Portugal and Semana Santa 15.04.11-25.04.11

Hotel Room Terrace

The Friday after I got back from Croatia/London, I left again for Faro, Portugal. Initially I had bought the tickets with only my friend, Ali, but then being too busy with Croatia organizing, I asked her to figure out the details of our weekend getaway. What ended up happening was awesome: Ali found a killer resort to stay at (and super cheap, too) in the small beach town, Albufeira, of the famous Portuguese Algarve, plus we were joined by our friends, Valentina from Sweden, Lisa from Finland, and again Elias from Austria.
  The night we arrived in Portugal, we got to our hotel and decided that we needed to eat--ASAP--so we went to the hotel restaurant. There we were first introduced to what I would call the incredible hospitality and service of Portugal because the staff were wonderful. For example, when they accidentally poured a bit of wine into Lisa's water glass, they brought her back a full new glass wine and treated us all to dessert. After dinner, we decided to stay in the hotel and play cards.

Lisa, Me, and Valentina

My New Dog!

And Cat!

  The next day, we woke up for our complimentary hotel breakfast and then went to the beach (a 10min walk away). Overall the weather was great, but down at the waterfront it was a bit too windy so we decided to return to the pool. From there, we passed a good chunk of the early afternoon laying about in the sun (and unintentionally, burning). Later that afternoon we decided to walk around the hotel where we met a few animals friends that I, personally, had wanted to keep. It's too bad that our cheap Ryanair flights restrict the number of items we can bring...Finally, during the night we left to the 'downtown' of Albufeira. That night was the first Madrid vs. Barcelona game, and even if you don't follow soccer you MUST have heard of these two teams and the rivalry head. That said, we agreed to eat at a restaurant where we could also watch it. Somehow, in the middle of Southern Portugal, we ended up in a Dutch Restaurant, watching our home city in Dutch. We didn't mind the peculiarity of the situation, and hey, they tied! Following dinner, the five of us went to the nightlife district of the city, "The Strip." Well, it sure isn't Las Vegas, but it was fun nonetheless.

The Gang on the Strip

Me on the Beach

UPM, Our University Haha

Interesting Rock Way

The Girls

The Atlantic Coast of Albufeira

  The next day, the girls (i.e., no Elias) decided to go to the Old Town of Albufeira, to look around. Although it was pretty tourist-y, it was still beautiful. The Old Town has a really beautiful beach area, which we seemed to entertain ourselves with fully. That night I had had a stomach ache (perhaps one to many of the Portuguese sardines), and decided to head to bed early. We left the next day in the afternoon, stopping in the city of Faro for a look around. Overall it was better we had stayed in Albufeira cause I think it was much more interesting.

Flag of Portugal in Faro

  When I arrived back to Madrid Monday, I entered a lonely apartment, as all my roommates had left for their homes once the break started. ThatWednesday was the second Madrid vs. Barca game, so I decided to invite some friends over to watch. Some 20 people showed up, mostly friends of my friend Laura (from Italy), so it ended up being really fun. We had had the window open, and you could just feel the energy coming from the whole city at this moment because every exciting play was met by noise and cheers from the streets. Even better, Madrid, the underdog, won the cup! So after the game finished, we all left to storm the Plaza de Cibeles in typical Madrileño fashion. I stayed in the Plaza amongst the crowds, shouting chants left and right, until 4AM, barely missing the arrival of the team coming from Valencia at 5:30AM. Next time, I'll wait!
  The next day I began to study, a process which consumed most of my following days of Semana Santa.  However, that night, Laura invited me over for a dinner. Collecting the ingredients I had around (it was a holy holiday so the stores were closed), I made a quiche to bring. After dinner, we were all hanging out and had wanted to go out, but it was raining so we stayed in. Somehow we stayed up until 8 in the morning listening to music. Closing the blinds (to avoid the light from the fully risen sun), we all passed out on Laura's livingroom sofas.
 For the most part, the remainder of the week passed rather non-eventfully (is that a word?). I did a lot of studying, although still nowhere enough, watched a lot of movies, and did a lot of experimenting in the kitchen! One day I even went for a run, which was nothing less than pathetic. At least it was something. One thing was nice was that I ended the break fully refreshed, and ready to take on the busy two months to come! Let's do it!