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Portugal

Journal Entries	Photos
• Porto (this page) [added Dec. 10, 2006] • Coimbra [added Dec. 10, 2006] • Lisboa [added Dec. 10, 2006]	• Porto Photos [added December 1, 2006] • Coimbra Photos [added December 6, 2006] • Lisbon Photos [added December 9, 2006]

Larger map of Portugal

November 6, 2006 Porto, Portugal

We arrived in Portugal yesterday afternoon, and it was immediately obvious that we were in a different country. The first person we met was a taxi driver with an ear-mounted cell phone and leather jacket who looked exactly like Liza's father! He began to offer a suspicious amount of help, which set off some alarms with us. Then he tried to tell us that all the hotels in the city were full, due to some sort of international conference, but that he knew a place that would be cheaper than the others and had rooms available! Another taxi driver soon got involved and an argument broke out over who should do what. At any rate, we were already suspicious of the first driver's intentions — maybe he wanted to take us to a hotel where he would earn a commission for bringing us, or maybe he wanted to rob us. The whole time, it was pouring rain. At one point, the driver said we could call the hotel we had found on Lonely Planet's Web site, to see if they had rooms available. However, he insisted on calling and said he got a busy signal. We suspect he hung up as soon as he got an answer. As soon as there was a break in the rain, we walked to the hotel we had selected and — Surprise! — they had rooms, and they were a good deal cheaper than the driver claimed.

Portugal is a great deal different than Spain: it is grimier and gives the impression of being more dangerous. Part of this could be attributed to the higher level of unemployment and lower salaries than Spain. Last night, we went out for a beer and ended up at a restaurant where we made friends with a waiter named Alfredo. He warned us against walking alone at night. He also prepared something he called “Sangria” that had about eight types of liquor in it! One curiosity about Portugal is that the waiters get drunk while they work. Every fifteen minutes or so, they fill a glass with wine or beer and drink it down in one gulp. While in Spain, it seemed that no one really got drunk, especially while they were working, here they definitely do. Many things here seem to be conducted in a certain way, just because that's the way they do things, even if it is ineffective. It sort of seems like the attitude that reigns is, “That's the way life is.”

Still, we are both glad for the change. Orderly Spain was wonderful, but perhaps the disorder and chaos in Portugal is just what we need!