I met a girl on my plan ride here who lived in Lisbon so she convinced me I needed to see Portugal and I am so glad she did! Lisbon exceeded any expectations I could have possibly thought of. We had a group of 15 in our Hostel and about 20 total of us staying in Lisbon. The first night we went to an authentic Portuguese dinner and then to Bairro Alto (the main strip for nightlife and bars) and here we just bar hopped. The next morning, my friends from CU, arrived to meet us and we walked around Lisbon for 9 hours making sure to see all of the city. We went to the museum of Fashion and Design (sorry, no pictures-they don't allow cameras in there). We went to Belém after, which is a cute little beach town, and we tried their famous Pastel de Belém, from Pastéis de Belém (http://pasteisdebelem.pt/en/).
Later we got ready and went to the bars and ended up tagging along with a pub crawl. Although we didn't have wrist bands (because we didn't pay), the tour guide did not notice us as she was already dealing with 30 drunk american students. Poor thing!
We then caught a cab and headed to their famous club, the Lux, but laughed at the bouncer who told us it was 260 euro cover charge (about 300 US dollars). We still don't know if there was an event this night or why it was so expensive but regardless we left. My friend Nicole and I got lost from the group and since no one can use their phones outside of Spain, we just stayed at the club until 6am when we could reunite. When we left it was heavily raining (It was rain season there and when it rains, it POURS). We still had no idea how to get back but luckily we met some American guys studying in London who we hung out with until we could find our way in the daylight.
The next morning I rallied myself to hike to this castle located on the top of a mountain with my freshman roommate Morgan and her friends (they were studying in Seville and met us in Portugal for the weekend).
It was an uphill trek for roughly an hour but it was well worth it. It was by far one of the most incredible places I have ever been. I fell in love with Lisbon and for sure will be back!
Fun Fact: A lot of the people who beg for money on the street here play the accordion and carry chihuahuas. I tried to steal all of the dogs.