So for starters, my final presentation went good. My final meeting with my supervisor a little less. It was very clear that we had nothing other to discuss. He was mad for me saying “no” to his ridiculous assignment and behavior, and I still felt hurt for the way he treated me. So in the end, I got a 7. Which isn’t bad, but it isn’t great either. So I can’t complain, but I also can’t shake the feeling that he probably graded me lower due to the whole argument.
But then! On Sunday! I got sick. And I mean really, really sick. So sick in fact, that I wasn’t sure I would be able to go on holiday to Lisbon on Wednesday. I was so mad, because I knew this was just all the stress of the last two weeks coming out. I hadn’t been sick in over a year, so this was just too coincidental to be “just a cold”. But there was no way I was letting the aftermath of my internship ruine my long awaited vacation with my two best friends. So I swallowed a whole bottle of Advil and Strepsil and went on that damned plain. Did I mention I hate flying? But I’m sooo glad I pushed through, because I was one of the best vacations ever! The hottest one too, since there was an unexpected heat wave, which increased temperatures up to 40 degrees Celsius. But we didn’t let it stop us! We just shopped on! The Amoreiras and especially the Colombo shopping malls are a girls dream come true! And of course we also did (some) cultural things, like the Torre de Belém. Which is a long walk from the train station by the way, in the scorching Portuguese sun. To make the heat a little more bearable, we would go back to our hotel room around 1pm, sleep and eat for little while, and go out again when the worst of the heat had settled. And since the nicest temperatures were at night we stayed out later. Finding a good place for dinner was a little harder. Food is very cheap in Lisbon, a meal costs around 10 to 13 euro per person, but since my friends aren’t too fond on fish we were sometimes left with minimal options. In the end we found this lovely restaurant called “Aura” at the Praca do Comercio, which served lovely cooked food and a killer chocolate cake. So we ate there when we couldn’t find a decent restaurant, which happened a couple of times. In total we stayed in Lisbon for 7 days, which was enough to see the city. Towards the end, the rough edges of the holiday were starting to get more visible, so we were ok with going home. For one, the beds were rather small, especially since I was sharing one with my friends. And since it was one of those old fashioned spiral spring mattresses, we would get launched up in the air every time one of us rolled over. Which was funny at first, but after 7 days your body is getting a bit bruised. But hey, we only paid 20euros a night per person, and the breakfast was really good. Also, the location of the hotel was right in the city center, so I would definitely stay at Pensoa Nova Goa again. Another thing was the beggars. We Dutchies (or at least we) are not used to beggars. Especially not to that rude little brat who came all the way up in my face, while I was eating an McDonald ice-cream, and stuck her finger in my cup. She just stuck her FINGER in my ice-cream! I was so baffled, my instant reaction was to slap her on the wrist, which surprised both her and me. I know what you may be thinking, “well didn’t you react a bit harsh”, but there was something about that girl (and her friends) that made me suspect she wasn’t your typical poor girl living on the street. For one, she was dressed pretty decent, and she didn’t look as dirty as any of the others I had seen on the street before. And, she didn’t beg for money, but for an ice-cream. I’ve heard a lot of stories where people begging for money turn out the be just normal people, trying to make an extra penny, and the way she looked just made me suspect she and her friends were just in it for the kick. Which my friends thought too. Needles to say I didn’t finish that ice-cream, but I did buy a nice bag. I’ll show you some nice pictures at the end of the post, and hope the ice-cream-finger-incident hasn’t put you off of going to Lisbon, because it’s really a wonderful city!
I definitely can’t fit it all in one
post, so stay tuned for post number two! It probably won’t happen tonight,
since I’m taking my folks to see Red2 (just love a little family time). So see
ya tomorrow!
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