Portugal and Valencia

It's been quite some time but after having one of the best and worst vacations ever, i think its time to share again.
After the first semester, almost all the erasmus (exchange students) go home. they are usually here for only one semester. Almost all of the friends we always hang out with (i think i have previously posted a picture about them) are from Portugal, all living in Lisbon. So for a cheap 9 euro flight to valencia, then 9 euro flight to porto, and 30 euro train to lisbon we went.

First off i would like to say if anyone has the chance to go, GO. it is an incredible city that i absolutely adored. there is great architecture, its fairly diverse, parts reminded me much of atlanta. Its also very close to the beach, and the beach there, is spectacular, possibly the most beautiful beach i've seen in person.
now for the days we spent there in order:
We arrive, to be picked up by our friend Joao at the train station around 11, and go immediately to a bar because it is our friend Margarida's birthday and everyone is already there. In this time, we go for a bit, then go to the house of Sofia where we wil stay. We get there, open the trunk, and all luggage is entirely gone. really unfortunate. ok we move on try to forget about things and go have fun.
My roommates birthday also comes soon, so after some days of seeing things around the city for anto's birthday we go to a palace on a mountain. it was a microclimate and so really foggy and green adn seemed like a magic fairy land. the palace was from 1850s-1910s i believe. after this, we went to the most beutiful beach. here there where huge beaches, rocky cliffs, sand dunes, rather big waves, adn one part called the devils mouth (of course in portughese) where the water splashes up to so big it seems like a volcano. it was incredible. I was knocked over by the wave and fell entirely in the water in my few clothes i owned at that point, and then others followed my lead. leaving me, joao, anto, manu, all soaking wet. later that night we celebrated anto's birthday by having a party at sofia's house and later going to a club that was apparently at one pointed noted to be the best in europe. we then left lisbon, and spent one night in a hostel in porto. here the hostel was really clean , new, and like a family. we all ate dinner together, and afterwards all us strangers went out for a beer in an irish bar. unfortunately it was raining cats and dogs and we didnt really see too much of the city in the small time we had.

then it was off to valencia, spain. here we went to the beach, which in comparison to lisbon was nothing but still a beach. we saw the place where the river was diverted and we visited the science museum. valencia was an interesting city with really nice grafiti, and many different districts that seem like different cities. we stayed here in a hostel that wasn't so great, however we met another italian staying in our room who was 22 named Nicola, he was from just outside of milano so we all played BS and hung out some.

the second night me and anto where forced to do two things- part from Manu (our third of my family here) as he is here for one semester, and also to sleep in the airport. this was because our flight was so early we wouldnt be able to catch the metro, and we didnt wanna pay for a taxi. after a short night ther ein the airport, we took our hour and a half plane to trieste, the one hour bus fmor the airport to trieste, and then the bus to la casa dello studente where i live and am now here again to refresh and start again. here are some pictures: