Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Scrabble in Portugal (Maybe It Wasn't Your Typical Vacation)

Hello!

I recently returned from my last big travel experience during this study away trip. My housemate Emily and I flew to Portugal to meet up with a friend of mine from camp. She very graciously invited us to join her, and I immediately seized upon the opportunity. 

We left beautifully sunny Oxford on Wednesday afternoon and arrived in Portugal in the evening. It was kind of surreal walking out of the airport, the air was warm and it smelled like jasmine. It was a completely different experience than Oxford, but they both have their positives.


The view from our apartment.

After getting settled where we were staying Aubrey, Emily, and I ventured out to find dinner. We found a restaurant near our apartment that had free wifi and good food (spoiler alert we went back three times). Settling into a new place is always a little weird, but because I'm familiar with both of my travel companions there were no issues at all. 

Our first full day in Portugal was amazing. It was sunny, beautiful, and warm. We knew it was going to be one of the only really nice days while we were there so we took full advantage of it. We spent the morning at the pool and then some time at the beach. I normally don't love the beach, but I actually really enjoyed it! We stayed until the wind started blowing sand into our ears and then we went back to the apartment. We started a game of Monopoly before dinner and had to put it on pause for the night. 


It was a beautiful beach.

You can tell I am really in my element in nature.

Our only group photo and my eyes are definitely closed.

Our second day saw us walking into Albufeira (the closest town to where we were staying). It was about an hour long walk, but it was super overcast so it wasn't too hot. Albufeira has a huge population of British tourists (everywhere we went had a full English breakfast on the menu). It was really weird to see a place so consumed by tourist culture. Our time in Albufeira was really nice, we went to an archaeology museum and a museum of sacred art. Once it started raining we took the bus back to the apartment. We ended our evening with leftovers and some heated games of Scrabble. Turns out, none of us are all that good, but it was super fun.


The beach in Albufeira.

We had high hopes for our last day in Portugal. We were going to take the bus into Faro and explore the city, but it was pouring rain. We were going to go despite the rain, but within five minutes we were soaked. After a rushed grocery store trip we hurried back to the apartment intent on hunkering in for the full day. We started with a game of Cranium (not made for three people) and lots of Scrabble. The weather broke in the afternoon and Emily went out to the beach. Aubrey and I stayed inside and talked about camp and all our plans for the summer. We also got really into the National Geographic show "The Incredible Dr. Pol". It's about a large animal vet in Michigan and it is fantastic. 


Just a small glimpse of how bad the rain was.

For our last dinner we went back to the first restaurant we went to and celebrated a successful vacation. Travel back to Oxford the next day went smoothly and now we are transitioning back into school life. 

I am so incredibly grateful for friends that invite me on crazy adventures!

Madeline

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