It’s hard to believe I’ve been back in the States for close to two weeks now. It’s amazing how fast doing close to nothing passes the time. As always when I’ve procrastinated for too long and have a ton to say, I’m going to break this one down. Here we go…
Portugal
After packing my bags and saying goodbye to my family, I grabbed a quick Vueling flight to Lisbon with all of my stuff in tow. I should have thought a little more about that plan before being lured in by the €60 low-fare tickets; I forgot those companies make up for it in charges. At €6 per kilo over the weight limit (and I was significantly over), the flight was hardly a good deal at all. Ah well.
Upon arrival in Portugal, I stuffed my big suitcase into storage for the two days, and made due around the city with just my multipurpose bag. My time in Portugal was one of the few trips I made without a traveling companion (maybe the only?), which was both refreshing and on the boring side. Anxious to get back to Chicago, tired of traveling, and staying in Portugal on a Sunday and Monday, I spent most of my time trying to make it go faster. I decided to book a single for the two nights, and found a nice hostel (although it might as well have been a hotel) in the city a short metro ride away from downtown.
A rainy Sunday in Lisbon was spent napping, exploring the city center a bit, eating, and reading. For dinner, I had an amazing ham and melted brie baguette sandwich outside under a rain-soaked canopy. After returning to the hotel, I realized the TV had channels in English. It was pleasantly strange to get the news delivered to me without doing any work to understand it. I started reading once the “live” anchor on CNN International started reading the same telepromter script for the third time, and ended up finishing the only book I had: The Da Vinci Code. So I’ve finally read that.
When I woke up on Monday, I got my stuff together and took a 45-minute commuter train to the sleepy village of Sintra. There was hardly anything to do there (and hardly any people, either), but the serenity and beauty of it made it well worth the trip. I walked around for about two hours, then decided to walk up the hill to the castles at the top. I seemed to remember my guidebook saying it would be about a fifteen minute walk, and the forest-road looked nice and inviting. About half an hour in, though, I began to doubt the book. And trapped in a canopy of jungle-like trees, I had no idea how much farther I had to go. Upon realizing I had nothing better to do, though, I continued onward for another 45 minutes. Fickle as I am, when I got to the top I decided the walk was enough entertainment for me and didn’t even go to the castles. I took the “bus” (read: van) back down to the town, and checked my guidebook, which said the bus to the top took 15 minutes. After making it back to town, I took the train back to Lisbon by around six. I spent the rest of the night just passing the time with reading and TV, then went to bed early to get up at five for the trip to the airport.
British Airways
On my flight to Heathrow, I sat next to the two most obnoxious twenty-something Briton girls ever. I can’t believe how much the British banter and bicker about nothing; they didn’t shut up for the entire 2.5 hour flight.
I got from Terminal 1 to Terminal 4 in Heathrow in 30 minutes flat. Everyone told me I’d need at least a lifetime.
On my flight to Chicago, half the plane was empty. I got a window seat adjacent to an empty aisle seat, and watched several movies and read the entire flight. I was completely unable to sleep, try as I did.
Chicago
As the plane made landfall after crossing Lake Michigan, I was so excited to see the snow cover. After claiming my bags and clearing customs, Danny was waiting to take me back to Hyde Park. Keeping true to my word in Spain, the first food I ate was a stuffed spinach pizza from Giordano’s. Goddam, yum. As everyone finished their finals and whatnot, I lazed around, unpacked, cleaned, watched TV, and ran a bunch of errands. This last week, after a weekend of calling every store imaginable, Danny and I tracked down a Nintendo Wii and got ourselves an early Christmas present. My god, it’s awesome, and unlike anything I’ve played before. That’s about all I did; I can’t believe an entire week there went as fast as it did.
Cleveland
Nor can I believe how fast the time is going in Ohio. The family is doing well; my dad has been doing some woodworking, which he loves, my mom has gotten stuck in her baking mode, John is glad to have a break from college, and Sam remains the most elusive person in the family. On the singular occasion we’ve all been gone out together for dinner, somehow we got onto the topic of drinking. My mom asked Sam, “Have you ever had a drink at a friend’s house?” Like me, unable to lie without turning beet red, he answered truthfully that he had. At this point, instead of being angry, my mom laughed at me. “Michael, you’re the only one at this table that never drank in high school.” I answered that I’d managed to catch up nicely, as I legally enjoyed a beer.
Remaining on the docket for this break: renewing my license, Christmas, four-day trip to Florida. Then back to the grind, after six months of low-pressure living. I’m sure I’ll write again before then.