Rural Road Rage and Ruminations

| 23-May-2008 | We escaped the city first thing this morning, heading east into the Douro valley. We selected another “N” road and drove a crazy, twisty route through town after town in search of the elusive vineyards.  Beautiful countryside, too bad pullouts to take pictures were few and far between. We took a quick side trip to Lamego to check out a noteworthy church before heading back to Porto via the more-direct motorway. You can cover a lot more ground at 120km/hr!  Once back in Porto we stopped by an Italian restaurant we’d scoped out yesterday only to find it closed at 5:30pm on a Friday night!  Take-out pizza from the mall filled the need and it was good.

Off to Lisbon tomorrow then home on Sunday. See you all again soon!

Jeff on Driving in Portugal

OK, everything I’d read indicated this was going to be the most terrifying experience of my life.  Let’s just say that driving in Portugal is aggressive.  Very aggressive.  The quality of the roads?  Marginal, at best, with a lot of cobblestone-quality streets that suck in the rain.  Drivers here rarely yield and will park anywhere (including double parking) – they will also drive on the sidewalk when it’s to their advantage (literally).  That being said, as long as you stay aggressive, you’ll fit in just fine.  Of course, we have seen one relatively high speed incident that involved a driver getting cut off and run off the road into a huge pile of hay.  But don’t worry, less than three minutes later, the guy who got ran off the road passed us doing about 120 (mph), and a few minutes later we came across him (out of his car) involved in an altercation with the cab that had rubbed him out.  Oh yeah, did I mention that a car rental was about $80 per day (with the insurance) and gas is $11 a gallon?

Holly on riding shotgun in Portugal

Like New Zealand, the side of the road on the “N” roads may as well be the edge of the world – I couldn’t even see what was below the guard-rail! One quick swerve and we’d be in someone’s kitchen via the roof.

Finally, 100km (and 4 hours!) east of Porto we found terraced vineyards, old stone buildings and rural countryside.

Sandeman, one of the most well-known brands of port worldwide.

Boat tours up the Douro are popular. Beats driving!

Igreja de Nossa Senhora dos Remédios. An 18th-century church is a major pilgrimage site.  The church is beautiful, but the insane stairway that zigzags up the hill, decorated with statues, tile work and urns, is incredible.  Did I mention stairs?
Porto’s finest, rockin’ a smoke outside the cop shop directly behind our hotel. I’m tellin’ ya, this hanging-out-the-window-watching-the-neighborhood thing is a blast! The cops head up to the corner café, grab an espresso, then stroll back. Smoke break.

We also watched the little cop shop empty out to oversee a cyclist changing a bike tire tube. Smokes and espresso in hand, natch.

Nothing like having an audience while fixing your flat.

Jeff on Crime in Portugal

We initially didn’t report on this, but on our second day in Lisbon some DB (i.e. “douche bag”) purloined my camera bag at a sidewalk cafe.  I caught on that this happened fairly quickly (thanks to the waiter, who had obviously seen this sooo many times before) , and luckily caught sight of this chump crossing the street trying to hide my bag under his jacket (it was about 75 degrees that day…).  He didn’t know I’d spotted him, and within about five or six strides I had an angle on him.  At this point, I had three options (BTW – this dude was probably in his 50s and about 5’6″):

  • Yell at him to stop/call for the police.  Benefit:  Not confrontational, and maybe he’ll drop the bag.  Down Side:  He may start running and I might lose him in the crowd.
  • Run up on him (I was coming up at a 45 degree angle from behind and had the advantage of surprise) and grab my bag.  Benefit:  Get my hands on my bag.  Down Side:  I’ve initiated contact and lost my element of surprise if this dude wants to start something physical.
  • Terrence Tate, Office Linebacker.  For those of you unfamiliar with this tactic, consider a safety blitz in a football game – I’ve got the angle (he doesn’t see me and I’m coming on him from behind) and the speed (I’m running full tilt, he’s walking).  The goal:  drop a shoulder into him at full speed and slam him into the wall that he’s about two feet away from.  Benefits:  Complete surprise, gain the physical advantage.  Down Side:  The police may arrest me for busting him up, and he may have friends around.

This decision tree took place over the course of about one stride, and I felt the Terrance Tate method provided the greatest advantage.  However, when I was about 4-5 steps away, someone (an accomplice) called out to this joker, he looked up, dropped my bag, and kept going at a quick pace.  It took about two more steps before I decided I was better off retrieving my bag as opposed to dropping this fool anyway, which in hindsight was the right choice.  I still wish I’d had a chance to put him into the wall, though.  A good forearm-shiver would’ve taught him a lesson.