cave-diving in the rain and other tales of portugal

Since Spaniards can't go much over a few weeks without taking a vacation, we had a few days off the first week of December. Melania and I found good deals to Portugal and without thinking about it too long, we charged two flights to our beloved plastic rectangles and set off on a great adventure. And let me tell you just what an adventure it was.
Our flight was delayed about 45 minutes due to fog in Lisbon. If this was a sign to prepare us that the weather was going to be horrible our entire trip, we both missed it because everyday we were just as disappointed as the day before that the weather was atrocious. Really. It was freezing (I bought a XXL mans sweater to wear as a dress one day I was that cold. I asked Melania if she was embarrassed to be seen with me and she said, 'who are you kidding? you won't take off your coat all day' and she was right so it was a good purchase!) It was so foggy we couldnt get a sense of the skyline or even see buildings in front of us which was unfortunate. Trying to give Lisbon the benefit of the doubt and blaming the weather on our disappointment in our impressions of the city, we quickly discovered that Porto (with equally poor or arguably worse weather) took our breath away. It rained so hard that the streets were beginning to flood. the next day at the excellent recommendation of weather.com, we didn't pack an umbrella and ended up walking 10 blocks in pouring rain. i didn't even have boots on or a coat so I was drenched rat status and had dripping hair when we finally slopped inside of our destination. If that mental image doesn't make you cringe, it should. it was rough, but we survived. 
     Melanias travel philosophy is a little different than mine, making traveling with her interesting. She likes to "lose yourself" (her way of saying let yourself get lost) and explore the back streets and find the culture of the city buried in its cracks. I suppose this is because she's Italian and there aren't that many monuments, buildings or churches that she's going to find impressive any time soon. I like to hit the brave the tourist packed sites then venture down to find the back doors. We traveled marvelously together doing a little bit of both, waking up early and having jam-packed days. Thursday after landing late, we explored plenty of the city's hilly streets on the hunt for a Portuguese style restaurant off the beaten path. the one we finally found was awesome. recharged after a nice lunch, we eventually wandered in the right direction to our hotel, shopped and wandered around, had a coffee, walked around more and crashed.
Friday, we got breakfast and went to a neighborhood with a tower to see the city and to see the famous bridge, neither of which we could see because of the thick thick fog. we toured the monastery and that's when it hit me just how rich Portugal use to be and just how brave those explorers were. Friday afternoon, we found the greatest art shop ever that was of course closed because it was the afternoon. deciding we really wanted a canvas we had seen in the window, we got lunch nearby so we could go back. the fresh Dorado cooked on the grill a few feet from our nose was delicious. the family-owned hole-in-the-wall asked if we wanted to move to Portugal and teach them all English. The art place was still closed and my theory about how few European businesses are actually concerned about making money was upheld. We mosied onto the church, the castle, more shopping and then more shopping. After stopping by the hotel and getting a quick dinner, we had coffee and desert in the city center and met up with two of Melanias friends for drinks. Interesting intellectuals and intriguing conversation then a midnight stroll to say goodbye to Lisbon and we hopped on the 9:30 train to Porto.

in the neighborhood, Belem

from the tower

bahaha makes me laugh everytime

some of the best fresh fish in the world!

 
The train ride was lovely. armed with coffee, I worked on applications and Melania did stuff for school as we ogled at the sites from our window of countryside, the ocean, adorable homes, dinky train stations and elaborate landscapes. Again, Rick Steve's provided an excellent hotel suggestion for cheap and in an incredible location. Immediately in love with this family owned place, we got our bearings and set off on what was soon to become one of my new favorite corners of the world. Porto is spectacular. Simply a stunning city full of awe, charm, personality and richness. We went across the river to go cave-diving. Not cave diving like you're probably picturing though. this was a port-wine-storage-cave-crawl. Hiking up several streets in the rain (not fun) to get to the first one, we said cheers with our first free tastings. Learning that the best vintage ports are still mashed by barefeet and taking the tour along side Port Wine 101 is a highlight of these last few months. We repeated these last few sentences four times. Free tastings, free tour, protection from the cold rain? We were happy little campers. After Port-cave-crawling, we shopped our way across the river and through the streets of port until we were cozy in bed. Saturday morning the first priority was washing out my lingering Port aftertaste with some strong coffee. unfortunately for Portugal, their coffee is terrible. In our five day trip, I can honestly say out of probably 15 coffees only one was enjoyable. so that's, in a word, pathetic. Saturday we walked and walked through the city and hit two or three tourist must-sees. Then we headed to THE OCEAN. though the chances of me getting pneumonia because I was standing with a coat on, boots in hand and my feet in the Atlantic Ocean, it was definitely worth it. The beach town beside Porto was such a disappointment. Like a little sad ghost town you'd see that was an abandoned movie set or something. Lisbon and Porto both were big in the Christmas spirit with lights and decorations which definitely helped remind me it's Christmas and that I will soon be home! it's so odd this idea to VACATION at HOME but it will pass in no time and I am thrilled! I am not sure who reads the blog and who doesn't but hopefully my ability to post on here will cut down on the amount of updating I have ahead of me and that all you'll have to do is update ME on YOU! More posts to soon follow so look out!

in one of the caves

the river by night. breathtaking.

my sad face with my sunglasses on because it was raining and i wanted it so badly to be pretty outside!

totally obsessed with this city. already cant wait to go back!

I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date

Determined to catch up on blogging, expect several long posts to come. First of all, about my weekend. I took off Thursday from work and went with Melania to Budapest, Hungary to help with a conference for Biolase. We were running super late on the way to the airport and totally relieved when we got there and checked in with no problems. So relieved actually, that we overestimated how long we had to grab something to eat and again ended up running toward the gate as the plane was already boarding. Running late was a theme of the entire weekend as you are about to read. Melania blames it on being Italian, I blame it on my mother who was never on time anywhere. We ended up getting on one of those moving sidewalks and having to run in the opposite direction to catch the flight. It was quite a sight.

On the plane, I was fortunate enough to sit dead center in a group of about 30 Spainards going to Hungary for a ballroom dancing competition. It was like a scene out of Home Alone. They wanted to be my best friends and share their life story and I was dying to catch some ZzZ’s. Obviously, that didn’t happen at all. They switched seats, talked, told stories, laughed, made fun of each other and screamed while I journaled with my ipod on loud yet still learning Spanish. What a flight.

            Thursday night, we checked into the hotel and Melania took me to one of her favorite restaurants with traditional Hungarian food. Wow, it was delicious. The red wine we had was very distinct and really great. We met up with some of Melania’s friends from when she studied in Budapest for two years. There was a blur of Italian, Hungarian, English and Spanish, which was really incredible. The girls were awesome and we had a really good time. We were the last people to leave the bar and by the time we said goodbye, I thought they were my long-lost friends too. It was a really nice night and the first time since I have been here I really relaxed and enjoyed myself.

            Going off very little sleep, it was time to get up and get to the University where the congress was being held. At breakfast, I found friends from Biolase and we headed off to get everything set up. Once the banner, lasers, registration table etc organized, people started appearing to register. Registration went pretty smoothly, mostly because Melania speaks Hungarian and also because the four hands doing it really helped quite a bit. The first speaker was a good family friend from Rome, so we sat in on his presentation and the next course also.

Next thing we knew, it was time to break for dinner. There was a gala that night and my boots had broken earlier in the day. Deciding that we had just enough time to run to the mall to buy me new boots and to get a necklace for Melania’s dress, we sprinted to the mall. Because I cannot read my watch, we ended up thinking that we were a complete hour ahead. As we are about to pull up to the hotel thinking we have 15 minutes to change and get to the gala at the hotel, Pedro calls wondering where we are. We were a complete hour late!!! HORRIBLE. We made up for it though by being the last people to leave. As we finally decided to go to bed around 4 am, they were setting the room up for breakfast.

Again, the next morning came way too soon. Weary and exhausted, we had another full day of laser courses ahead. The day flew by though. Interesting courses, wonderful speakers, awesome snacks and coffee for survival on breaks. With our break after the certification presentation and cleaning up, we went to get a suitcase and some other things that Melania left with a friend two years ago. Opening that thing up was like finding some hidden treasure! Again, barely making it in time to the hotel in time to change and head to dinner, we were rushed and running late. But we did it. All the speakers, several of the attendees and all the staff headed to another recommendation by Melania to have a traditional Hungarian meal. The food was wonderful and the company even better. We had a great time and weren’t yet willing to say goodbye. More drinks at the attendee’s hotel and a nice night stroll across the river to see the infamous bridges and city skyline. Walking through the city watching our breath in front of our faces, we were reflecting on what a greet weekend it had been. Melania said she’s like the rabbit from Alice And Wonderland. Exactly how rushed the whole weekend was! Just 6 hours after getting back to the hotel, we headed back to Madrid.