ESN Trip to Lisboa

The time had finally arrived for the ESN trip to Portugal, we were all up bright and early ready to meet the bus at La Caleta at 9am. At 9.25am the bus finally showed up, we put our larger bags under the coach and took our smaller bags on the coach. The English contingent on the bus consisted of 7 of us at the front of the coach, after not very long on the bus we stopped for what appeared to be a change of drivers but soon turned into a toilet and cigarette stop. After around 45 minutes we were off on our way again, not exactly the quick change of driver that we had expected. We tried to get some sleep but the very loud repetitive music being played made this rather difficult at times. One of these days there will be more than 5 popular Spanish songs to be repeated over and over again. In the end we resorted to playing charades and guess-what-song-I’m-miming to pass the time, and it was a long time.

At 2pm after driving around Mérida for over 45 minutes and repeated stops asking for directions we parked up somewhere near what we were told was some roman ruins. We were told to return to the bus at 4pm to continue on to Lisbon, so we headed off the bus without a map or any recommendations for what to do. We were feeling rather hungry by this point so wandered off to find somewhere to eat, we eventually came across a Mexican restaurant, we assumed that two hours would be plenty to get some food then see a bit of the ruins. Unfortunately for us we were wrong, we sat down and placed our orders, after 10 minutes I was told that my order wasn’t available, after this had happened 4 times I gave up and just ordered fajitas but requested them without anything, just plain chicken. I am annoyingly fussy with food, I much prefer plain things, so that was a bit of a pain. The food arrived in spits and spats and in the end we had to ask for the bill before half of the food had arrived as we were fast running out of time to get back to the bus.  We wolfed down our food when it arrived and paid before heading back to the coach.

When we got back to the coach the driver had a long rant at us about how we couldn’t eat on the bus, he had found that some people had been eating oranges at the back. So before we got back on the bus everyone had to put their food underneath with the luggage so that we couldn’t eat it. Back on the bus they put on Pirates of the Caribbean in Spanish, which was fine apart from that I couldn’t listen to Johnny Depp’s beautiful voice, instead it was dubbed in some god awful accent. The most entertaining part was what they called Bootstrap Bill. After the film finished we still had a few more hours to kill which we managed to do then eventually we arrived in Lisbon and the fun really began. Every few hundred meters we had to stop and ask for directions, at every traffic light the coach driver stopped and shouted out of his window to passing pedestrians or people in other cars to ask for more directions. At one point we stopped at a petrol station to ask for some more directions and picked someone up, people got off for a cigarette and to go to the toilet, but the coach driver eventually stopped people doing that so that we could move, he promised that we would be at the hostel in 15 to 20 minutes. The room allocations were read out, we had been put in a room of 8 with one other girl. The driver put on his James Blunt CD and the English contingent entertained ourselves by singing along, I’m not sure that it was very popular with the other people on the bus, but never mind.  About an hour later at about 8pm we stopped in the pouring rain in a square. We were told to get off the coach as it couldn’t actually get to the hostel so we would have to walk. I’m sure you can imagine how impressed we were, after nearly 12 hours on the coach. We wandered to the hostel and had to wait outside for around 10 minutes whilst the ESN people organised the checking in. The girl who was meant to be sharing with us switched out of our room, I can’t blame her – sharing with 7 strangers who are already friends wouldn’t be easy.

After we made it to our room we decided to head out to get some food, we asked at the desk for recommendations and they gave us one. We headed up to a main road and wandered along it in the rain, we found a few restaurants that were full and one that didn’t serve anything that we would eat. Then we came across a restaurant that looked decent but a bit more expensive than we would have liked, however there was a man outside who said the food was really nice and that the waiter could speak English which was a bonus as we didn’t speak Portuguese. We sat ourselves down and had bread and cheese and the waiter explained all of the dishes in English then we placed our orders. The food arrived quickly and was just as good as the man outside had said, I had beef tenderloin and chips but it also came with rice. The meal was very filling and despite the temptation we had to turn it down as we couldn’t eat any more. We returned to the hostel, mercifully it had stopped raining and we got back to the hostel, there were people heading for a night out as detailed in the program however we were really not in the mood so stayed in our room and had a bit of banter before going to bed.

We woke up at 9 so that we could have breakfast and be ready to meet the ESN group at 10.30am to go to the castle, which we had free entry to with ESN. So we met the groups from the other hostels in a square and we all trudged off in a big group of 100 up and down the hills of Lisbon until eventually after just over an hour of walking in the rain we reached the castle, which was situated at the top of a very large hill. We stopped briefly at couple of lookout points on the way and apparently passed some important sights on the way but I didn’t really notice. Once we reached the castle we stood around for 20 minutes waiting for something, I’m still not quite sure what, the coach drivers turned up and we headed in to the castle. After a group photo some of us decided to split off from the group, a bit put off by the slow pace, and we headed off on our own to explore the castle, which was very nice and had some lovely views despite the grey skies. However without any context the castle was nothing more than a nice lookout point, I read some of the information boards when I found them but there wasn’t enough to give the castle any real depth. So Claire, Anissa, Emma and I headed off to find ourselves some food and see some of the other sights. The parts of Lisbon that we saw were very pretty, it was a shame about the weather though, there were some lovely views over the water, including from the terrace of our hostel.

The four of us wandered back down the hill then along the front of the water passing some nice squares and stopping in some shops to buy trinkets and postcards. We then headed to the Irish bar that we had seen the night before so that Anissa and Claire could watch the football match and support their teams (Arsenal and Manchester United). We also got ourselves some cider and good old pub grub to lift our spirits. The food did just the trick and despite having a couple of ciders I was only charged for one, bonus! After the match (2-1 to Claires team, Anissa was not impressed) we wandered along and saw some more sights, as well as popping into a few shops such as H and M. After receiving a message from the other half of the England contingent we headed to meet them at the Santa Justa elevator, we all then visited the last square on our list of things to see before heading home. On the way home we stopped in a Christmas shop and resisted buying a Christmas tree to bring back to Cádiz as we thought it may look a bit strange on the coach.

Back in the hostel we gathered around under our duvets to warm up, chat and have a nap, then at around 8 we got ready for dinner. We met the rest of ESN downstairs at 8.30pmfor dinner, which was included in the €85 price of the trip. Originally we had been offered a list of options to choose from and told to select our choices, however just before the trip we had been sent an e-mail telling us that we were now only going to be offered two options, cod in a creamy sauce with potato and pork in Portuguese sauce with potato, there was also an unknown vegetarian option. This caused some trouble for certain members of our group as they don’t eat fish or pork, me with my fussy eating was worried about the Portuguese sauce for the pork, I was thinking perhaps I would be able to ask for it without the sauce, however when we arrived at the restaurant it was obvious that this wasn’t going to be possible.

The restaurant itself was nice, we were in a large arched hall with big tables set up for us to sit on. We sat ourselves on a table and were joined by a very nice polish girl as there was no space for her on the table with her friends. There was bread on the table along with a jug of sangria and a bottle of water so we got started with those whist two waiters dished out salad (Lettuce, onion and tomato) from large serving trays. We asked what the vegetarian option was as some of the girls may have preferred that to the meat options, however the waiter either didn’t know or just didn’t want to tell us. The sangria was filled periodically until eventually it seemed like you just went up and fetched your own refills. The main meals came out a while later, the fish first, which was in reality a fish pie, they were dished out of the large trays onto our plates, the table next to us got into some trouble for having cleared away their original plates and expecting new ones. Instead we were to eat our main meals from the same plate as the bread and the salad, which was fine. By the time the pork dish came out those who had the fish pie had finished it, some also ate the pork which was a bit annoying as I was still waiting for some food. Hannah and Alice were both still at our table waiting for more of the fish pie to be brought out as they had run out before they reached them. The pork also came out in the large trays, no avoiding the sauce then, as it turned out there wasn’t that much of it to contend with. Just some stewed pork and potatoes, which were a lukewarm rather than hot. The food wasn’t overly tasty but I ate most of it as I was hungry, the vegetarian option eventually showed up, a spinach lasagne, which annoyed Emma a little as she had settled for the potatoes that had accompanied the pork as she doubted the vegetarian option would turn up, and even if it did she had no idea if it would be something that she would want to eat. We asked twice if there was any more fish for Hannah and both times we were told it was on its way, it showed up after most people had finished so Hannah finally got something to eat. The pudding was a choice of fruit or flan, although in the end we were only offered pots of fruit, Emma requested flan but it never showed up. Once we had finished we headed back to the hostel in the rain, via a supermarket to pick up sweets for pudding (fruit isn’t a proper pudding!).

Back at the hostel most of us readied ourselves for bed, whereas Alice prepared to go out. We had googled the club that we were meant to be going to and apparently it was an hour and a half walk away, with the rain we thought we’d rather not bother, we weren’t in a going out mood anyway. Alice didn’t believe that the club could be so far, so asked a member of ESN who replied that they didn’t even know where it was. At dinner the polish girl who sat with us had told us how the club had been an hour away the night before and that, at the end of the night, there were lots of people who didn’t know how to get home and had no one to follow. Luckily for her she had tagged along with a member of ESN, so made it back to the hostel. Alice headed downstairs to meet the others at 12.30 to head out but she told us that the night was called off after much standing around and indecision, instead they stayed in the hostel and had a few drinks before heading to bed.

On the Sunday we woke up and had breakfast before waiting around until 11.30am, we had been told that from there we would go to meet the coaches who would take us to Belem, provided that we pay the drivers €1 each. We had originally been meant to walk to Belem, but it was quite a way away so apparently there had been second thoughts. Waiting for the coaches we decided to play ‘who-can-guess-what-time-the-coaches-will-arrive’, after all of our first guesses had passed ( I was overly optimistic in guessing that they would be on time) we guessed again, and Anissa, who had guessed the latest time was right, the coaches arrived well over an hour after we did. Everyone rushed onto the coaches and we headed off to Belem, when we arrived we were told we had until 3.45pm at which point we had to be back at the bus for a 4pm departure. Alice and Hannah stuck with the ESN group but Claire, Emma, Anissa, Kath and I headed off on our own. We had a brief look at the monastery, which was very grand and free to enter but very full of people, so we didn’t go around the whole thing as that would have taken a long time and we wanted to see as much as possible of Belem. We then headed through a market and picked up a souvenir for Sophie who couldn’t come on the trip as her boyfriend was visiting, then walked along the water front to a very nice statue. We took photos and decided not to pay the €2 to go up the lift to the top of the tower, after that we walked along the waterfront, stopping to have our photos taken on some cows and then to play on the public gym equipment, we then walked up the tower which was very picturesque. Following all of this sightseeing and a few races we decided to head for something to eat, we wandered past some impressive statues and a water fountain that was turned off ending up at McDonalds. With no available seating we had to find somewhere outside, not the best situation as it was starting to spit with rain, we ate quickly and then took refuge in a Starbucks, where we picked up some food for the journey home. We weren’t sure if or when we would get to stop for dinner so made sure that we had some food for just in case.

Upon returning to the coach we realised we were the only ones who seemed to ever arrive on time, everyone else turned up after us and eventually everyone was back on the bus at 4.20pm. After another reminder about not eating on the coach we headed off again, I dozed off for a while, we had been told that we wouldn’t arrive back in Cádiz until midnight, so I figured that sleeping would pass the time more quickly than anything else. After an hour and a half or so I woke up to see that a film had been put on, I have no idea what it was, some kind of strange soft porn film, everyone just seemed to be sleeping with everyone else and then occasionally they would sing a song. Perhaps I would have understood it more if I had seen it from the beginning. After the film finished several people came to the front of the bus asking for a toilet stop, the driver assured them we would stop in 20 minutes (I wonder where I’ve heard that before!) and after an hour one girl came to the front plaiting her legs and pleading for a stop. We did stop at the next services where almost everyone got off the bus, and the 10 minute stop soon turned into a half an hour break. Next up on the films list was The Mummy.

The next stop was set to be a half an hour dinner break, but the service station on our side of the road was closed so we all crossed over the autovia to the other side of the road where there was a restaurant, so both coaches descended upon it. After half an hour we had a look around and the coach drivers were still tucking in to their burger and chips so we waited for them to finish rather than heading back to a locked coach. On the road again the music was blaring and the driver and the ESN reps were having a proper little party at the front of the coach, I decided it was time to securely fasten my seatbelt as the drivers attention didn’t always seem to be on the road. We got into the music as much as possible, better to try and distract ourselves from thinking of the distance we still had to cover before reaching Cádiz. Eventually we reached La Caleta at 1.20am, and we decided that we had earned a day off from university. Trudging back home in the rain, we decided that in future we would do weekend trips on our own rather than with ESN, as in such large groups there was an awful lot of waiting around and disorganisation.

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