KALEIGH TAKEOVER: PORTUGAL
Kaleigh, Nancy’s daughter, wraps up 10 countries in 2 months
Becca, Lori, Manraj and I flew into Lisbon, Portugal for our last six days of the trip. Manraj was on different flights, since she had originally planned to go to England to visit family, but one of her relatives got Covid, so she was able to stay with us. She could only stay for the first couple of days because of work, but this part of the trip was unforgettable.
At this point, Becca and I had been traveling for a full two months and were quite drained. I didn’t have high hopes for Portugal and I went in with not many expectations. But, once we started walking around this city of seven hills, I fell in love with the atmosphere, the people, and the food!
It was the perfect way to end our trip and create one last week of memories before heading back to the below-freezing, snowy weather of New England.
We went sailing in the bay, visited multiple beautiful castles, and one of my friends even got a tattoo to commemorate these special times. We were staying in an Airbnb in the Misericórdia District of Lisbon. The area was so unique and full of shops, cafes, and HILLS. We didn’t have to even worry about working out, since walking from place to place in itself was a full-blown workout!
We got brunch in the Estrela district, which was delicious, and then we wandered around, went to a few thrift shops, and enjoyed the beautiful weather. We then headed over to the The Praça do Comércio which was an enormous plaza overlooking the water that had a lot of fun Christmas decorations and a huge Christmas tree.
This day was packed with things to do and we ended up at a quaint city square, Praça Luís de Camões, that had some cool statues and a lot of historical landmarks. There was a cool globe located here covered with lights too.
Also, located near this historic center of Lisbon is the district, Santa Maria Maior, where we ventured to find the handmade pottery. We ended up going into Cerâmicas na Linha, which was an adorable ceramics store that we spent hours in, and even came back on another day to do more shopping. I don’t know the exact total, but between the four of us we dropped a lot of money here, since we knew we only had a few days left and we could spend whatever money we had left that we budgeted for the trip.
Fun fact: I ended up purchasing 23 items and I successfully brought them all home without breaking anything!
Also, around this area there were a few tattoo shops where Manraj was feeling spontaneous and sentimental and wanted to get an olive branch to not only commemorate the trip, but also add more art to her tattoo collection. The tattoo artist was so nice and she let all four of us hang out there, while Manraj got her tattoo. We even got McDonalds and shared our fries with the artist.
The next day was probably one of my favorites of the whole trip. The four of us went on a sunset sailing outing, where we chatted with some locals that grew up there, while also being served free wine. The views were incredible, the air was so crisp, and it was another moment that I knew I would never forget.
Our guide for the sailing trip was appalled when we said we had not yet tried pastel de nata (custard tarts), and he explained how they are the most iconic and delicious pastries that we would ever eat. He told us to go to the original place where they were made, which was right by the Jerónimos Monastery, since the monks were the people that first made these tasty treats.
Right after we got off the sailboat, we headed straight over to the Jerónimos Monastery in Santa Maria de Belem to find the custard tarts. They did not disappoint. We devoured all the pastries, as we had never tasted anything quite like them. They were so light and fluffy, but also dense and packed full of bursting flavors.
Sadly, this is where we had to say our goodbyes to Manraj, but we would be seeing her real soon back home in Massachusetts.
With only two days left in Europe, Lori, Becca and I made it our mission to see as many castles, landmarks, and sights as we could in the upcoming 48 hours. We started the next day by traveling over to the city, Sintra. I thought the hills around our place were big, but the hills in this city were a FORCE. They were so steep and the roads were winding; it was crazy.
We ended up going to a Christmas market, a sardine shop, and some cork stores; since Portugal is known for their sardines and cork products we couldn’t miss out. Lori bought some sardines for a Christmas present for her dad, and Becca and I found some fun cork finds. We spent most of the day exploring the castle on the hill though.
The Palacio national da Pena (Pena Palace) was completely and utterly astonishing. It didn’t feel real after trekking up a literal mountain to get there. It felt like we were transported into a movie, or just something unreal. The pops of red, yellow, and blue were eye-catching and the contrast made the structure even more magnificent sitting atop the mountain.
We stayed for hours touring the inside and wandering around the outside, taking many photos and trying to imagine what it must’ve been like to actually live in this enormous palace. Even though this area was clearly targeted for tourists and we like to stay away from the basic touristy places, this castle is an absolute must-see!
For our last day of the trip, we headed to the São Jorge Castle and meandered all around the castle and the surrounding area. Again, the views of the city were fantastic and the structure of the castle was wicked cool, but the best part of the day for us, were seeing dozens of peacocks. We stopped and watched them for an hour and were mesmerized by their colors.
When we got back to our place, we made our last supper meal, while reminiscing on how amazing this trip had been. Then we packed everything up, watched a movie, and prepared ourselves -- mentally, physically, and emotionally -- for our travels the next day, and finally being back in the U.S.
Just as we were about to board the plane back to Boston, I made the remark about how I didn’t see anyone I knew the whole two months, which is kind of strange, since I always run into the most random people in the most random places. And then, like someone was listening to me, I ran into my former Stonehill lacrosse teammate, who I hadn’t seen since graduating college. She was boarding the same flight as Lori, Becca and me… who would’ve guessed. It was a funny ending to our fun-filled, quirky adventure, and then we set of for the long flight home.
Four trains, 14 planes, and countless bus rides later, we finally arrived home on December 20th. With reality crashing back down on me, and being home in my own bed for the first time in months, there were a lot of mixed emotions.
One thing I had to look forward to was keeping the Van Gogh vibes alive. I went to the Van Gogh immersive experience in Boston for my Dad’s birthday a few days after I got home.
That was super fun, but the anxiety was starting to kick in. Anxiety about my low bank account. Anxiety about finding a job. Anxiety about moving out and starting my adult life. I had just had the most amazing experience of my life, but I knew that once Christmas and New Years passed, 2022 was going to bring many obstacles and challenges.
What I definitely didn’t expect was testing positive for Covid on January 1st and being quarantined in my room for two weeks with no human contact. January was a complete 180 from the life I had been living abroad; all I wanted to do was go back to Europe. But of course, I knew it had finally come time to start figuring our my life.
Although the Europe trip was in the past, it had opened up my mind to the more important aspects of life: enjoying the small wins, making memories with friends, and following the things that truly interest you and that you are passionate about.
Taking life day-by-day is the most important thing, and now that it’s May, and spring is here, I have figured out a direction I want to go in with my career and life in general. I just signed a lease for a place in Boston in September with three of my friends, so I will have time to save up. I also have applied to a bunch of jobs, had some interviews, and am now just waiting to hear back.
I have high hopes that the rest of 2022 is going to bring many new opportunities for me to learn and grow and settle into this new chapter of my life. I hope that my wrightpix April Takeover of the blog is a good reminder to everyone that there is no linear path in life.
Every person has their own journey at their own pace, and however they go about it, they should take a step back and appreciate everything that they have, and work for what they want. The biggest takeaway from my trip, and the past four months back home, would be to not put too much pressure on yourself and don’t let the uncontrollables run your life and your happiness.