Today we got off to an intentionally slow start with a little bit more sleep under our belts and a nice breakfast at the hotel. Then, we made our way to the beach in Carcavelos just outside of Lisbon where we did a mini session full of tag, shuttle runs, and some tic-tac-toe.
After we got our heart rates up, we split into teams and had 30 minutes to construct the best sandcastle. The one restriction was that you could only use water bottles to get water to your castle. That turned out to not be the hardest part! Picking your little space on the beach to construct your ideal castle was a strategic decision that some teams acknowledged and used to their advantage, while others weren't so lucky. All the teams did a fantastic job!!
We then took a dip in the FREEZING ocean water (it literally felt like an ice bath so being from Florida it was definitely a different experience than what I'm used to). After grabbing a bite, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before our last practice of the trip! We headed to a really nice turf field in the area and had a familiar practice for ourselves: Circuit Thursday Wednesday! Some circuits included shooting, continuous possession to goal, and some strength work with Sabrina.
We ended the practice with some team defending walk-throughs before we headed off to our next activity which was a cooking lesson! We went to the Lisbon cooking academy where we were taught, by Anna and Rita, about Portuguese cooking and food. It was such a fun experience seeing everyone contributing to the meal we were ultimately going to be eating. Here is the outline for our meal:
- Pre cooking table snacks- bread with cheese and olive oil, olives, and these yellow beans that you eat like edamame and tasted like buttered popcorn!
- Starting course- a tower of cabbage, codfish, onions, and cornbread
- Main course- chicken with smoked sausage and bacon served over some white rice with a side salad
- Dessert- Orange rolled cake
We all had an amazing time whether you were picking out the skin of codfish for an hour, stirring the cornbread every two seconds so it doesn't burn (Rita came up to me and said it was burning), or plating the chicken. We are now back at the hotel and reading to rest up for our last full day in Portugal tomorrow.
- Karlie Pollock '22