Forgive the delayed by two + weeks delivery.
I stepped out of the metro station in Lisbon and instantly fell in love. Love at first sight is real. Portugal, almost, made me forget about Mexico. Almost. It’s a good thing Mexico and I are in an open relationship. The colors, shapes, and sounds of that city revived my sense of curiosity and my inner joy overtook the oppression I had felt in the UK. The country in general was just amazing, the food and the people. The friendliest, most helpful people I’ve experienced while traveling. Or, at the very least they gave the Japanese a good run for their money. It may have also helped that I started my solo portion of my trip there. I love everyone I saw, stayed with, and traveled with but I was exhausted! As an introvert I really hadn’t planned in any alone time and my battery was drained. So being alone in the city to wander on my own was super exciting. ( I’ve been home almost three weeks, and as I edit this to send and I’m still recovering and still craving solitude. )
Lisbon is situated on the mouth of the Tigus river. There is a long promenade that runs just behind the metro station I exited. There is also a boat taxi situated behind that metro station that crosses the river every 20 mins or so. My airbnb was about a 15 min walk from this station. It was a lovely three floor walk up hosted by a portugués ballerina and her super attractive, tall, intriguing, dreadlocked, artist boyfriend. Did I mention attractive? ;)
After Lisbon I traveled west toward the coast a bit, just outside of Sintra to a small rustic coop eco farm in Janas. Look here!
My first night at the farm started off sitting by the fire minding my own business trying not to talk to anyone while waiting for dinner. Then wouldn’t you know an American couple sat down and started talking to me. I quickly learned that the universe knows best.
The lovely duo, living in Indiana, have started a pay-it-forward coffee shop that employees high school and college students. If you can’t afford to pay, you don’t. If you can pay you do, or pay more if you'd like to. It’s called The Local Cup. It was interesting talking with them about money, abundance, fear, gifting and the like. They haven’t been to Burning Man and didn't know the 10 principals but seemed to be living them just the same. I felt that the universe had put them there in the eco farm airbnb just to remind me that I’m on the right path. And writing this just now it’s reminding me again. As I spent the earlier portion of the day looking at my budget and going over my financial situation which led me to Craigslist looking at jobs, which led me to feeling anxiety and stress.
Portugal is known for it’s tile. It’s everywhere! Inside and out! One German woman I met kept saying “how odd is that bathroom tile is on the outside of the house?!” I have lots of tile fotos yet to be posted on my instagram. This same woman is a race walker. I spent a couple days in a remote mountain town with her for a race she was participating in. Very interesting to watch!
On my second day in Porto I attempted to explore but after 2 miles in the rain and wind I gave up, as did the 2.50 euro umbrella I had purchased. The airbnb was very cute so I didn’t mind sitting inside drinking gallons of tea and reading. I did have a couple of sun filled days and racked up 8-10 miles on those days. The city is built on many hills so that was an added bonus in the exercise department. All the walking in Portugal has hopefully made up for my lack of earlier in the trip. For those of you interested, the most miles I walked was 11 in one day in Sintra looking as castles and ruins. On that day I actually did wear tennis shoes. I was happy to discover I could walk up to 10 miles in my boots and dansko Mary Janes. Which is good to know as my travel shoes have now been retired for the second time. I don’t think they’ll have it in them for a “farewell farewell tour” like Cher has done.
Some of you have been wondering (and asking) about the new man in my life. I’m sorry if the title of this message mislead you. Although I was, very much, looking forward to seeing him when I got home. But if you want to know more you’ll have to see me in person or private message me. :)
I did learn a very valuable lesson about planning a trip. Don’t go on assumptions or the current weather when you pack. Check the climate data! I had no idea Portugal had fall and winter. I’m embarrassed to admit that. Haha so I didn’t get that extra warm sun I was hoping to soak up before I returned to rainland. And that’s ok. :)
Love and Hugs,
Serena
I stepped out of the metro station in Lisbon and instantly fell in love. Love at first sight is real. Portugal, almost, made me forget about Mexico. Almost. It’s a good thing Mexico and I are in an open relationship. The colors, shapes, and sounds of that city revived my sense of curiosity and my inner joy overtook the oppression I had felt in the UK. The country in general was just amazing, the food and the people. The friendliest, most helpful people I’ve experienced while traveling. Or, at the very least they gave the Japanese a good run for their money. It may have also helped that I started my solo portion of my trip there. I love everyone I saw, stayed with, and traveled with but I was exhausted! As an introvert I really hadn’t planned in any alone time and my battery was drained. So being alone in the city to wander on my own was super exciting. ( I’ve been home almost three weeks, and as I edit this to send and I’m still recovering and still craving solitude. )
Lisbon is situated on the mouth of the Tigus river. There is a long promenade that runs just behind the metro station I exited. There is also a boat taxi situated behind that metro station that crosses the river every 20 mins or so. My airbnb was about a 15 min walk from this station. It was a lovely three floor walk up hosted by a portugués ballerina and her super attractive, tall, intriguing, dreadlocked, artist boyfriend. Did I mention attractive? ;)
After Lisbon I traveled west toward the coast a bit, just outside of Sintra to a small rustic coop eco farm in Janas. Look here!
My first night at the farm started off sitting by the fire minding my own business trying not to talk to anyone while waiting for dinner. Then wouldn’t you know an American couple sat down and started talking to me. I quickly learned that the universe knows best.
The lovely duo, living in Indiana, have started a pay-it-forward coffee shop that employees high school and college students. If you can’t afford to pay, you don’t. If you can pay you do, or pay more if you'd like to. It’s called The Local Cup. It was interesting talking with them about money, abundance, fear, gifting and the like. They haven’t been to Burning Man and didn't know the 10 principals but seemed to be living them just the same. I felt that the universe had put them there in the eco farm airbnb just to remind me that I’m on the right path. And writing this just now it’s reminding me again. As I spent the earlier portion of the day looking at my budget and going over my financial situation which led me to Craigslist looking at jobs, which led me to feeling anxiety and stress.
Portugal is known for it’s tile. It’s everywhere! Inside and out! One German woman I met kept saying “how odd is that bathroom tile is on the outside of the house?!” I have lots of tile fotos yet to be posted on my instagram. This same woman is a race walker. I spent a couple days in a remote mountain town with her for a race she was participating in. Very interesting to watch!
On my second day in Porto I attempted to explore but after 2 miles in the rain and wind I gave up, as did the 2.50 euro umbrella I had purchased. The airbnb was very cute so I didn’t mind sitting inside drinking gallons of tea and reading. I did have a couple of sun filled days and racked up 8-10 miles on those days. The city is built on many hills so that was an added bonus in the exercise department. All the walking in Portugal has hopefully made up for my lack of earlier in the trip. For those of you interested, the most miles I walked was 11 in one day in Sintra looking as castles and ruins. On that day I actually did wear tennis shoes. I was happy to discover I could walk up to 10 miles in my boots and dansko Mary Janes. Which is good to know as my travel shoes have now been retired for the second time. I don’t think they’ll have it in them for a “farewell farewell tour” like Cher has done.
Some of you have been wondering (and asking) about the new man in my life. I’m sorry if the title of this message mislead you. Although I was, very much, looking forward to seeing him when I got home. But if you want to know more you’ll have to see me in person or private message me. :)
I did learn a very valuable lesson about planning a trip. Don’t go on assumptions or the current weather when you pack. Check the climate data! I had no idea Portugal had fall and winter. I’m embarrassed to admit that. Haha so I didn’t get that extra warm sun I was hoping to soak up before I returned to rainland. And that’s ok. :)
Love and Hugs,
Serena
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