portugal part three: if i gave birth, i can handle this!

day two of our adventure through portugal and we headed out to sintra by train.  there's some pretty lovely castles that needed to be seen... so greg is in full runners with socks, it's 27 degrees outside and i see what appears to be a castle WAY up in the sky...

dina...."greg, that's not where we are going is it"?

greg..."where else would you think the castle would be, dina"?

we start walking, not just walking but climbing up a hill, not just climbing up hill but on cobble stone streets and paths, not just walking up cobble stones streets and paths but we climbed at least 8km up the hill....what, not a big deal?  oh normally i would agree but the problem lies on one small detail...the top of my foot is infected from a wound I got four days before leaving.  the "wound" is right a the bend par of the foot so guess what foot wear i have on...H&M $6.95, thin ass flip flops..why?...because it doesn't touch my VERY painful wound.  yes painful, ok i gage everything to birth...if it doen't feel like labor...it's manageable?  does anyone else do that..BTW?  fun fact (fun, not really but...) being in the heat of labor is equal to fracturing 20 bones at one time!

 

Ok... fine, if i can give birth, I can handle this.  i'm a tuff ass, this is nothing (right?).

ok so lets recap my day...

we did 15 km, up hill and down, on cobble stone streets, with flip flops, with an infected foot (which i'm taking meds for).  was it worth the soreness, YES!  The view was like no other...i earned that segras beer at the bottom (1 euro for a beer, what the what!..it's cheaper then a coke!).

to see part two of this post...click here

up we go!

half way up!

 

 

portugal part two : the holy land at last!

the portugal break down thus far: the journey:  

26 hours of travel and we arrive in lisbon, portugal....thank baby jesus (he's all over this place by the way, baby jesus that is...figurines). 10+ hours of layovers and 14+ hours of travel but we are alive and safe and i'm totally f'n confused of a what time it is or what day it is...does it matter, no... we are kidless! on the 10 hour flight we flew coach... wine at noon, yes please! {on a side note if you haven't watched "this is 40" do!  i had tears running down my face, i had to use my pasta soaked napkin from my hot lunch to wipe it off.  not sure if i should be sad that i can totally relate to this movie?}

now for the french dude coughing up a lung on the trips voyage from Paris to Lisbon,  i could have done without.  all i wanted to do was yell at him "use your cough pocket you idiot, for gods sakes...no one coughs out loud anymore...what are you 3 years old"!  {another side note...if there where the Olympic games for squatting over toilets, i would be taking home the gold!} ok enough about this plane ride...

 

f'd up driving  the driving:

 

lisbon's traffic  and DRIVERS are crazy, they love their horns here and they park pretty much wherever their cars can fit, so side walks, blocking other cars by double parking!  there were a few times, i may have screamed "faca" as a car past (relax it means knife in portuguese...sure sound knotty though)

accommodation:

 we arrive at the "lisbon guest house" to find migal ferreira (are you my family migal?), one of the family members that owns and works there. he is AWESOME.  this place is half hostel have hotel.  we have a private room and bath and a joint eating area...love.  two days stay here is perfect! now the shower, it feels like heaven after a full day of travel...problem for greg, the shower is sooo small. it's like watching  cattle entering a slaughter stall, once he gets in he can't turn around...lol...i'm howling just typing this.  it is really quite a sight.  i, on the other hand fit perfectly!  portugal  is meant for small people, sorry greg!

now my $200 hair dryer apparently is not a fan of power converters. the burial service has been scheduled for my return on the 19th. frizzy half waves it is.

family:

umm, i'm pretty sure i've spotted at least 10 cousins (including migal)...some look identical too a few back home. kinda freaky.

food:

service is so slow, greg is having an "adjustment period" to this..."no the waiter is not ignoring you greg, he's european"...greg is slowly catching on! but it's well worth the wait.

 

 dina's portuguese:

translation at times has been comical, wrong food has arrived or a different version then what we ordered.  i think they are confused because i'll speak portuguese then greg says something in english then they look at me and i can see them thinking is she speaking in  english or portuguese, clearly my accent is NOT heavy enough...perhaps if i plug my nose and say it that may just work?  i'm positive they think i'm the canadian version of borat!  i suck.

terrain:

cobble stone streets, no joke....every street!  greg finally broke down and said who the F*** had the time to lay all these pieces, how long did this take"!  it goes in two directions up and upper.  my ass hurts, a lot!  ok, ok there is some down hill but still.  not to mention the how the frig do you were heels?...nope, i'm not chancing it, with my luck i will break my ankle...who are we kidding, currently i'm subjected to wearing two pairs flip flops anyways because of a cut turned infection!  but girl can't lie, i may take a peice of that pretty little road home with me.

well folks that's day one and a half....

to view part one of this post...click here

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