Ours

"Doubt thou the stars are fire, doubt that the sun doth move,

Doubt truth to be a liar, but never doubt I love." 

(Hamlet, Act II scene ii)

Friday, March 4th
I didn't sleep at all on Thursday night. I was way too excited to see Jared and a little afraid of sleeping through my alarm since his plane landed at 8am. [Side Note: Ever since "the incident" otherwise known as the math final I slept through freshman year (true story), anything at 8am scares the bejesus out of me.] After Skyping with my little sister, quite a few episodes of Modern Family, and half a can of Pringles, it was time to shower and head to the airport.

As a result of my failed attempt at taxi-driver Portuguese, I had to walk around the airport from PARTIDAS to LLEGADAS. Meanwhile Lloyd (my iPhone) decided to lose service in the airport consequently causing my heart to race because Jared and I had never discussed a place to meet (we were a little too confident in our telepathy skills I guess). But just when I started to panic a little bit, there he was - like a white knight come to rescue me from slumber, a poison apple, involuntary servitude, or the tallest tower. He appeared so unexpectedly that I was actually scared and had to cling on to him for a minute. But the fear melted away the second he hugged me and I was the picture of a joyful girl.

Taxis were pretty easy to snag that Friday morning but of course the one we grabbed had the one cab driver who couldn't understand my street name and still seemed lost even after I wrote it down for him. So one scenic route between the airport and my place and 18€ later, we made it. [Side Note: The cab ride from my place to the airport is typically a 10 minute 5€ ride.] I introduced Jared to some of my apartment-mates and gave him the abridged version of the tour. We planned on napping for about an hour, seeing as it was only 9am and neither of us had slept all night, but as we have learned, we are horrible nappers (I'm a much better sleeper; always have been). We got up and out about 7 hours later.

First we went downtown to Baixa-Chiado where there's a ton of shopping, statues, and big open plazas. We had a dinner-time lunch at Roman's which had awesome Italian food and great service - I'll definitely go back there. Then we walked toward the bay and Comercio Square which had a pretty massive crowd of adolescents dressed in crazy costumes - a Carnival event we assumed. I had been to Baixa several times before but I had never experienced it like this.

Roman's

Baixa-Chiado

The new Bay Area

Comercio Square

Next, we went up to Saint George's Castle. Man, oh, man was it an uphill trek. I think I could actually feel the air getting thinner with every step (maybe I'm exaggerating a little). We didn't know exactly where we were going but we were told by a cab driver to "just walk up, up, up." So that's what we did. We saw a group of women walking with backpacks and cameras in the same direction and figured they were on their way to the castle too, so we followed them. Along the way we came across some beautiful views and the castle itself was pretty cool and we had a good time with the peacocks that were hanging around up there too. [Side Note: Peacocks can fly! I legit did not know that. I had them put with the penguin, ostrich and turkey in the flightless bird category but I was so wrong. But as beautiful a bird as the peacock is, the noise it makes is awful. It's this high-pitched shrill-like caw that all the females were doing and it is quite unpleasant to listen to. Jared and I joked about using that noise in place of any terms of endearment and sentimental phrases but that idea was quickly vetoed. Moral of the side note, peacocks look a lot better than they sound - that's one female I do think is meant to be seen and not heard.] 

 

 

 

On our way back down we stopped by the cathedral which happens to be the oldest building in the city. [Side Note: The emphasis on religion is so much more protuberant in Europe than it is in the states. The oldest buildings here are cathedrals and monasteries and across the bay near the 25 de Abril Bridge there is a Monument to Christ! When was the last time someone came to the United States to see a church? And people would take a leave of absence at work to picket in front of a construction site if they were informed that a gigantic cross or statue of Jesus were being erected there. It's an interesting change of pace to have religion be so widely accepted and talked about, compared to home where it seems taboo to declare your faith in any sort of public forum.]

 

[Side Note: All of the pictures above are courtesy of Jared because I stupidly deleted all of my photos on Friday night. I only meant to delete the ones from Sevilla to give me more space on my memory card but that requires that you watch the bar and when it gets to the right spot, you must press "cancel" or it will keep deleting. Well... I got distracted by Britney Spears' new single and when I looked back down at my camera, the screen was black and in white letters it read "NO IMAGES." Ugh I wanted to cry but my knight in shining armor was there to save the day. There were some good shots lost but the main things were saved. Thanks honey!]

Late that night we went on a food run to the very Mickey-D's that soothed my hunger on my first night in Lisbon. Golden arches save lives. We had tried to eat at Bar Masstige near my apartment but it was closed, seeing as it was midnight, but this kicked off a grand total of 3 failed attempts at dining at Bar Masstige over the weekend from it being closed at midnight, to fully booked, to closed on Sundays. I am now determined to eat there before I leave.

Saturday, March 5th

On Saturday we explored the Belém District of Lisbon. We saw Jerónimos Monastery, the Discoveries Monument, and Belém Tower. We also had lunch at a restaurant right on the water and the pizza and ice cream there were really good. It did rain quite a bit that evening (I am not a happy camper in the cold or rain. Me + rain = Jared + hunger) so we took a few photos and hurried home.

Jesus! and 25 de Abril Bridge

Monastery

Monument

Belem Tower

Sunday, March 6th
On our last full day together, we had lunch at El Corte Ingles, went by NOVA, and went to the Vasco De Gama Bridge. This was probably my favorite area that we explored over the weekend. The Oriente metro station itself is really cool and it's right across from a mall (aka heaven on Earth). On the other side of the mall there is a bevy of things to see. I don't know what half of them were but it I liked it all. There is a row of countries' flags from all over the world (kind of like VKC) and they line the path to the body of water that the VDG Bridge crosses. It is the longest bridge in all of Europe! There are restaurants and cable cars and activities for kids down there as well. It seemed like a really nice place for a family outing. It would have been better had it been sunny but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

 

 

 

That night we stopped by Parque Eduardo VII which I had only ever seen via Google images. On the walk to the top of the park, we passed by this taunting gaggle of geese that literally hissed at us as we walked by. Meanies. But there was a swan on the water that was absolutely gorgeous. I have never been that close to a swan before and I had no idea they were that much bigger than a goose. This one was beautiful and I'm almost positive it was Princess Odette. Even in the rain the view was great but I don't think the nearby cab driver was watching the city lights...

Parque Eduardo VII

The Swan Princess

We decided to try and stay up until Jared's flight at 2pm (yeah, right). But in an effort to make good on our commitment, we semi-planned a few trips (Madrid, Paris, Italy), watched Modern Family, and played a ton of Sporcle. We may know all font types and corporate logos but Baby, "blue" still doesn't rhyme with "make-up" (and how could we forget the Yankees?!). We liked the combo of activities so much that we've actually made it our new routine for Lazy Sundays next semester: football, Sporcle, and Modern Family. I couldn't have thought of a better ending to the weekend than trying to name the famous three-, four-, and five-somes with my boyfriend.

Monday, March 7th
Those three days went by a whole lot faster than I expected. It was almost like a dream in the sense that he was there and we shared a wonderful weekend together and then in a flash I'm back to seeing him via a computer screen. If I ponder long enough I start to wonder if he was actually here at all or if Leo DiCaprio and Ellen Page just played the cruelest joke on me. His departure was typical of an airport goodbye: the silent walk to security, the plans to see each other soon, the euphemisms for goodbye, the teasing about missing the flight, the desperate attempts to hold onto each other long enough to get us through the next 18 days, the last kiss, the tears, etc. But despite my best efforts, he left and I stayed.

Anyone who knows me knows that I hate goodbyes more than most things in life (I still cry during the Boy Meets World and the OC series' finales). But no goodbyes rival that of those between you and the one you love. They're painful. It would be nice if something great could last as long as you've waited for you it, you know? That's one of the things I love about marriage. You may have looked for that person for the better part of your teen years and well into your twenties (maybe even your thirties) but ideally those years will pale in comparison to the lifetime you get to spend with your spouse. I am no where near ready to get married but the idea of being a wife and a mother and having a family excites me like nothing else can. Having an amazing mom inspires me to try to be just like her.

I love love. I strongly believe it is the closest thing we have to magic. I can't explain it or define it or compare it to anything but I know it when I feel it, and when I feel it, I choose to be in it. I learned after my last break-up that I needed to stop trying to cast my true love instead of just meeting him. [Side Note: Love and Other Disasters is a seriously underrated movie. 6:12-6:55 could be the greatest advice on love I've ever heard.] I had this idea about how I was going to meet the man of my dreams and I couldn't seem to let go of that. But love isn't always a lightening bolt. It's not always an immediate spark. It's not always a unicorn or a four-leaf clover or anything else that we associate with a random occurrence of luck. Sometimes it's just a choice; a decision to take a chance on somebody; to give to them without worrying whether they'll give anything back. Love doesn't have to be a transaction; you can choose to give it free of charge. Maybe love isn't something that just happens to you - I think it's something you have to choose.

I choose to love Jared.

"Seems like there's always someone who disapproves,
They'll judge it like they know about me and you,
And the verdict comes from those with nothing else to do,
The jury's out, but my choice is you...
The stakes are high, the water's rough
But this love is ours." -Taylor Swift