entry n. 26 - Lisbon trip !!

A WHOLE entire week has passed but im writing it now LMFAO 

Anyways the trip was really fun!! it was for four days but it felt like two, and I feel like Lisbon is on elf the prettiest cities I've ever been to, the architecture was so captivating and there was so much to see!!! I also really liked the pastries, one in particular was the Pastel de nata, which I TOTALLY recommend if you're visiting the first time!! It's this crispy pastry filled with this custard-like cream and it's DELICIOUS, it's very light too!! If you want more flavour then you can add cinnamon or icing  sugar !! 

A lot of historical monuments and castles that we visited were drop dead goregous, one of my favourites were the St.  jeronimos  monastery and the gardens of this mansion, I think Quinta da Regaleira is the right name!! We didn't go inside but we did see the gardens, which are HUGE, they're aren't even gardens, they are more like parks. Another cool thing about this garden is that it has a secret entrance to these work of tunnels underneath the gardens!! There was this whole entire staircase made out of stone, that spiralled down towards the grotto. Maybe my description is a bit off so maybe search the grotto on google for better reference !! 

But the whole entire thing gave me MAJOR fantasy vibes, honestly, im not even surprised if they did a lot of fantasy movies or shows in Portugal!! Another thing about the Gardens Is that it is not in Lisbon!! But in a nearby town called Sintra!! Which is also very gorgeous, it's very fairy tale esc because it's surrounded by a luscious green forest with an old medieval castle looming over onto of a hill, with lots of colourful buildings in town and plenty of old mansions surrounding it! I actually really liked Sintra because it felt like was walking into a fairy tale.

We also had time to walk around to go eat out and buy stuff, on one of the days in the city me and my friends ate at this place where we ordered  ALOT OF STUFF!!! (we're in five) and the food was really good, I ordered these chicken wings covered in barbecue sauce and tried some of the guacamole that my other friend ordered, And they were all so DELICOUS!! and guess what? the total cost of all the things we bought was 12 euros!! WE were genuinely shocked. Another thing we tried were these ice cream things which were also really good!!! my firings got the strawberry and chocolate combo, meanwhile I got the chocolate one with sprinkles!! So the food was quite good. 

We also bought things!! I didn't get that much in the trip, one was this cute striped shirt I got from Pull&Bear, and this silver pendant with a black heart to go with the shirt I bought, another necklace I got was back in Sintra, from this really cute handmade jewellery shop!! the necklace was very mermaid themed, with a silver mermaid tail being at the centre with some blue beads on the side, and it had a unique way of putting it on, sell as adjusting the length!! PLUS, i got a two euro discount with was also nice. we all got gifts for our parents or relatives, I got this nice sparkling blue necklace for my mom, which was the most priciest thing I got during there whole entire trip !! it costed 38 euros I think. 

One of the Highlighst that I COULD NOT forget was the cooking class we did!! They gave us a step to step guide on how to make the dishes, at the start I tried to cut the onions but it immedietley backfired because my eyes teared up so much that my eyes stung!! they were so red lol. Two dishes that me and my friends cooked was fried octopus (where the boiling oil practically attacked me and I had to get treated) and then we made this codfish dish that one of my friends really liked, Thiough I dint try any of the dishes we made because they are bit too fishy for my taste, however I didi try the empanadas that another group made ands they were SCRUMPTIOUS. There were many other dishes, but ones that I really enjoyed were the deserts. They made Pastel de Nata, which I shamelessly devoured, and then there was this unique desert. It looked like cheese but when I tried it was very soft and creamy! Plus it was quite sweet since there was cinnamon sprinkled on top. Im really glad that the food did turn out well because that was in fact, our dinner!!

One of the good things about the trip was that all the problematic people in our grade weren't there!! which made the time pass easier. However one of the most insufferable that came out of the trip was the tourist. I already dislike the idea of having to follow a tourist everywhere when I am on vacation , because it doesn't give me the full liberty toe explore or see things that im interested in, and in my opinion, it limits the experience. Howler when you're going on a school trip then there will be obviously a t tour guide. But this one was AWFUL, she made us walk all day under the  scorching sun, and stop at the most pointless and irrelevant things EVER. she would literally stop at some random tree and talk about it's origins for like 1 hour minimum.  she was the reason why most people were in a bad mood and that my legs ached terribly at the end of the day!!  :( 

But aside from those inconveniences, the trip was very nice in general,and we did have a fun time. probably when I'm older I'll probably  visit the city again (but without the school, or a tour guide). ANOTHER thing I want to add is that me and my friends drank virgin watermelon coladas, which were SO refreshing and juicy!!

ANYWAYS, that's the end of my trip rant!! this is quite long