As I write this I am at one of the beaches in Lagos Portugal. I wasn't going to come here but am only here on the recommendation to come because "they have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world." SOLD! However, I looked up the most beautiful and best beaches in the world and it is not on there. But whatever! I am so glad I came. I can feel myself recharging under the hot sun and the feel of the cold water on my skin. The actual sand on the beach is more rock than sand so a little difficult to walk on but still beautiful. The water though being on the Atlantic is FREEZING. However, I gotta give it up to this little old lady, maybe about 80 who just walked right in and danced like no one was watching. It didn't make me want to go in the water still but I appreciated her love of being there.
I flew into Faro which is about 45 minutes outside of Lagos. Faro had the feel of just a town that people stop into because they have to. Not much was open, I found people to be rude, and nothing was open. I wasn't a fan. This man I met a bookstore today, was telling me that if you aren't spending money then the Portuguese don't really like you and you really see how they feel about tourists. It was a little sad, but I felt it when I was in Faro.
However, Lagos itself is very beachy. Imagine Laguna Beach but with younger people, tourists, and more touristy shops than boutiques and you have Lagos. Lagos apparently is known for their party scene. I went out to experience it. It was fun but it's just a lot of bars in a small area and a perfect location to do a pub crawl. But, and maybe it's the area I'm in but there isn't any spots to dance or just good jolly merriment just lots and lots of drinking. I went to this place called the Three Monkeys, one of the top rated bars in Lagos and is super close to my hostel. I picked it for the location really because the streets in Lagos are super windy and confusing to get around even when you are paying attention. I couldn't imagine trying to find my way back drunk so let's keep it close and easy. Also, the streets are super slippery and my lack of balance is not good for this area.
But moving on, I got there earlish, 10:30 or 11 and sat at the bar with the very friendly bartenders. Those bartenders by the way can drink! They kept making shots for each other and included me in on some of them. Bartenders giving you free shots? Awesome! and I even discovered a new tequila shot that I need to get the ingredients for. YUM!
The Three Monkeys was really fun. One of the bartenders told e to come back again early because she wanted recommendations on stuff to do in America cause she goes there in about a month and she said "and we can have some drinks..." Lady I don't work in a bar, I'm not that big of a drinker. But ok. The bar has a wall of a list of different countries. The list has a number next to the country of how many people from that country have drank a beer bong. So people go and try to represent their country and boost their numbers. Australians are in the lead by about a hundred behind the United States surprisingly. But I think its because you can't drink in the US until you are 21, so Americans go when they are 18 and legal there and just out of their minds crazy! But that's my thoughts on that. Australians are just goers so it was natural to see them in the lead.
And that pretty much ends my Lagos update. I'm going to the beach again tomorrow before I go to Lisbon. I will update on London soon!
Showing posts with label bars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bars. Show all posts
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Everyone loves an American girl
I went out again last night to the same pub, O'Neils, as the night before where I met William. I honestly didn't think I would run into him again (and I didn't in case any of my friends were planning on getting their hopes up). But I went because I liked the pub and hoped there would be the same band playing covers or some other form of live music. There was another band playing covers and the lead singer for this band was really good. A lot of energy and just very funny and personable.
As I was watching the band and the boxing match in the background, this man comes up to me and asks me if I am Brazilian. No good sir, I am not Brazilian. Oh where are you from he asked me. I am American, I'm from Los Angeles. He tells me, "Oh, I'm sorry, but that makes sense. I thought you were Brazilian because of your skin tone and you were watching the boxing match and Brazil is playing and I might add, you are very beautiful and I know Brazil is known for their beautiful people. But then so is Los Angeles, so that makes sense you are from Los Angeles." So for those of you that know me, I am not someone that people call beautiful. I'm just not and I understand that. I can pass for pretty when the light is right, I know I'm definitely cute but beautiful not so much. He introduces himself as Roberto from Italy. We talk for a little bit (not so much my type being an older gentleman but still nice to talk to) and I explain what I am doing here and we discuss the Italy education plight as it stands in the nation. He then goes to join his friends. Shortly after he returns and asks if I would like to join them and I politely decline. And then he tells me that one of the guys standing next to me wants to talk to me (cause he had been observing, either sweet or creepy, I don't know which yet) and doesn't know how. But Roberto didn't know what he was waiting for because I am very sweet and he should just talk to me already. So I nodded, Roberto says good-bye again and I leave to go upstairs because the band was finished at this point.
I also forgot to mention this about the night before when I met Ollie from Ireland. When he was chatting me up, he kept going on about how I have a beautiful smile. And he said this line to me, which now that I think about it I can't believe I left it out but he said to me "You have a beautiful smile. It's a real treat to make you smile. The guy who makes you smile is the luckiest guy." Isn't that super super sweet and just smooth? Too bad that he had to keep talking and become rude and crude. Maybe that's why I forgot to mention it before, I remembered his rudeness.
The night before, upstairs was not crowded when I went up there but last night it was already packed. As I walked around the area to see where a good place might be for me to be a wallflower I pack a group of about 5 guys ALL looking at me and watching me. I give them a half wave and proceed to get a drink. As I walk by them again, they drop a glass to the floor and it shatters EVERYWHERE causing me to stop and kind of look at the scene. Two of the five guys really start to chat me up. One of them was toooooo attractive for his own good. Within the first couple of sentences I KNOW they are Irish. Their accents were so thick and so stereotypical of what I imagined everyone in Ireland to sound like that I was surprised I didn't hear more when I was in Ireland. So after telling them about how I was just in Ireland and loved it and yada, yada, yada, they kind of adopt me into their little group.
I only remember one guys name Alan cause I was like...that's not Irish and I couldn't hear the others. Alan was not the one that was too attractive for his own good by the way. Alan looked like Seth Meyers from Saturday Night Live although I couldn't remember last night to tell him so it doesn't matter. But I also couldn't find another American to ask either. Anyway, people that travel will tell you that Australians know how to party. And trust me they do. Being on the cruise, in Ecuador, traveling around currently, you want a good time, you find the closest Australians and get in good with them. What I learned last night (although it could have been the guys I was with) you want a wild time, you find the Irish and party with them. They were doing like drinking parlor tricks, and I never saw them without two drinks in each of their hands. The only thing I did not appreciate was that instead of putting their glasses down on a table or something they kept dropping them on the floor (which is why the glass dropped and broke right when I met them) or people would stop on them if they landed ok and break the glass. I think they must have been responsible for at least 30 broken glasses if not more. But anyway, they were a lot, a lot of fun!
I met some other Italians later in the evening and discussed the Italian Education system with them too. (I sense a pattern). And then left when the band left and even though I knew where I was going it still took me 2 hours to get back to my hostel and I got in at about 4:30!
It was a good night. I felt pretty and popular. Everyone needs one of those once in a while!
As I was watching the band and the boxing match in the background, this man comes up to me and asks me if I am Brazilian. No good sir, I am not Brazilian. Oh where are you from he asked me. I am American, I'm from Los Angeles. He tells me, "Oh, I'm sorry, but that makes sense. I thought you were Brazilian because of your skin tone and you were watching the boxing match and Brazil is playing and I might add, you are very beautiful and I know Brazil is known for their beautiful people. But then so is Los Angeles, so that makes sense you are from Los Angeles." So for those of you that know me, I am not someone that people call beautiful. I'm just not and I understand that. I can pass for pretty when the light is right, I know I'm definitely cute but beautiful not so much. He introduces himself as Roberto from Italy. We talk for a little bit (not so much my type being an older gentleman but still nice to talk to) and I explain what I am doing here and we discuss the Italy education plight as it stands in the nation. He then goes to join his friends. Shortly after he returns and asks if I would like to join them and I politely decline. And then he tells me that one of the guys standing next to me wants to talk to me (cause he had been observing, either sweet or creepy, I don't know which yet) and doesn't know how. But Roberto didn't know what he was waiting for because I am very sweet and he should just talk to me already. So I nodded, Roberto says good-bye again and I leave to go upstairs because the band was finished at this point.
I also forgot to mention this about the night before when I met Ollie from Ireland. When he was chatting me up, he kept going on about how I have a beautiful smile. And he said this line to me, which now that I think about it I can't believe I left it out but he said to me "You have a beautiful smile. It's a real treat to make you smile. The guy who makes you smile is the luckiest guy." Isn't that super super sweet and just smooth? Too bad that he had to keep talking and become rude and crude. Maybe that's why I forgot to mention it before, I remembered his rudeness.
The night before, upstairs was not crowded when I went up there but last night it was already packed. As I walked around the area to see where a good place might be for me to be a wallflower I pack a group of about 5 guys ALL looking at me and watching me. I give them a half wave and proceed to get a drink. As I walk by them again, they drop a glass to the floor and it shatters EVERYWHERE causing me to stop and kind of look at the scene. Two of the five guys really start to chat me up. One of them was toooooo attractive for his own good. Within the first couple of sentences I KNOW they are Irish. Their accents were so thick and so stereotypical of what I imagined everyone in Ireland to sound like that I was surprised I didn't hear more when I was in Ireland. So after telling them about how I was just in Ireland and loved it and yada, yada, yada, they kind of adopt me into their little group.
I only remember one guys name Alan cause I was like...that's not Irish and I couldn't hear the others. Alan was not the one that was too attractive for his own good by the way. Alan looked like Seth Meyers from Saturday Night Live although I couldn't remember last night to tell him so it doesn't matter. But I also couldn't find another American to ask either. Anyway, people that travel will tell you that Australians know how to party. And trust me they do. Being on the cruise, in Ecuador, traveling around currently, you want a good time, you find the closest Australians and get in good with them. What I learned last night (although it could have been the guys I was with) you want a wild time, you find the Irish and party with them. They were doing like drinking parlor tricks, and I never saw them without two drinks in each of their hands. The only thing I did not appreciate was that instead of putting their glasses down on a table or something they kept dropping them on the floor (which is why the glass dropped and broke right when I met them) or people would stop on them if they landed ok and break the glass. I think they must have been responsible for at least 30 broken glasses if not more. But anyway, they were a lot, a lot of fun!
I met some other Italians later in the evening and discussed the Italian Education system with them too. (I sense a pattern). And then left when the band left and even though I knew where I was going it still took me 2 hours to get back to my hostel and I got in at about 4:30!
It was a good night. I felt pretty and popular. Everyone needs one of those once in a while!
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Thank you For such a lovely time William
I'm writing this on 4 hours of sleep so please forgive the nonsensical remarks as they come up.
Last night after finding a temporary solution to my Mexican Food craving in London, I went to Piccadily Circus to try and watch some of the Olympic Games in the square like people would do in Times Square because to me Piccadilly Circus reminds me of Times Square: with the people and jumbo screens, the Broadway show signs, the theaters, etc. However, they weren't showing anything. So I remembered that there was an Irish pub I walked by the day before that I thought looked cool.
Maybe because it was in the middle of the mini Chinatown district I don't know.
Anyway, I went by, grabbed a Snakebite which is a different drink in London and proceeded to watch the games. A Snakebite here by the way is half some beer I've never heard of, Budweiser and a red liqueur. Surprisingly good since I hate Bud. Well, much to my pleasant surprise there was a band, actually there were two bands (not Irish) that played music shortly after I arrived. They did all covers, but they were all sing your heart out as loud as you could covers! I loved it. I sang my little heart out with my Snakebite in hand and have a sight sore throat this morning because of it.
Despite the music though, and the drinks and the people around, I got that lonely feeling again. I don't know how people go to bars by themselves. No one talked to me for a long while. When I got my second drink I went to go stand at the bar because I have found more people to be chattier at the bar. As soon as I got to the bar, this man, Ollie, starts chatting me up. He's from Ireland and has been living in London for about 10 years as an electrician. I would say he was handsome but his jokes were crude and badly timed and it got to the point where I was wishing I wasn't talking to anyone again. I promptly finished that drink and left with another drink in hand to go at least find a place to watch the games.
There were a small group of people watching the TV, guys actually since it was a boxing match. I had only been there a minute when William leans over and asks me who I am cheering for. I was cheering for Italy because....I only just spent 6 weeks there, I'm part Italian and didn't even know what the other country was. And we naturally feel into a conversational rhythm. I wouldn't go as far to say we had banter, mostly because the music was tooooooo loud but he, like myself was a big fan of banter and I completely appreciated that. We talked about travel, about my time in Europe, his time in the US, how London and New York are very similar but both very different, history, museums etc. It was the type of conversation that you would look back and be like....damn, that was a good conversation, because it just was. He restored my faith in not only men you meet at bars, but just meeting people out socially. I enjoyed his company immensely. It was just refreshing to be talking to someone new, who wasn't creepy, old or crude.
The night ended with him running into people he knew and me (being new to traveling past midnight in London) leaving at 2:30 to struggle how to get home. I ended up getting home 2 hours later half walking back, half finding the right buses to take me back. (Oh roundabouts and your tricky tricky ill marked signs!!!)
William was so passionate about the museums in the city that I asked him if he wasn't busy to join me at one of them and he could choose and told him to find me here, via my blog (he asked me what my blog was, programmed it into his phone and bookmarked it). That is why I am writing this kind of early in the morning in the hopes that he sees this and we can somehow meet up. William, if you are reading this, not in a creepy way but I did enjoy your company and would like to hang out with you on the streets of London. (If you read some of my other posts, you can see I'm pretty normal.) I enjoyed your passion about the art, life and history and think it would be totally fun to go see a museum of just hit the streets of London with you and see it through a real Londoners eyes. If you want, you can email me at elizabethcemerald@gmail.com. Hope to hear from you!
Last night after finding a temporary solution to my Mexican Food craving in London, I went to Piccadily Circus to try and watch some of the Olympic Games in the square like people would do in Times Square because to me Piccadilly Circus reminds me of Times Square: with the people and jumbo screens, the Broadway show signs, the theaters, etc. However, they weren't showing anything. So I remembered that there was an Irish pub I walked by the day before that I thought looked cool.
Maybe because it was in the middle of the mini Chinatown district I don't know.
Anyway, I went by, grabbed a Snakebite which is a different drink in London and proceeded to watch the games. A Snakebite here by the way is half some beer I've never heard of, Budweiser and a red liqueur. Surprisingly good since I hate Bud. Well, much to my pleasant surprise there was a band, actually there were two bands (not Irish) that played music shortly after I arrived. They did all covers, but they were all sing your heart out as loud as you could covers! I loved it. I sang my little heart out with my Snakebite in hand and have a sight sore throat this morning because of it.
Despite the music though, and the drinks and the people around, I got that lonely feeling again. I don't know how people go to bars by themselves. No one talked to me for a long while. When I got my second drink I went to go stand at the bar because I have found more people to be chattier at the bar. As soon as I got to the bar, this man, Ollie, starts chatting me up. He's from Ireland and has been living in London for about 10 years as an electrician. I would say he was handsome but his jokes were crude and badly timed and it got to the point where I was wishing I wasn't talking to anyone again. I promptly finished that drink and left with another drink in hand to go at least find a place to watch the games.
There were a small group of people watching the TV, guys actually since it was a boxing match. I had only been there a minute when William leans over and asks me who I am cheering for. I was cheering for Italy because....I only just spent 6 weeks there, I'm part Italian and didn't even know what the other country was. And we naturally feel into a conversational rhythm. I wouldn't go as far to say we had banter, mostly because the music was tooooooo loud but he, like myself was a big fan of banter and I completely appreciated that. We talked about travel, about my time in Europe, his time in the US, how London and New York are very similar but both very different, history, museums etc. It was the type of conversation that you would look back and be like....damn, that was a good conversation, because it just was. He restored my faith in not only men you meet at bars, but just meeting people out socially. I enjoyed his company immensely. It was just refreshing to be talking to someone new, who wasn't creepy, old or crude.
The night ended with him running into people he knew and me (being new to traveling past midnight in London) leaving at 2:30 to struggle how to get home. I ended up getting home 2 hours later half walking back, half finding the right buses to take me back. (Oh roundabouts and your tricky tricky ill marked signs!!!)
William was so passionate about the museums in the city that I asked him if he wasn't busy to join me at one of them and he could choose and told him to find me here, via my blog (he asked me what my blog was, programmed it into his phone and bookmarked it). That is why I am writing this kind of early in the morning in the hopes that he sees this and we can somehow meet up. William, if you are reading this, not in a creepy way but I did enjoy your company and would like to hang out with you on the streets of London. (If you read some of my other posts, you can see I'm pretty normal.) I enjoyed your passion about the art, life and history and think it would be totally fun to go see a museum of just hit the streets of London with you and see it through a real Londoners eyes. If you want, you can email me at elizabethcemerald@gmail.com. Hope to hear from you!
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