A weekend in Lisbon with my mom.

 The first weekend in May I headed to Lisbon, Portugal to meet my mom for 4 days. Before I studied abroad one of the top places I wanted to visit was Lisbon and my mom (being the great woman that she is) agreed on flying out and meeting me there.  

We stayed at a Marriott about 15 minutes from the airport and 10 minutes from downtown. Thursday evening after my arrival we hung out at the hotel, drinking Super Bock and eating dinner at the hotel's restaurant: Citrus Bar & Restaurant. I got the chef's fish special which was a large piece of fish, vegetable and sauce cooked inside a porcelain dish covered with a filo dough. It was amazing. 

Like in Dublin, we decided to purchase passes for the double decker tour buses. In Lisbon we used Lisbon Sightseeing which has 3 different lines and your tickets are good for 48 hours. After a shuttle from the company picked us up at our hotel on Friday morning we decided to take the line which would drop us off at the Castle of São Jorge, which is right above the Alfama district. This castle is the main staple of Lisbon's history, it is where the first human occupation of Lisbon is recorded. Instead of taking a bus like we did, you can also take one of Lisbon's historic tramcars up to the site, it just might be a little crowded. The views from up there are absolutely breathtaking and you can see the orange rooftops of Lisbon for miles.  

After hiking around the Castle for a couple of hours we were starving so we headed to the Belém Tower and grabbed lunch at Vela Latina before we went in. Vela Latina is definitely a restaurant I recommend in Lisbon. Mom and I got some great white wine, she had oysters for a starter and I had the lobster cream soup. For our main course we each had fillet of hake with a pumpkin and ginger mousse: maybe the best fillet of fish meal I have ever had. We finished off with some great panna cotta for dessert. We also had some wine with our meal and since Mom made me choose which one we ordered the man made me taste it: I don't think he was impressed with my swirling, sniffing and slurping skills, but that’s okay. It was an absolutely amazing meal.  

When we finished lunch we headed over to the Belém Tower, which was the one thing I knew I really wanted to see in Lisbon. The tower played an important role during the Age of Discoveries and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is absolutely beautiful, made out of limestone with amazing, amazing, AMAZING architecture. Being right on the Tagus River the location of the tower is stunning and there are great views from all levels of the tower. We made it all the way to the top but unfortunately there is only one staircase for people climbing up and down. And even more unfortunate for us, there was a group of 100 Italian high school students who went up before us and clogged the stairwell: not fun, but it all worked out in the end and was well worth the wait.  

After the Belém Tower we headed back to the hotel to enjoy happy hour in the lounge. We decided to be adventurous and try the different types of Super Bock. We really like the original to begin with and the stout was really, really good too: I liked it even more than the original However, if someone ever offers you the Green Super Bock, don't take it unless you like beer that tastes like a strange form of lime-aid, it was hard for us to get down we disliked it that much, but we couldn't let it go to waste!  

On Saturday our first stop was at the Museu Nacional do Azulejo (National Tile Museum) which is a stop I definitely recommend to anyone visiting Lisbon. My mom loves porcelain and tile so we both really enjoyed it. The museum is organized by time periods and tell you where the tiles were found and any other information they know about them. Tile is a huge part of Portuguese culture and history, as you can tell from all the tiled buildings throughout the city, so it was great to learn about the history of it and see the progression over time.  

Next we headed to Rossio Square and the Santa Justa Elevator for lunch. We grabbed lunch at an outdoor café right across the street from the famous Santa Justa Elevator that was built to connect the lowest and highest parts of the city. The elevator was designed by French architect Raoul de Mesnier du Ponsard who was an apprentice of Gustave Eiffel. For lunch we had seafood paella and a nice bottle of white wine while watching people go up and down in the elevator. After we finished lunch we walked over to Rossio Square, one of Lisbon's famous squares. The tile work on the square was really amazing black and white waves but made us a little bit dizzy (the bottle of wine might have had something to do with it as well.)  

On Friday when we were on the bus we passed a stop for the Museu Nacional dos Coches (National Coaches Museum) and thought it sounded interesting so we decided to return and check it out on Saturday, and I am glad we did. This museum holds a collections of the highest end carriages in the world; basically the Rolls Royce, Lamborghini and Ferraris of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The building the museum is in is an 18th century riding school with stables and is breathtaking in itself. These coaches were so detailed and rich looking, Cinderella would have envied them. They seemed to have a new coach made for every baptism, marriage, birthday and party. They even had a carriage on display that had bullet holes in it from an assassination attempt. The only thing the museum could have had that they didn't was a carriage for people to sit and take a picture in, that would have made it perfect.  

The last site we wanted to see in Lisbon was the Monument to the Discoveries which isn't very far from the Belém Tower. This tower was built in honor of Henry the Navigator and is at the location where many Portuguese explorers started their journey. The monument features statues of 30 people who were influential during the Age of Discoveries. This is another monument you can go to the top of, but we opted out because it is so close to the Belém Tower and the views would have been pretty similar.  

Our weekend in Lisbon was really amazing. I love traveling with my mom and it was great to get to see her and see things that we were both really interested in like the tile museum, coach museum and castle. We both felt like we could have spent weeks there visiting all the different squares and monuments. If we go back we want to take a day trip out to Sintra, a city about 2 hours outside of Lisbon that has multiple castles and people say looks like a fairytale. 

I'm currently in the middle of the Cannes Film Festival so I will be doing a blog or two on that in the next couple of days! 

When it rains in Provence, it pours

Three weekends ago our program took us to Avignon and Arles, two other towns in Provence, for the weekend. Of course, it was raining. And by raining, I mean pouring, almost the entire trip. But even so, we saw some amazing sites and it was a fantastic trip.  We started off in Avignon where the Popes resided during the 14th century when Rome was not safe. We visited Le Palais des Papes (the popes residence,) which was absolutely massive and very beautiful. We were able to walk through the reception halls, chapels, cloister, treasury and the Pope's private apartment with absolutely stunning frescoes on the walls and beautiful tile on the floor. We also visited Le Pont St Bénezet, a legendary bridge in Avignon that even has a song written about it. Let me warn you, the song will get stuck in your head. The bridge was built in the 12th century and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with Le Palais des Papes.  

Following Avignon we headed to Nîmes to visit another UNESCO World Heritage Site: Pont du Gard. Pont du Gard is a ruin that was originally part of the Roman aqueduct system built around 19 BC and transported water to the Romans in Nîmes. It is actually the tallest of all the Roman aqueducts. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip, the aqueduct itself was amazing but the area around it was gorgeous as well, even in the rain. Because of the rain we didn't get to have as much time as we would have liked to explore the trails, riverbank and climb to the top of the aqueduct. Next time I come back to the South of France I will be heading back to Nîmes to explore some more.  

After the aqueducts we headed towards our hotel outside of Arles, but not before stopping for a wine tasting along the way. Chateauneuf du Pape is a small town outside of Avignon where the popes decided to set up their vineyards in the 14th century. Let me tell you, this was some good wine. I am a strictly white wine person and the white wine there was delicious: but what really surprised me was the red wine. I was able to drink it without gagging and wanting to throw up, big improvement compared to red Franzia. So, I bought a bottle of red and white for me and roommates when we get back to Tampa in the fall; supposedly the red will be "aged perfectly" by then.  

Sunday morning we went into the town of Arles which dates back to the 7th century BC. Under Constantine, Arles had been the second capital of the Roman Empire and we visited the Arena and Theater. Although I have not been to Rome, I imagine that the arena in Arles is a smaller version of the Colosseum. Being there I had a revelation of sorts and thought about how much history had taken place there, how many people had died there and how amazing it is that it is still standing. We also visited the café where Van Gogh spent his time in Arles. In my art history class we studied Van Gogh's time in the South of France, specifically in Arles, so it was really great to be able to see the town that he and Gaugin did so much work in.  

Up next we headed to Les Baux-de-Provence, which is another place I HIGHLY recommend if you are in the South of France. There are amazing rock formations all around and a medieval village that is picturesque to say the least. Even through a torrential downpour this was one of the most beautiful places I have seen. The village is located on a large flat rock and the views are so amazing; especially if you climb up on the ruins of the old building, which is easier said than done. And, I do recommend going on a nice day because climbing up the steep narrow steps in a wind and rain storm was actually pretty dangerous, but we were fearless and did it anyways. There are also tons of cute little shops and cafes throughout the village.  

Right down the road from the village is Carrières de Lumières, which my description will do no justice. Inside a rock formation the project massive slides of artwork on to the walls, it feels as if you are inside the paintings themselves. They change the theme of the show every now and then but lucky for us the current show is Impressionist artists, which we spent all semester studying, and it was magnificent to say the least. This was one of the coolest things I have ever seen and I wish it could be described better but is one of those things you have to see in person to be able to understand it. This is a MUST do if you are in the area.  

After that we got back on the bus, soaking wet and freezing, for a pretty miserable 3 hour bus ride back to Cannes. All and all though the trip was so great, even with the rain and I definitely recommend visiting that part of France; it is much more relaxed and laid back from Paris and is a great place to go to get away from the craziness of big cities.