Fate, Wine, and Surfing

 It’s been a couple days since I’ve written, but not for lack of things to share. We get up and out of our apartment by 8am and aren’t usually back until about 10pm, if not later. It’s been a busy and fun couple days. As I type this, I’m in a van to Porto, Portugal., home of, you guessed it….PORT WINE! It’s about a 4 hours drive north or where we’ve been staying so I was able to catch up on sleep and this blog. Here’s what you’ve missed in the life of Lauren in Europe:

Fado

There isn’t anything in American culture to describe what Fado means to the Portuguese.  Fado is a style of music, typically a sad story of a song.  The tradition of going to listen to Fado dates back pretty far. How far? I can’t remember, but it’s been around for hundreds of years. “Fado” translates to “fate”.  The Portuguese have a belief that whatever happens to you, it was your fate. If you blew a tire on the way to work, it was your fate. If an entire Roman army takes over your castle, it was fate. This peculiar culture doesn’t get up in arms about the mishaps of life. Instead, they say “that’s fate” and move on. Being able to sit and listen to this beautiful music was quite a treat. Even though I couldn’t understand what they were saying, I could feel the emotion behind each song. It was moving.

Wine

The next day we drove out to meet at wine seller at a restaurant. The wine seller was a guy names Joe from Huntington Beach. He was traveling to Portugal on a surf trip when he met his future wife. It’s about 20 years later and now Joe, his wife and 3 kids live in Portugal. In between tasting wine and eating lunch, Joe found out there were a few surfers amongst the group. While I would not consider myself a surfer by any means, I jumped on the offer to join the group for a surf session the next morning. See pictures from that adventure below. Now…back to wine. After lunch, we took a short tour of a local winery. It was the craziest thing. The vines grew in sand on the ground. They looked like weeds or a short bush. The wine maker was telling us that the grapes get a distinct flavor from the sand, which is unique to each area of Portugal. Each wine made in a specific region will taste different because of the sand.  It was honestly the coolest thing ever! After our tour, we went back to the Institute where local church ladies made us an authentic Portuguese meal. Yum!

These are actually grape vines:

  

Surfing

I can officially say I’ve surfed in the Atlantic!!! Ok, so maybe I only got one ride before realizing that this was actually a really bad idea because of my knee, but hey, I rode one wave and then got to play around in the water and sit on the beach…in Portugal.  :)

I took a break in the middle of writing this blog to tour a Port Cellar in Porto, Portugal. It was outstanding! And…fortunately my knee feels SO much better than it did after surfing. Unfortunately….I’m sick. Really sick. Sore throat, body aches, feeling exhausted. It’s awful. We’re here in Porto for the night and have a nice hotel room. Everyone is out and about and I stayed back, grabbed some soup with Cathy, one of the staff at PLNU, and am about to shower, watch some Portuguese TV and go to bed. Even though I’m feeling sick, I’m actually really enjoying the quite of my room and this down time. It’s been go, go, go, which is great because we’ve seen so much, but tonight I finally get to be alone…one of my favorite places to be. Oh, how I love my alone time! Being an only child for 8 years, it makes sense why I love it so much. I think I need to learn to balance alone time and group time for the next 4 weeks, so I don’t burn out on people. Being too alone it just down right depressing, but never getting a moment to hear your own thoughts is overwhelming, too. This was a very long paragraph about alone time, but bottom line is, I don’t like that I’m sick, I hope I feel better tomorrow, but I’m SO appreciative that I got sick at a time when I’m able to have a hotel room to myself for just a few hours.

Here’s a pic from the Knight’s Templar in Tomar that we went to today. I’m going to do a whole photo blog on this place later, because it was so amazing. But for tonight…I’m off to bed. Ciao! 

Love. An international language.

I'm writing a second blog for the day because I need to get some thoughts down on paper (technically, my iPhone). The reason for this blog is so I never forget this experience. When I first booked my flight, I immediately felt convicted for spending so much money on myself. There are so many other needs out there that my money could have gone to. I really struggled with this, but then settled on the thought that I was my charity this month. I needed to renew my soul. I needed time away. I needed to be free. While I'm still not 100% convinced shouldn't have taken my money and given it to someone in need, I'm at least ok with the fact that...it's ok to do something for yourself every once in awhile.

And more importantly, when we do things for ourselves, we shouldn't do them empty-ly. Ok, so that's not a real word, but it's the only thing I could come up with to describe what it feels like to do something totally fun and awesome and to not appreciate what you have. You live life empty-ly. That's not ok. So my goal is to enjoy this, to not feel guilty, and to learn from this.

Tonight was my first big lesson. I learned that God's love is an international language. We went to a Portuguese church tonight and even though I couldn't understand what they were saying, I could understand that we all loved the same God. It gave me goosebumps to watch people worship and to think about how crazy it is that so many people have been touched by God. I was asked to speak about my experience with God. Having to stop about every 5 words to let the translator translate to the was challenging, but I was able to say a little about how powerful God's love is. I hope it translated ok.

One of my favorite parts of tonight was worship. They sang songs I recognized, but it was in a different language. Again, two cultures, two languages, one love for a God who loves us.

I took a short video of the worship tonight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55F7e5gSk5E

A Day in Lisbon

Today is a cozy, relaxing day.  It’s mostly overcast here and has been raining throughout the day. With the busy day we had yesterday, I’m thankful for this free day to sleep in, do homework, and just relax. 

Yesterday was go, go, go. The professors and our Portugal hosts had a great day of sightseeing in Lisbon planned for us. I’ll let the pictures tell the story of our day.

Stop One: The Thieves Fair

This was a great place to observe the Portuguese culture. I split off with the girls and we did a little shopping. I loved looking at the antiques and hidden gems!

Stop Two: The oldest church in Lisbon

Stop Three: Lunch in Lisbon

We went into downtown Lisbon to have lunch. I had the most amazing seafood paella!

Stop Four: Jewish Church

The story behind this church is sobering and moving. In the 15th century, the Catholic Crusaders locked thousands of Jews in this church and set it on fire.  Everyone was killed.  As a remembrance to those who were lost, only a portion of the church was restored and the rest was left, ashy, burn, and blackened to remind everyone of the horrible act that happened there. 

Stop Five: Pastries from at 200 year old bakery!

Yum...that's all I have to say. 

 Stop Six: Dinner at a 175 year old restaurant

More delicious food!

Stop Seven: Evening Outing

A group of us stayed out in Lisbon to experience the night life. We were ready to go home by 11:30pm. Apparently people don't even start going out until about 2am, so we were "too early" for anything.

After spending an entire day immersed in Portuguese culture, I’ve come to wish that I knew more about my heritage.  The Portuguese are full of pride for their small country.  There is so much history and so many stories built in each marble slab and each cobblestone street.  I can’t say that about the U.S. I absolutely love San Diego, but there’s something that moves me here. I feel part of something bigger….part of great novel or a great love story. I can’t really explain it, but I love it. 

Pan Am and An Enchanted Forest

Thanks to my good friend, Jenn Doran, I recently got into the show Pan Am. While I admit, I don’t really have the time to watch anything; I have squeezed in an hour here and there to watch the first few episodes. I’m hooked! I’m completely fascinated by the lives of these stuartists as they jet-set around the world and live completely carefree. Before leaving for my trip, I dreamed of what it would be like to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The farthest I’d flown before now was NYC.  My flight to New York was crowded, cramped, and cold, but that’s to be expected on any airline. I knew it wasn’t going to be quite like Pan Am, but I thought surely…surely…the trans-Atlantic flight would be roomier and a little more luxurious. I was wrong. Dead wrong. Yes, I was in coach, so not much is to be expected, but I’ve been on better planes just flying to Fresno! It was old, crowded, the flight attendants were so rude, and….I missed my connecting flight to Portugal because the plane was delayed. Yep. Now what? All I can say is THANK GOODNESS I was in an English speaking country. Ya, I know, everyone in Europe speaks English, but I did feel a little better trying to rearrange flights, transport to a different terminal, check-in again, etc knowing that at if I needed anything at all, I could as for help and there wouldn’t be a language barrier.  So….I finally made it to my new connection to Portugal and as I’m boarding the plane, what do I realize? That super cute, soooo European, black button-up raincoat I purchased specifically for this trip was gone. Yep…gone. While running through the airport to catch my plane, it must have slipped out of my bag.  Someone in the Heathrow just scored a really nice jacket. Now I’m left to make my first purchase in Europe. I really hope they have jackets as cute as that one was. I’m sure they have better!

Travels to Europe may have been a little rocky, but a missed flight and a lost jacket aside, I’m so beyond excited to start this adventure! And, some good things did happen along the way.  Thanks to the technology of Drop Box and a helpful roommate, Jeremy was able to send me all the files I forgot to load onto my laptop to get homework done. Marketing Plan – done! Econ mid-term – almost done! Econ Term Paper – DONE! Marketing make-up work for missing 3 weeks of school – done! Unfortunately, I was so caught up in getting work done that I forgot to sleep.  It’s now 10am here (2am in California) and I’ve been up since 5am…and there’s no sign of sleep until about 8:30pm our time tonight (that’s another 10.5 hours I need to stay awake). Hey, at least I’ll sleep really really well tonight.  (Did I mention I’m currently writing this portion on the flight to Portugal?)

Side note – all the anxiety of rushing to make my new Portugal flight connection was completely alleviated once I stood in line to board the plane and surrounding me was glorious sounds of British accents. I was in heaven! I felt like I was living at Hogwarts or in the Royal Palace. It was beautiful. I even picked up a free paper on my way into the plan so I could see what the locals are talking about.  From what I’ve read, the UK is in just as much of an economic debacle as the U.S. and Brits obsess just as much about celebrities (the Royals) as we do. Comforting.  

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It is now 6:15pm in Portugal (10:15am in California) and we’re back from a day of sightseeing.  Our professors wanted us to stay awake so we’d sleep well and help fight off jet lag, so they loaded us with European coffee and took us to Sintra, Portugal. WOW….just WOW! I didn’t know what to expect from this country, but it is absolutely beautiful. We were saying that Sintra looks just like an enchanted forest from a fairy tale, complete with mossy gates, buildings 500 years old, over grown trees, and a real, live castle. We spent the time looking through shops, eating roasted chestnuts from a street vendor, and trying Port wine. Then we drove up to take a closer look at the castle. It was a wonderful day! I’m absolutely exhausted, but so so so happy and excited for this great adventure.

Day 1 (well, more like 32 hours) is officially complete...I'm finally posting this blog at the end of my day: 9:15pm Lisbon time, 1:15pm California time. Sigh. I'm exhausted. 

Here are a few photos from our adventure in Sintra!

 Shopping in Sintra

 Isn't this place so cute!?

 The PLNU Crew: Staff, Faculty, and Students

 Getting artsy!

Exhausted, but happy!

Me vs The Luggage

At this time tomorrow I'll be on a plane to New York...and then Heathrow...and finally Lisbon, Portugal! I can't believe the day has finally come. I'm a bundle of nerves and excitement today, but mostly excitement. Can I just say...wow, I never knew you'd need so many random things to travel through Europe. Between the power converters, the mini pharmacy (no cold or any sickness is stopping me from missing a day of sight-seeing), all the tech-stuff I need to continue to be an MBA student while I'm traveling, and the travel shampoo, soap, toothbrush, laundry detergent, etc, I managed to pack my carry-on and personal item to the BRIM! Did I mention I'm attempting to take only a carry-on and a personal item for 5 weeks, 7 countries, and below freezing weather?? Yep, I did it and I have a picture to prove it.

Ok...so maybe my personal item is really a duffle bag, but hey, it fits the requirements...barely....I think...I hope........

2 weeks

In just two short weeks I'll be on a plane - final destination: Lisbon, Portugal. This last month has been overwhelming, a whirlwind, chaos, jam-packed, and any other adjective to describe 20 hour days and an average of 5 hours a sleep per night.  So the thought of sitting on a plane for 15 hours doesn't bother me one bit. I've been brainstorming about the things I need/want to do while being forced to sit in a plane seat for a significant amount of time. So far, I've come up with: learn how to use the Mac Book Pro I bought almost a month ago and still don't get it (I know...I know...insert comment like "what's not to get?" here), finish the marketing plan for class so I don't have to don't have to miss out on a single outing, design some awesome clothes for Live a Life of Love, read a book...for fun, sleep. Sigh.

Side note - the thought of packing for 5 weeks, 7 countries, 2 business meetings, and hours of sight-seeing makes me break out into hives, but I'm trying not to think about it yet. 

This blog is going to be short. I simply wanted to do an update on the countries Maria and I settled on and wanted a place to put into writing how excited I am that the trip is just 2 weeks away!!!

Final Itinerary
With MBA Group
-Nov 10-17: Portugal (Lisbon, Sintra, and Porto)
-Nov 18-25: France (Paris, Caen, and Normandy)

Adios MBA Peeps, Hello Maria
-Nov 25-28: Barcelona, Spain
-Nov 29-Dec 3: Italy (Rome and Florence)
-Dec 3-6: Vienna, Austria
-Dec 6-8: Prague, Czech Republic
-Dec 9-11: Paris, France
-Dec 12-15: London, England
-Dec 15 at 7:50pm: San Diego, California :)

PS - Any packing tips are greatly appreciated. I know the basic things like "pack less, wash more", but if you have some memorable packing moments or experiences, leave them in a comment below or send me an email: laurenalisse@gmail.com.

A need for renewal.

“Renewal: a la Europe” is somewhat of a peculiar name for a travel blog. You’d probably expect to see something like “European Adventure” or “Europe 2011”. But this trip is more than just a five-week vacation for me.

 Perhaps I’m foolish for putting too much pressure on this trip.  But I choose to stay blissfully mesmerized by thoughts of strolling down tiny cobblestone streets with a fancy Italian coffee in hand as my gaze stays fixed on beautiful romantic buildings with so much color and detail to hardly handle.  Maybe it was all the fairytales read to me as a child or the silly romantic movies I watched, set in cities of love such as Rome and Paris, I’m not sure; but I do know that I am totally and pathetically obsessed with the idea of Europe.

I feel a little silly putting into writing how much this trip means to me, but I truly do need a renewal.  I’m afraid that if I don’t publically put in to writing to share this experience, then the impact of the trip won’t be as appreciated. We should share the joys and sorrows or our hearts so that others may celebrate with us in times of happiness or lift us up in times of hardship.  I’ve been a bit down throughout my knee surgery recovery (ok, so maybe that’s an understatement) so while I’m not placing my entire emotional state in the outcome of this trip, I AM REALLY looking forward to not only being able to walk again, but being able to explore, run, frolic, and play on the continent where fairytales are written and real life castles reside.

Renewal: The act of making like new - restore to freshness, vigor, or perfection.  Yep! That’s what I need. I believe God can and will give us that renewal. And I believe that he uses peculiar, sometimes funny, and sometimes grandiose things to do so…like a five week trip through multiple countries half-way across the world.
 

Renewed: a la Europe, here I come!

PS – Remember how I said God uses peculiar, sometimes funny things to renew us? Here are a few images of those smaller things in life that refresh my soul: