Today I had my ecology field lab. Normally when I think of “lab” it is kind of a dreary feeling of knowing I have to go sit in a lab room or 4 hours. Well, let me tell you that my ecology field lab today was about the farthest thing from sitting in a lab room. We started off at 8:30 with about a 45 minute drive through the countryside of Lisbon. We picked up a couple of biologists who know the area and continued up into one of Lisbon’s natural reserves. I have to admit, of all the ports Lisbon has been the one I have been looking forward to the least. I think it is because it comes right after Morocco which is by far the most exotic place I have been on this voyage and so going to yet another place in Europe seems fairly tame. In addition, I am pretty worn out and am need of about 50 hours of sleep to be fully awake.
Anyway, even though I was not super looking forward to Lisbon I have to say I was surprised and very impressed. The natural reserve was absolutely gorgeous and had some of the best scenery I have ever seen. It very much reminded me of Oregon (which made me kind of nostalgic for home :/) I shall put pictures up when I get internet because the views were quite stunning. After gorgeous views and some educational information from the biologists came some free time on the beach. Can I just point out that I got to go to the beach for a field lab? (ya… best field lab EVER.)
Then it was a (paid for) 4 course meal. Yummy, yummy bread, cheese, deep fat fried veggie patties, green beans, cookie cake, and espresso to top it off. (yummy, yummy.) I was pretty much in a food coma after that. Then we went into this fortress on the top of a nearby hill that had an oceanographic museum in it. Climbing all the way to the top of the fortress meant more gorgeous views and the water was so clear that I could even see the tiny little fishes swimming around in the blue water.
After taking pictures and looking around the museum for about 20 minutes it was up a large hill to the bus and then back to the ship. Can I just say: “Best field lab ever?!”
For dinner I went to this quaint restaurant where I split some salted cod and honey almond cake with a friend. The salted cod is a specialty in Portugal and it was what the waiter recommended so we decided to try it. We also had some really good sparkling green wine (another specialty in Portugal- the vineyards are everywhere here!). After that it was a nice walk/ taxi ride back to the ship (like 4 miles) and then into bed by midnight. Overall, it was a pretty good day J
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