Alana in Portugal

This morning at about 7:45am, I had my last breakfast at Chalet d’Avila, and hopped on the red line metro in the direction of the aeroporto . I was saying good-bye to Portugal with a promise to be back soon. I have nothing but happy memories of my first visit to this lovely country. I arrived at the airport with about two hours to get through security, buy some liquid souvenirs for my parents, and get to boarding. Although the extra security check at our gate was annoying, as I always seem to be picked for these so-called “random” checks where my bag is opened and its contents moved around in such a way that I almost have to re-pack, the flight itself was delightful. From my understanding, Air Portugal is a newer airline that has just begun direct flights from San Francisco to Portugal, and so far I have been impressed. During the 12-hour flight, we had access to several movies and television shows, and we received a full meal of pasta, salad, bread, and panna cott...

My last day in Portugal didn’t turn out as planned, but may have turned out better than I could have even expected. I began the day with a tour of Berlengas Island, the main island of an archipelago that has a centuries-old fortress and allows for camping in the summer. It is a national park and protected as a reserve. The boat ride over was a bit tumultuous and the weather was fairly cold and foggy. When my tour guide asked if I would like a sea-sickness tablet, I immediately took one. With memories of the tour around the Kauai Na’pali coast when I was certain I wouldn’t need a sea-sickness aid and felt terrible by the day’s end, this time I didn’t even flinch before accepting the medicine. By the time we arrived at the port and got on the boat, I was feeling a bit drowsy, but at least not nauseous. One young boy and a few other passengers ended up vomiting into plastic bags during or shortly after our trip to Berlengas. Once on the island, the reason we came became clear...

I arrived to our tour’s meeting spot off of the Restauradores metro station in front of Armani Exchange. There were far less people there than Thursday’s tour to Fatima, Nazare, and Obidos. Today, we would be visiting Pena Palace in Sintra and a resort beach town called Cascais. I immediately found common ground with a few people from our group. One woman, Johanna, teaches at Kent State and has done research and fieldwork in Conflict and Peace Studies and Political Psychology. Two other women, a couple from Brooklyn, were both teachers at charter schools. One taught middle school science and I told her about my youngest sister’s experience with working at a public-charter school and the new NGSS standards. She could definitely relate! It was great to talk to other teachers who were traveling and relaxing during their time off. Our tour guide, Nuno, was great. He has also been to the Azores and compares them to California's Hawaiian islands. He did not require us t...

Currently, I am in my room at Chalet d’Avila listening to a Fado playlist from Youtube. The music is mellow with the Spanish guitar, the lyrics emanating a feeling of longing. I had a really lovely day today, as I made the 2-3 train trek to Porto, a northern city famous for its water way port and its Port wine. I bought my train tickets earlier this morning online. I went for first class because it isn’t much more expensive than second class and there is more room so that you are able to lay back and sleep if you need to. I somewhat forgot that it can be stressful catching the train. Unlike the metro that runs every couple of minutes in your desired direction, and flights that will often tell you your gate and terminal well in advance, as well as potentially wait a few minutes after departure time until everyone is boarded, the train only comes once and it DOES NOT WAIT. You often also can’t pull up the track online or know which track until you get to the train station. A...