It appears that my promise to get the next blog posted ‘before Christmas’ didn’t go to plan. Sorry guys! Nevertheless, I have at last put into words the fantastic & crazy trip to Lisbon from December & included my travel stories to America & Chester from the Christmas break…enjoy!
Lisbon, Portugal, is the Western most capital in mainland Europe. The beautiful city is surprisingly similar to San Francisco & had both a cosmopolitan and traditional/historic atmosphere, which suited me perfectly! Fortunately for me, pay day came just in time, allowing me to embark on a Portugese adventure! Having been waiting for 3 months for my first paycheck from the Ministery of Education, I was relieved to finally receive it, although a little concerned by the fact that 3 months wage was handed to me in broad daylight over the bank counter in CASH! Ok, so Valverde isn’t exactly crime central or Ghetto land, but I was pretty concerned!
With a little help from our Spanish friend Ruben, we managed to navigate the Spanish transport system and figured out the best way of getting to the city….bus. 7 hour flipping bus journey!
Our hostel was also a bit of a nightmare- the typical creaky beds & bathrooms that you avoid as much as possible, but we were centrally located in heart of Barrio Alto- the party neighbourhood! We literally stepped out of the hostel at night and would be on the busiest and liveliest street in all of Lisbon…or so it felt! The narrow cobbled streets & small bars lining the roads gave the huge city a quaint feel. The neighbourhood had Fado bars, where you can listen to the typical & unique Portuguese music with a famous caipirinha cocktail, & so m
any bars & restaurants from all cultures. I even had my first espresso- eww. We went from having Indian one day, to traditional portugese, and even an oriental buffet. Our favourite restaurant Chapito was also a nightmare to find, hidden up in the hills near the castle, but when we finally arrived we enjoyed a delicious meal overlooking the city & the Jesús Cristo statue. We spent a whole day shopping too, visiting every Zara, H&M and Berskha in the city, having a giggle trying on new clothes & encouraging each other to buy things that, having been alone; we probably would have passed by. (Like Kate’s 150 Euro pair of designer sunglasses for example) Oh girls and shopping!
One day we took a trip to the town of Sintra, a beautiful historic town with castles & old architecture an hour out of the city. We chose to visit the house and gardens of a ‘summer house’ (aka mini palace!) called Quinta d
a Regaleira; a magical, labyrinth style miniature palace, where we enjoyed viewing the paintings of men courting the women and treating them like jewels- just how it should be hehe. Another day we took a train to Belem to see the famous monuments; Padrão dos descobrimentos & the Belem tower by the sea. Finally, to kill some time on the final day we attempted to ‘do the mus
eums’…little did we know that it was a portugese holiday & thus many were shut. We ended up in one very random museum of art which was huge & practically empty- a very strange experience. The display was done by videos & showed the artwork of David Claerbout. Despite being the weirdest form of ‘video art’ I’ve ever encountered, it cleverly and mysteriously enticed us & the three of us sat for at least an hour watching the short clips. In a nutshell, imagine one of those movies where nothing really happens, but you keep watching incase something does happen…but then the film ends.
My trip to SD was just as magical; seeing Ryan again after 4 months separation was incredible and emotional, especially after just having seen Sally! We seriously had a wonderful week full of adventures! I managed to satisfy my sushi craving for the next few months hehe. I finally took an interest, over a meal with Ryan, in a game that I used to dislike greatly….American football! So after having had t
he rules explained to me in detail over dinner, I was left pretty enthusiastic and quite a fan of the Chargers! We even got to see a game live against the DC Redskins…and guess what- CHARGERS WON!!!! The highlight of the game had to be when the crowd started shouting ‘CHARGE!’ and I thought they were saying GEORGE! So I asked Ryan in all innocence ‘Who’s George?’ …that caused some amusement.
Lisbon, Portugal, is the Western most capital in mainland Europe. The beautiful city is surprisingly similar to San Francisco & had both a cosmopolitan and traditional/historic atmosphere, which suited me perfectly! Fortunately for me, pay day came just in time, allowing me to embark on a Portugese adventure! Having been waiting for 3 months for my first paycheck from the Ministery of Education, I was relieved to finally receive it, although a little concerned by the fact that 3 months wage was handed to me in broad daylight over the bank counter in CASH! Ok, so Valverde isn’t exactly crime central or Ghetto land, but I was pretty concerned!
With a little help from our Spanish friend Ruben, we managed to navigate the Spanish transport system and figured out the best way of getting to the city….bus. 7 hour flipping bus journey!
Our hostel was also a bit of a nightmare- the typical creaky beds & bathrooms that you avoid as much as possible, but we were centrally located in heart of Barrio Alto- the party neighbourhood! We literally stepped out of the hostel at night and would be on the busiest and liveliest street in all of Lisbon…or so it felt! The narrow cobbled streets & small bars lining the roads gave the huge city a quaint feel. The neighbourhood had Fado bars, where you can listen to the typical & unique Portuguese music with a famous caipirinha cocktail, & so m
any bars & restaurants from all cultures. I even had my first espresso- eww. We went from having Indian one day, to traditional portugese, and even an oriental buffet. Our favourite restaurant Chapito was also a nightmare to find, hidden up in the hills near the castle, but when we finally arrived we enjoyed a delicious meal overlooking the city & the Jesús Cristo statue. We spent a whole day shopping too, visiting every Zara, H&M and Berskha in the city, having a giggle trying on new clothes & encouraging each other to buy things that, having been alone; we probably would have passed by. (Like Kate’s 150 Euro pair of designer sunglasses for example) Oh girls and shopping!One day we took a trip to the town of Sintra, a beautiful historic town with castles & old architecture an hour out of the city. We chose to visit the house and gardens of a ‘summer house’ (aka mini palace!) called Quinta d
a Regaleira; a magical, labyrinth style miniature palace, where we enjoyed viewing the paintings of men courting the women and treating them like jewels- just how it should be hehe. Another day we took a train to Belem to see the famous monuments; Padrão dos descobrimentos & the Belem tower by the sea. Finally, to kill some time on the final day we attempted to ‘do the mus
eums’…little did we know that it was a portugese holiday & thus many were shut. We ended up in one very random museum of art which was huge & practically empty- a very strange experience. The display was done by videos & showed the artwork of David Claerbout. Despite being the weirdest form of ‘video art’ I’ve ever encountered, it cleverly and mysteriously enticed us & the three of us sat for at least an hour watching the short clips. In a nutshell, imagine one of those movies where nothing really happens, but you keep watching incase something does happen…but then the film ends.Here’s a little anecdote for you…so one evening we ate out in a seafood restaurant & sat outside undercover from the rain that had decided to surprise us for a whole day. There we met a homosexual couple from Holland- we initially bonded over the weather condition in the restaurant (as it was practically flooding) which then led to an in depth conversation about my memories of growing up in Holland. It was embarrassing how they spoke better English than us! But they enlightened Cristina and Kate with stories of Sinta Claus and Vater Pete & 
gave Cristina lots of inspiration for her cultural classes.
The rest of the holiday entailed lots of walking, more shopping and viewing art galleries. I personally fell in love with a painting displayed in a brochure- but it ended up being over 300 Euros by the time we got to the Gallery to check it out!! One of those moments where you enter a gallery, immediately realize how ridiculously expensive it all is, and have to ‘browse’ around for a respectable amount of time so you don’t look silly…although I think they knew that I couldn’t afford anything from the start when my jaw hit the floor!
We returned on the crazy public transport- catching the one and only bus to Sevilla- an overnight coach that dropped us off in Sevilla at 3:30am with nothing open and a load of homeless people sat outside. We managed to stay in the entrance to a block of flats under cover from the cold until 6am when we returned to the (now open) bus station. It then took a further 2 hours to get back from there. Needless to say I have now had a taster of what it feels like to be homeless in the middle of winter and it opened my eyes a lot. It was also ironic how one day we went from eating out in a ‘by reservation only’ restaurant (blowing 30 Euros each on food and wine) to camping out overnight in the streets of Sevilla the next! All in all, Lisbon was a wonderful city break destination & well worth seeing- despite seeing a lot whilst we were there, we could return again as there were a montón of museums we missed…due to the holiday! You could probably stay a week and always find something to do there. They have museums on almost everything you can possibly think of! Whether you’re interested in Contemporary Art, Archeology, Marine, Music, Military, Pharmacy, Clothes or 18th Century coaches! Lisbon has it all! Think San Francisco…just more European and less American…and you have Lisbon haha.
Christimas celebrations in Valverde were pretty wild! The Saturday before we left we were invited to the ‘Menendez teachers’ meal out. The ironic and amusing thing is that I’m not even an employee there (I do workshops in a private school) but Kate is and so for some reason I got invited too! We received a FREE 6 course meal + open bar! And the crazy thing was that we were out for 11 hours! It started at 2p
m- with plates of shrimp, octopus, muscles, crab, followed by a plate of fish and peppers + a shot + a small cup of this crazy potion from Galicia they were brewing on a stove, which kept throwing up flames! Then after that, and note I consumed 3 glasses of red wine over the course of the meal; they gave me a final drink- que fuerte! Rum and coke! So totally piddled & giggly when I left. We even received boxes of free wine as a thank you for our hard work at the school; by this time I was finding it hilarious how many freebies I was getting for not even working there! The party ended up in the Tablajero, a cute bar in the town where we met up with more friends and chatted until 1am! What a day! Best Christmas do I’ve ever been to…and the cheapest!
gave Cristina lots of inspiration for her cultural classes.The rest of the holiday entailed lots of walking, more shopping and viewing art galleries. I personally fell in love with a painting displayed in a brochure- but it ended up being over 300 Euros by the time we got to the Gallery to check it out!! One of those moments where you enter a gallery, immediately realize how ridiculously expensive it all is, and have to ‘browse’ around for a respectable amount of time so you don’t look silly…although I think they knew that I couldn’t afford anything from the start when my jaw hit the floor!
We returned on the crazy public transport- catching the one and only bus to Sevilla- an overnight coach that dropped us off in Sevilla at 3:30am with nothing open and a load of homeless people sat outside. We managed to stay in the entrance to a block of flats under cover from the cold until 6am when we returned to the (now open) bus station. It then took a further 2 hours to get back from there. Needless to say I have now had a taster of what it feels like to be homeless in the middle of winter and it opened my eyes a lot. It was also ironic how one day we went from eating out in a ‘by reservation only’ restaurant (blowing 30 Euros each on food and wine) to camping out overnight in the streets of Sevilla the next! All in all, Lisbon was a wonderful city break destination & well worth seeing- despite seeing a lot whilst we were there, we could return again as there were a montón of museums we missed…due to the holiday! You could probably stay a week and always find something to do there. They have museums on almost everything you can possibly think of! Whether you’re interested in Contemporary Art, Archeology, Marine, Music, Military, Pharmacy, Clothes or 18th Century coaches! Lisbon has it all! Think San Francisco…just more European and less American…and you have Lisbon haha.
Christimas celebrations in Valverde were pretty wild! The Saturday before we left we were invited to the ‘Menendez teachers’ meal out. The ironic and amusing thing is that I’m not even an employee there (I do workshops in a private school) but Kate is and so for some reason I got invited too! We received a FREE 6 course meal + open bar! And the crazy thing was that we were out for 11 hours! It started at 2p
m- with plates of shrimp, octopus, muscles, crab, followed by a plate of fish and peppers + a shot + a small cup of this crazy potion from Galicia they were brewing on a stove, which kept throwing up flames! Then after that, and note I consumed 3 glasses of red wine over the course of the meal; they gave me a final drink- que fuerte! Rum and coke! So totally piddled & giggly when I left. We even received boxes of free wine as a thank you for our hard work at the school; by this time I was finding it hilarious how many freebies I was getting for not even working there! The party ended up in the Tablajero, a cute bar in the town where we met up with more friends and chatted until 1am! What a day! Best Christmas do I’ve ever been to…and the cheapest!
Heading back to the UK was fun as Kate joined me for a few days! We arrived back to a very wintery and snowy UK, and spent a few days shopping in Chester for last minute gifts and visiting Wales to go sledging for the day! Which was so much fun but ended up with Ha
nnah spraining her ankle in a field in the middle of nowhere with no mobile signal…oh joy! We had a beautiful reunion with Hannah and Heidi in Manchester which caused more money to be spent, but was so much fun & wonderful to see the girls again, share stories, laugh & have a giggle! It was wonderful to be home even for just a few days to celebrate Christmas with the family & enjoy central heating…there’s no place like home!
On the 27th I flew across the world to see Ryan in San Diego. Travelling was a complete nightmare due to enhanced security measures; all the flights were delayed and no movies were shown on the 8 hour flight across the Atlantic.…nice.
However, it was well worth it as I had a layover in Chicago which allowed me to reunite with Sally which was a beautiful treat and true blessing! I think it’s incredible & wonderful how we felt like we’d never been apart despite living on different continents for almost 2 years! We managed to catch up, reminisce & have a giggle with her family, which left me feeling refreshed and ready for my next flight to SD. An awesome friend and still as gorgeous as ever!
nnah spraining her ankle in a field in the middle of nowhere with no mobile signal…oh joy! We had a beautiful reunion with Hannah and Heidi in Manchester which caused more money to be spent, but was so much fun & wonderful to see the girls again, share stories, laugh & have a giggle! It was wonderful to be home even for just a few days to celebrate Christmas with the family & enjoy central heating…there’s no place like home!On the 27th I flew across the world to see Ryan in San Diego. Travelling was a complete nightmare due to enhanced security measures; all the flights were delayed and no movies were shown on the 8 hour flight across the Atlantic.…nice.
However, it was well worth it as I had a layover in Chicago which allowed me to reunite with Sally which was a beautiful treat and true blessing! I think it’s incredible & wonderful how we felt like we’d never been apart despite living on different continents for almost 2 years! We managed to catch up, reminisce & have a giggle with her family, which left me feeling refreshed and ready for my next flight to SD. An awesome friend and still as gorgeous as ever! 
My trip to SD was just as magical; seeing Ryan again after 4 months separation was incredible and emotional, especially after just having seen Sally! We seriously had a wonderful week full of adventures! I managed to satisfy my sushi craving for the next few months hehe. I finally took an interest, over a meal with Ryan, in a game that I used to dislike greatly….American football! So after having had t
he rules explained to me in detail over dinner, I was left pretty enthusiastic and quite a fan of the Chargers! We even got to see a game live against the DC Redskins…and guess what- CHARGERS WON!!!! The highlight of the game had to be when the crowd started shouting ‘CHARGE!’ and I thought they were saying GEORGE! So I asked Ryan in all innocence ‘Who’s George?’ …that caused some amusement.
Ryan also treated me to a Spa date for my 21st bday/Christmas present which was soooo relaxing and totally a memorable & enjoyable experience. A full body 1 hour massage was a new concept for me, but I could defs get used to that lifestyle. Loads more happened that week, with trips around the city, beach, restaurants, my first communion at Church in almost 4 months (thank you Maranatha!) and I even experienced my first ever Earth tremor! A truly relaxing and refreshing week in sunny San Diego…it was a shock arriving back in the UK to the snow and -15 temperatures! I’m now finally back in Valverde, Spain and plan to be until the summer.
Well, that’s all for now peeps… hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable holiday. Next blog should entail stories of Hannah and Heidi’s visit to Sevilla hehe…so keep your eyes out for the next post. Love to all & good luck to all who are taking exams this January & trying to travel in this crazy ice age! You’re in my prayers.
Un beso y abrazo,
Corrie xXx
p.s- little amusing faux-pas from last night in Valverde: Miguel declares it is his birthday next week. So I (in all kindness) offer to ‘cocinar un gateau’ for him, which was an attempt to say ‘cook a cake’, but I used the French word for cake instead of the Spanish ‘tarta’ and the word gato (same pronunciation as gateau) means cat in Spanish…so Miguel thinks I’m cooking him a cat for his birthday. Oh dear! Hehe.
Well, that’s all for now peeps… hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable holiday. Next blog should entail stories of Hannah and Heidi’s visit to Sevilla hehe…so keep your eyes out for the next post. Love to all & good luck to all who are taking exams this January & trying to travel in this crazy ice age! You’re in my prayers.
Un beso y abrazo,
Corrie xXx
p.s- little amusing faux-pas from last night in Valverde: Miguel declares it is his birthday next week. So I (in all kindness) offer to ‘cocinar un gateau’ for him, which was an attempt to say ‘cook a cake’, but I used the French word for cake instead of the Spanish ‘tarta’ and the word gato (same pronunciation as gateau) means cat in Spanish…so Miguel thinks I’m cooking him a cat for his birthday. Oh dear! Hehe.
