The beginning

30.1.2017 - There's snow on the ground, the temperature is somewhere around -8 and I am struggling. Struggling to say goodbye to my parents and sister, struggling to carry my baggage to the check-in and struggling to get my shit together. This is the beginning and I have no idea what's gonna happen next. However, I am excited like I've never been before! I have been trying to get this into my head - I am on my way to Lisbon, I am gonna spend my second semester there, I don't know anyone else that is going there and I probably brought way too little clothes. Challenges, they make me so excited! 

The whole trip from Vasa, Finland to Lisbon was like some kind of foggy dream to me. I remember sleeping a lot on the fligth, I remember someone saying "Oh, Suomi, perkele!" when they checked my passport on a middle-landing and I remember that I read the "Exchange student Survival Guide" from Nova the last thing I did before reaching Lisbon. I really didn't know much about Portugal - I guess Finish people know more about Spain and kind of forget about Portugal. So, I guess I was in for a surprise when it came to both the city and the country I chose to stay in.

It's about to happen!

The first I saw of Lisbon were some blurry buildings in the rain before I dropped my phone in my face. I remember the incredible urge I had to just want to throw my bags away and go exploration-mode on the city. Thankfully, someone heard my prayer because my incredible buddy from Nova SBE was waiting for me at the airport. I seriously couldn't have been much more blessed, since my bag was broken and I kind of had to confess that I needed help carrying my stuff. Me and my buddy went for a drive in the city and I remember saying "This is awesome" so many times that he probably started to think I was overreacting. But I really wasn't, Lisbon is such a beautiful city! 

Adventure, as far as the eye can see

The best buddy one can possibly have!

I learnt a lot about Lisbon that evening and to wrap it up we had the must-have pastries when in Portugal: Pasteis de Belem. And regarding those, I totally understand the hype! Those little bastards are probably the biggest reason for my weight-gain during my Erasmus. However continuing, after the pastei-eating I had my first meeting with my room mates who were truly amazing people. I miss them still today and I wish that they could still be around to teach me more spanish. I would not have been able to do decent food-shopping the day after if it wasn't for them and they always made cooking more fun. If you read this dear roomies, I will come back for you one day <3

This basically wraps my first day in Lisbon up. However, there's more to come! I will be back soon with pics from amazing places in Portugal, crazy stories and other fun stuff. This love affair between me and Portugal has just started here on this blog and I have more to say about it. This is me reliving some of the best times of my life and you can take part too. See you!

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