I went to Portugal. Let me tell you the story.

PHOTOS: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2028343&id=152001486&l=183c48c6c4

This past weekend I went to Portugal with Lisa through a travel agency’s group trip. It was so fun!

It all started when we went out for a quick lunch Friday afternoon between the end of classes and when we were supposed to meet the bus. So we’re in this really nice sandwich shop and we finished our meal, and I decided to go to the bathroom really quick since we’d be on the bus for a few hours. I went into the bathroom, which was a one-person one, and proceeded to do my business. It was a nice bathroom, but someone had peed all over the floor and the music was blaring so loud. I washed my hands and went to leave and the door wouldn’t open. I pushed. I pulled. I turned the handle every way I could. Nothing. There was a key in the lock, so I tried turning it in every combination with pushing, pulling, and turning the handle. Nothing. At this point I gave up on trying to get myself out and started pounding on the door and yelling, “Ayudame!!!!!!” which means, “Help me!!!!!!” I looked at my watch and we only had about 15 minutes before we were supposed to meet the bus. I kept pounding and yelling, and eventually Lisa, who was wondering why on earth it was taking me so long, came to check on me. The music was so loud I could barely hear her, but she did her best to go get help from one of the employees and keep a straight face. Kudos to Lisa for communicating that I was locked in the bathroom. Eventually they got me out after a couple minutes, and we went to the bus and we were on our way.

Friday afternoon was spent at the beach on Tavira Island, and it was the BEST beach I’ve ever been to. The waves were huge, the water was crystal clear (albeit freezing), and the atmosphere on the beach was just very nice. Once we left the beach, we stopped at a grocery store and bought salami, bread, and cheese to make sandwiches for the weekend to cut our costs. Let me tell you, I will not want another salami sandwich for a VERY long time. I had eight salami sandwiches in the span of two days. After Tavira Island we drove to Albufeira and stayed in an apartment-hotel that was very nice. People from the group (which isn’t associated with my study abroad program) went out to the bars and clubs in Albufeira and didn’t get in until 6 am, but we stayed in and did homework and watched a Japanese game show in Portuguese. The next day when we met everyone at the bus, we were pretty much the only three people (me, Lisa, and our friend Amy) that were awake and not hung-over. It rained Saturday, so we drove into town for lunch and then headed out to Lagos early instead of spending the afternoon at Albufeira’s beach.

When we checked in to the apartment-hotel in Lagos, we decided that we wanted to go out that night, but we didn’t want to go with the rest of the group. So we decided to go down to the beach and then walk into town for the evening. We walked to the beach, via a VERY long detour, and then to walk back into town we decided to walk along the shore instead of along the road. It took us about an hour to walk back to town along the beach, and then when we got to town we realized that we couldn’t get there because there was a giant canal separating the beach and the rest of the city. So then we had to take another VERY long detour around the shipyard, followed half the way by stray cats. After walking for a good two hours straight, we ended up in town and decided to look for a good place to eat.

Gilbert’s Restaurant seemed the perfect location to satisfy our hunger. When I saw lasagna on the menu, I knew right away that’s what I wanted. Lisa and Amy, however, decided to be more adventurous. Lisa ordered salmon, and Amy got garlic pan-fried squid. I’m very glad I decided not to be adventurous. I tried both Lisa’s salmon and Amy’s squid, and neither of them were good experiences. After dinner, we walked into the town square and decided we wanted to explore town a bit before heading back to our hotel. In the town square we stopped to buy our souvenirs, and I bought a really adorable handmade pottery figure. We took a taxi back to the apartment and pretty much went right to bed.

Sunday morning we met up with the group, checked out of the hotel, and headed to the Doña Ana cove beach in Lagos. It is the most gorgeous beach I have ever been to, although it smelled disgusting, a bit like sour fish and farts all mixed together. At the end of the day, Lisa and I wanted to change out of our swimsuits before the bus ride home, so we decided to go behind this big rock ledge to change after the beach was nearly deserted. We were trying to change quickly, but little did we know that some Portuguese man was also thinking that our secluded changing spot would also be a good spot to pee. He walked around the corner just as we were in the middle of changing. That was awkward. Then when we went back to gather our things, a group of women dressed like Paris Hilton and women with big cameras and makeup bags and cans of hairspray came over to our side of the beach. We were intrigued and wanted to watch the photo shoot a little, until the women started taking their clothes off, at which point we were much more interested in getting the heck out of there. That was also awkward.

We arrived in Sevilla very tired Sunday night, faced with a good few hours of studying for the exams that we would have the next two days. Now that exams are over, I am more relaxed, and I think I did pretty well on them. :-)