Today was quite the day. I think that after so many different countries, so much different weather, and so much less sleep I have pretty much did myself in and now am feeling the effects by getting sick. But, ah well, such is how life goes and so these next few days in Portugal might just have to be a bit less hectic then my previous adventures.
Firstly today I went to Lisbon’s famous Oceanarium. It is the second largest aquarium in Europe and comes highly recommended by many guide books and my marine biology teacher (thank you Dan Abel.) So, my friends and I set out to try and figure out the tram system here in Portugal. It is much more confusing than any public transportation system I have encountered yet and I was very thankful when this nice college-aged woman asked us if we needed help. We responded “yes please” and she proceeded to push all of the button on the machine (of course it was in Portuguese) and then we were on our way to the Oceananium. When we got there we had to walk through this huge 3 story mall to get to the entrance of the aquarium (which seemed kind of weird.) My first thought when I saw the Oceanarium was something along the lines of “they built a skyscraper for fish.” (once again- just remember that I am in a sick, sleep deprived state.) But, it was very much like a skyscraper and was by far and away the most impressive aquarium I have ever seen. Then we went inside.
I could have stayed in this aquarium for hours and hours and never been bored. There was a huge tank in the center of the aquarium with so many sharks, (sandbar, white tipped, black tip, mako, ect.) apex predator fish, (blue finned tuna, ) rays, (mostly giant manta rays) skates, (they swim with this very funny swishing of their pectoral fins that are connected to their head) and so many other fish that were fun to try and identify (including the oceangoing sun fish which is quite possibly the most ugly fish that I have ever seen.- google it)
That was just the big tank.
All along the two stories in tanks that lined the walls were many different aquatic organisms including penguins, sea otters, (my favorite J) many different frogs, tropical fish, sea horses, bioluminescent fish, and I could continue this list forever. There were over 6,000 species contained in the two story aquarium. When I thought about it that way, the magnificent skyscraper I had observed from the outside seemed quite small.
After the Oceanarium it was onto lunch. I have to say by this time I probably looked like a zombie. So, because both my friend Prachi and I were the living dead we decided just to go to the food court in the mall that we had passed through (I know, I know.) Well, it turned out to be an awesome idea because this food court had some ridiculously gourmet and healthy restaurants. The restaurant that I got my “fast” food had make your own salad. So, I got the weirdest salad ever. Imagine this: Half pasta, half romaine lettuce with watermelon, papaya, egg, fresh feta cheese, and cherry tomatoes with plain yogurt as a dressing. Mmmmmm sooo yummy and so weird J
Then we went to this gorgeous park and laid under a tree for a bit just taking in the general splendor that is Portugal. After that I really needed a nap and I was super excited because we had gotten tickets to go to a jazz concert that evening so we headed back to the ship.
The concert was awful. I have never hated classical music this much. When they said improv jazz apparently it meant a bunch of noise. I feel like I need to preference this concert a bit before I rant about how terrible it was. We bought tickets to what we thought was a jazz quintet consisting of a marimba, double bass, cello, violin, and viola. Well, this is what we went to see but it was not jazz, it was just noise and they were some of the most passionate musicians playing some of the worst junk that I have ever heard.
This is the dialog that went between my friend Chil’in and I during the first 20 minutes of the concert (the parentheses are my commentary now):
Chil’in: “opps” (it was she that found the concert and bought the tickets for us online)
Me: “I think the marimba player is on some sort of drug, most likely cocaine” (weed and many other drugs are legalized here in Portugal and the marimba player kept sniffing and rubbing his nose while playing)
Chil’in: “I think all contemporary musicians are on cocaine- probably some bad second grade coke that inspires pretty much rubbish.”
Me: “The cellist needs to leave. The bassist is very talented and is the least high of all of them. The marimba player is psychotic. The violinist needs to retire (he was like 70 years old) and the violist is most likely a serial killer.”
Chil’in: “I’ve never seen someone play rubbish with so much passion. These guys score an A for theater school of melodrama. We need to cleanse our ears after this. But this is quite an eye opener- never realized music can be THAT bad.”
Me: “I have honestly never hated classical instruments this much and I have heard some pretty bad beginning violinists. I just don’t see any beauty in it. I mean, passion… but please.. are they all deaf?”
Chil’in: “Maybe they think we are. But yea- who ever invented the instruments they are playing now should be jumping out of their graves. I guess we have them to thank for putting out all remaining hope for modern art music. Can I just say- the cellist might end up in cellist hell for his insufferable pretentiousness”
Me: “I have never detested the cello (or any instrument for that matter) more than I do now.. I want to jump in a hole where I never have to listen to this audio agony again.”
Then we left.
The only good part of the concert was the concert hall. Well, it wasn’t really a concert hall, it was more of a room with a bunch of tables and a stage and some standing room in the back. We got there early enough so we got a front row table and were able to sip a couple of beers while we waited for the concert to start. In fact, by the time the concert started there was about 50 people who were standing in the back.
And then I listened to Beethoven before I went to bed.
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