Monday-Wednesday

Monday was a very relaxed day. It seemed like a pday on my mission. I studied, went to the grocery store, had FHE. Super chill.

Tuesday… I went to class and studied. THEN, we went to a palace. I mean, you know, I’ve been to a few palaces already, but this one is super cool. The family still lives there, and it’s one of the few structures still standing after a major earthquake in the 1700s. It’s called the Palácio Fronteira, and the gardens are spectacular. The hedges are very… boxy with roses by them. There are several fountains in the middle of it. Then there is a beautiful wall that has all the busts of the past Portuguese kings, and underneath them is a painting of the nobility (which upheld the kings). So we spent quite a bit of time out there, and then we went to a concert inside the palace. I mean, how fancy does it get? So it was like a chamber concert with three sections. First there was a solo violinist that played for awhile. Then we had a “light supper” with soup, little sandwiches, pasteis de nata, caprese little stick things, ect. It was all great. Then we had a concert with a solo singer and a guitarist. Then a break. And finally a small string group. The last part was the best. All of the instrumentalists were amazing and had studied all over. It was such a privilege to experience that in such a historical place with such talented performers and in such a small room. Then we had to get all the way home. It was tiring.

Today (Wednesday) was also awesome. The morning was just struggling to actually do my homework. Then we went to visit the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, which is an old monastery built in that used to sit on the edge of the River Tejo to impress people when came sailing up. It got a lot of gothic/baroque style going on. Extremely intricate designs. Like who has the energy to do that. Then we got some famous pasteis de nata (a pastery that like a small pie with a VERY flaky crust and a custard in the middle. Then we went to the Coach Museum. It has a TON of old coaches that kings, queens, nobility people used. It was very interesting. Then me and a few other girls were going to go a this book-guided walk that we had to do for class. In the middle of it we stopped for dinner. My roommate and I split steak on a rock. It’s weird sounding, I know. Literally all it is is an extremely hot rock with a thick piece of raw steak thrown on top. Then it cooks on the rock. You have to keep turning it. Then you cut off bits and lay it down on the rock to cook. It’s awesome. Then we continued with our walk. It was kinda rainy, but not too bad. We saw some awesome monuments and walked along the river for awhile. There were so many amazing things that I saw, but I don’t have the energy to talk about them because it’s like past midnight. Gotta be responsible I guess.

Another PSA, I will never read these over. Sorry if they don’t make sense.