Lisbon, Portugal Trip

Two weekends ago I went to Lisbon, Portugal with 8 other of my friends (which was good practice for Euro-trip cause there will be 9 of us then too). We had a lot of fun but the trip had a bit of a rough start because our flight was at 7am, so we left the apartment at 5am... However I didn't realize until we got in the check-in line that I had forgotten my passport... So I quick jumped in a cab to go back and get it, but because of construction he couldn't figure out how to get there so I just jumped out a few blocks away and ran the rest of the way with my giant backpack. After I got my passport I stepped out onto the street just as an empty cab was passing it so screeched to a stop and raced be back to the airport after I explained why I was out of breath. I got there with plenty of time to wander around the terminal and get a breakfast snack, however.
We got to our hostel at around 9:45am but check-in wasn't until 2 so we grabbed our swim suits, hoping it would warm up, locked up our bags, grabbed a better breakfast, and headed off to the beach. I was nearly dead at this point because I was so tired but I shuffled along and was more than happy when we stopped at a McDonalds for a light lunch before finding the beach.
After lying out away from the water for a while, the boys that were with us decided it was unacceptable for me to not partake in the sandy/ freezing water festivities so proceeded to attack me covered in sand baring ice water filled Frisbees. While nearly painful, it was fun, but won't admit that to them. Haha
Now to preface this next bit, I have to say at 99% of the time I have a sunscreen fanatic, but for whatever reason, whether it back lack of sleep or the deceiving cold wind, I didn't think it was necessary to apply any anywhere except for my face, chest and stomach... Coincidentally enough ever other square inch of my skin got the worst burn that I've ever experienced in my life. Lesson Learned.
After escaping the beach Lisa, Liza and I found an amazing Indian restaurant that makes me miss eating Indian food with the Sood family back home. Afterwards we met up with the rest of the group and walked around the area a bit, checking out the other beaches and such before heading back to our hostel to officially check in. The hostel had the perfect set up for us, the top floor was just one big room with 9 beds and our own bathroom. That night Lisa and I attempted to make 'arroz cubana' (Cuban rice), a favorite dish of ours that Ana makes regularly for us. It didn't turn out the same but was pretty good. That night was really painful for my sunburns so I went out and bought a lotion for it that helped a lot. Not sure what I would have done without it, everything hurt.
The next day we walked around area around our hostel for a few hours, took a lot of pictures at this castle/ fortress/ tower thingy that was pretty cool until a crazy cat scratched me. just outside there was the most beautiful peacock trying to impress 2 lady peacocks, what a site. When we got back Lisa and I made some friends at the hostel and hung out with this girl who had been studying abroad in the UK and we made dinner together, simple yet delicious spaghetti
On our last day, before heading back to Madrid, we ventured on out to a town called Sintra where they have this mansion with the most amazing and beautiful grounds. There are caves and tunnels, paths and towers. We had a lot of fun climbing on everything and tossing the Frisbee around (including over a few ledges and into a gross green pond, and yes we managed to retrieve it every time somehow). Before getting back on the train to Lisbon we stopped for lunch, at Pizza Hut, haha. It was delicious though. Then we worked our way back to Madrid, sad that this was going to be our last trip as us all together. :(