Lagos, Portugal

I can't even believe how much I have to write about that has happened in these past 48+ hours. This is going to be a long, long post...

The weekend started before sunrise on Friday when Kim, Sarah, Yanet and I took a cab to the bus station at 5am and met up with the other Presquitas who were coming to Portugal this weekend. Our bus ride to Sevilla was uneventful, and for almost all of us just an extension of a short nights sleep. In Sevilla, we had a bit of time to kill before we met up with the tour group and a bit of a walk to get to the meeting point, so we took our time meandering along as the sun rose and eventually stopped at a cafe next to the university entrance and watched students walking by and the general morning commute.

We met the group, 138 students who are all around the same age, and headed to Portugal for the weekend! Lagos is a smaller size city, and is where the European slave trade started, so the ports that surround the city and it's historic waterfront are beautiful and old but still active.

Our hotel was literally next to the cliff above Dona Maria Praia, a really beautiful beach that was about a 15 minute walk from town. And as American college kids who were excited to be at the beach in Portugal and speaking ENGLISH, we naturally went to the store, bought some drinks, and spent the afternoon at the beach. I can't believe how spectacular this beach was. I'm still in shock. 

View looking down the cliff one direction

And in the other direction... the beach!

I spent a solid two hours body surfing and playing in the waves. It was great to be back in the water after being lakeside so much this summer. I really miss the water when I'm not in/on/around it!

After the sun went behind the cliffs, we went back to the hotel and took showers before heading into the historic district for dinner at Casa Rosa for dinner. I suppose if you had to classify the type of food it'd be Mexican-Portuguese, but what's more important is how amazing the food was. I got a piece of the catch-of-the-day fish with a yummy tomato based sauce, a nice big salad, and a side of rice and beans. Needless to say, I felt so good after eating that, especially after the food struggles of this past week.

After dinner we went to our DiscoverSevilla private party at El Gran Cafe. We each got drink tickets to use at the bar, and upstairs there was another bar, DJ, and a nice big dance floor. Between that and playing in the waves that afternoon for so long, I was exhausted by the time we walled back to the hotel around 3.

The Presquitas waisted no time getting Saturday started. After breakfast we promptly left the hotel and went with the tour group to see some nearby cliffs. There was a staircase that led down the side of one of the cliffs to a bunch of rocks that you could stand on and feel the ocean spray. I don't know how to describe it except to say it was amazing and to post pictures, though those hardly do it justice. It's one of those things you have to see to really comprehend the awesomeness.

Cliffs

If you look closely you can see the tiny people at the bottom

Top!

After the cliffs we were supposed to go on a sailboat/sangria cruise around the cliffs and caves, but it was too windy for it to be safe for us to go out. We went to Meia Praia (beach) instead, so I can hardly complain. The beach was closer into town, and was really wide and flat. A bunch of us chipped in and bought a soccer ball to start a game; I ended up running around for 3 hours because I was having so much fun! My calves are sore today though from running in the sand for so long. I also spent a bunch of time swimming and body surfing in the waves, which were big enough to cancel the sangria cruise, so that was a workout too.

Around 5 we left the beach and headed to Cabo Sao Vicente to watch the sunset and enjoy the view. Cabo Sao Vicente is the farthest western point in Europe, and is often referred to as "the end of the world," from when Spanish and Portugese explorers believed the world was flat. It was really spectacular to watch the sun sink into the ocean, but also really strange to think about how there was only ocean between the cliff where I was standing and my home turf. Home is certainly still far away, over 3000 miles, but it was strangely comforting to think that the only thing between was water. 

Cabo Sao Vicente

On the way back into town, I stopped for dinner with Amber, Sarah, and Anna at a local Portuguese restaurant that looked like it had tons of good fish. Amber is also a vegetarian, so we decided to share a salad and the plate of the day, which was something along the lines of picanha with a black bean sauce. Since portuguese is so similar to Spanish and the Spanish word for fish is pescado, we assumed it was fish. However, when some meaty thing (lamb? I don't know) arrived in front of us, we almost died. I guess the food luck had to end at some point, although after playing all day I was really ready to chow down and enjoy another great dinner. Amber and I lucked out though, because Anna ordered seafood Paella and eats meat, so she was fine with swapping meals with us. Thank goodness!

And of course after dinner we moved on to the nightlife, which was at Joe's Garage, another bar with a DJ. Like Friday night, it was a private party until the bar opened to others after 1am, and we made the place into a little piece of America. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure all the other 137 kids love Spain and being abroad as much I do, but it was so nice to have an American night and just sing and dance like back in the States. Most of us didn't end up walking home to the hotel until 4am- we were having too much fun!

After about three hours of sleep, Sarah and I got up and went surfing for the day. I surfed a along time ago when I was in Puerto Rico, so I wasn't expecting to be great, but I got right up on the board and spent a few hours riding the waves and face planting, which were both exhausting, but total fun.

Stairs down to beach

Surfing side of the beach!

After we finished our surfing we grabbed lunch at the little cafe on the cliffs by the beach. And after soccer, swimming, dancing, yesterday's minimal sleep, and then surfing for a few hours today, I ate two sandwiches, a plate of fries with Piri-Piri, a traditional Portuguese hot sauce, and an ice cream bar. I seem to be in an alternating win/lose pattern with food,  despite my best efforts.

After surfing we packed up and got on the bus back home to Cordoba, where we will hopefully be arriving soon. It's 11:30 and I want some of my peanut butter and crackers for dinner. I'm not sure how after how much I ate at lunch, but I'm hungry again.

It's hard to believe we go back to "real life" tomorrow in Cordoba.  We've been laughing all weekend that we are on a vacation from our vacation. Anyways, it was a great weekend in Lagos, but I can't wait to go to bed. I need a vacation from my vacation from my vacation.