Making Memories

Chapter 27

"Wake up!" Woods exclaims, he's jumping on me. Someone's excited for some reason.
"Ugh, not early morning. Woods, I thought I told you I'm not a morning person." I said.
"I'm trying to break that habit. C'mon, I found a really cool place to go to." Woods said.
"Alright, alright. I'll get up." I said. I throw off the blanket and sluggishly drag myself to the bathroom.

I look at my phone. It's 6 AM. Oh, Woods what sane person would get up this early for vacations? I think to myself. I clean myself up and lazily put on makeup. I'm going for a natural look because it's to early for intricate eye looks and what not. I come out of the bathroom. Woods grabs my hand and drags me out before I even get my shoes on.
"Slow your horses, damn." I said.
"Oh, sorry. I'm just excited to go to this place." Woods said.
I put on my all black converses,
"You haven't even told me where we're going."
"Oh, my bad. We're going to the Jerónimos Monastery. I don't think I pronounced that right, but point is that it's so cool." Woods said.
"I'll take your word for it when I see it." I said.
"Okay. Are you ready now?" Woods asked.
"Yes, just slow down. I wasn't prepared for all that energy this morning." I said.
"Sorry." Woods said.
"It's alright. Let's get going I guess." I said.

We walk down to the lobby, then outside. We hail a taxi. Since I'm the only one who knows basic, very basic, Portuguese I tell the driver where to go.
"Para o Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, por favor." I said.
"Esse é um lugar lindo." He says.
"Sim." I said.
"Um, do you speak English?" Woods pipes in.
"Yes, but it's not good. You two new to Lisbon?" He asks.
"Oh, good and yes we are sir." Woods said.
"Aw, tourists I see. That's why you're going to the Jerónimos Monastery." He said.
"Yeah." I said.
"It's a very common place for tourists to visit." He said.

We arrive at the Jerónimos Monastery. I take a good look at the place. It's huge! We walk inside. Despite how old this place is, it's still intact. It's cracking in a few places, but for the most part, it's all in one piece. We introduce ourselves to our tour guide. The guide's name is Rodolfo Garcia. He gives us the entire history of the monastery as we walk through.

Here is the entire history(cited from GoLisbon):
The Jeronimos Monastery is the most impressive symbol of Portugal's power and wealth during the Age of Discovery. King Manuel I built it in 1502 on the site of a hermitage founded by Prince Henry the Navigator, where Vasco da Gama and his crew spent their last night in Portugal in prayer before leaving for India.

Rodolfo explained in more depth than that. Being a local, he knew everything, in history. He should, being a historian and tour guide. We finish our tour of Jerónimos Monastery. We shake Rodolfo's hand and thank him for giving this tour to us. I snap a few final pictures before we move onto the next place. It's my choice now. Woods and I are taking turns choosing where to go while in Lisbon.

I choose to go to the Belém Tower. It's a medieval tower used back in the those times. It's important to the Age of Discoveries in Portugal. That's why it's marked as a world heritage site. I had already ordered and printed our tickets yesterday. Those breaks I took from reading, I was actually planning our day. I just didn't expect it to start so early. Thanks a lot, Woods. Okay, I'm not that mad. It actually gives more time to get there.

We get another taxi and ride to Belém Tower. We arrive and get into line. Our tickets are scanned and we're let in. Immediately, I want to go to the top of the tower and look out, but I know I have to follow the tour group. That won't happen until the very end of the tour. We walk around the grounds of the site. The guide explained what happened in the 1500s, when the tower was built. She also gave the full history of the tower. It's quite interesting. Like anything on medieval times, it was bloody and violent, hence the watch tower. I find out that we're not actually allowed to go to the top of the tower, so that's a bunmer, but the experience was still fun. We finish up our tour. I take more pictures, then it's time to leave.

We get into the taxi and go to a restaurant for brunch. Woods chose the restaurant this time. He chose a Portuguese restaurant because he wants to try local cruisine. So do I, so it was a good choice. We had to ask the waiter for the English version of the menu. He understood and fetched it for us. I look it over. The pasta looks pretty good. I choose to order that. Woods orders his and shortly after, we get our food.

I take my first bite of the pasta. The sauce is so creamy, so tasty. It tastes homemade, which is the goal of this place. Everything is made with love and tastes like home. I picked that up by understanding the Portuguese word for love: amor. We finish our food, then go back to our hostel. We've had quite the adventurous time so far in Lisbon. We're kind of tired from all the walking around, so we both take a cat nap.

Twenty minutes later, I'm awoken by a facetime call from Sam.
"Hi!" Sam exclaims.
"Hey, girl." I said.
"How's Europe?" Sam asked.
"Great, we're in Portugal. We should be home in about a month. We have five more countries, so five weeks. You get it. I was never good at math." I said.
"Haha, yeah. So. . . Don't tell Woods, but we did something to his side of the office." Sam whispers now.
I plug in my earbuds so Woods couldn't hear our conversation anymore.
"Okay, earbuds in. What is it?" I asked.
Sam flips the camera to reveal all of Woods' things wrapped tightly in clearwrap,
"That's what happens when you leave Hi5 Studios for an extended amount of time." Sam said.
"Oh. . . My. . . God." I said, my jaw dropping.
"Now, we're playing the waiting game." Sam said.
"Don't tell me you messed with my stuff." I said.
"That's for you to find out." Sam said, with a cheesy wink.
"Samantha! Oh, whatever. So, how's everyone been?" I asked.
"We all miss you guys. We want to see that ring in person. We want to talk in person again. We just miss you." Sam said, almost crying.
"Oh, Sam. Don't cry, you'll make me cry. We'll be home soon. Then, after adjusting back to US time, we can go dress shopping. I'm taking you all back to my hometown for my wedding. We can have fun as, not just as a company, but a family. Five weeks, Sam." I said.
She wipes the already forming tears,
"Ok, I'll mark that on the calendar."
"It'll be okay. We can hang out soon, I promise." I said.
Sam nods her head,
"Virtal hug?"
"Yes." I said.
I wrap my arms around myself and put my phone to my neck, to make it feel like I'm hugging Sam.
"I miss you, see you soon bestie." Sam says.
"Miss you too. Tell everyone I said hey." I said.
"Will do. Have fun these next five weeks. I'm hyping myself up for all those sick stories." Sam said.
"Haha, yeah." I said. Then, we hang up.
That conversation was nice. I got to talk to Sam again. I missed her voice. Facetime isn't enough sometimes. I'm starting to miss her presence. I miss the whole office. I wonder what's changed. I know Sam and Cat moved office during our trip, but I wonder what else changed. That's for Woods and I to find out I guess.