, do as the Lisboans do”. Megan busted out her sketch book and Sam and I used the rap battles as background music to our drinking. The hours ran by and it was a done day. Done and successful.
I am convinced the next day was meant for me. Europa League knock out round match between Manchester City and Sporting Lisbon. We treated ourselves to some gelato and watched Manchester City fans sing their chants in Lisbon’s main plaza. A real live European match day atmosphere. So cool. Witnessing Europa League match day festivities was painful knowing that we didn’t have the tickets to join the party. Luckily we were able to find a soccer bar to help remedy the pain. It wasn’t the crazy soccer pub that I had always read about and dreamed of, but at least they had jerseys on the walls and were showing the game on TV. The day ends here at this bar with me somehow managing to spill my beer all over the walls. We meander on our way back to the hostel and settle in for a quiet dinner at nearby restaurant.
Lisbon left us with a feeling of Saudade and we have already promised ourselves a return to this city that we only began to discover."
- Both Long
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