Patricia: My first week in Lisbon

Our Erasmus+ experience in Lisbon started off on Saturday with a bit of chaos: our flight

was delayed by more than two hours due to technical issues. It was a bit exhausting, but

everything went smoothly once we finally landed. On the plane, we even celebrated

Marlies’ 18th birthday twice! Once in German time and once again in Portuguese time,

which made it extra special.

On our first full day, we explored the city a little and took a lovely walk along the river.

Later that day, Marton and Matteo arrived; they flew in a day after us. Most evenings we

spent as a group of five, just enjoying Lisbon. Sometimes they came over to our place to

eat or chill out, other times we went to theirs. We walked around the city a lot,

discovered new spots, and just had a good time together.

On Monday, we had an appointment with the agency that organized our work

placements. They introduced us to our workplaces, and we were really happy to meet

our teams. Lea and I are working at Eurosegway, where we help with Segway tours and

do some promotion. Everyone there is super-friendly and welcoming.

That afternoon, we had some free time and decided to go to the beautiful beach in

Cascais. It was absolutely stunning though very crowded but still worth the trip.

Tuesday was our first proper workday, and I stood on a Segway for the first time in my

life! Surprisingly, it went really well, and I felt comfortable quite quickly. After just 30

minutes of training, David, our boss, decided we were ready to join him on a tour right

away. It was an amazing experience. In the following days, Lea and I joined more tours and got to know the city better from a local guide’s perspective. On Thursday, we also got an introduction to our second area of work, promotion. It’s interesting to learn both sides of the job.

The week passed by incredibly fast. We visited more beaches, did a bit of shopping, and

started to feel more at home in Lisbon. It’s been an exciting, intense, and beautiful first

week, and I’m already looking forward to everything that’s still to come!