First Impressions of Portugal •

I still have a terrible habit of comparing everywhere I am to Costa Rica, I guess I really liked it! So, upon arrival in Lisbon, I was immediately disappointed to see so many cement buildings, and so much less nature than I grew accustomed to. No howler monkeys, just the occasional pigeon.

The city of Lisbon is beautiful. I quickly figured out the subway system and took myself to the downtown area near Baixa-Chaida. I quickly discovered beautiful streets, a view of the ocean complete with cruise ships and seagulls, and streets full of sardine shops, and beautiful architecture.

As I kept walking, I discovered a castle at the top of a hill, and tiles with intricate designs everywhere I looked.

Castle above Lisbon

I rented a car and drove north and this is how I made some interesting discoveries about driving in Portugal. There are round signs with different colors as you drive. They have numbers inside, like 50, 80 or 100. Some of the signs are blue and some are white with a red line around them. As I drive along the highway, I realize not only do I have no idea what they mean, apart from something about a speed limit, no doubt, but I have no idea how fast 50 km is in miles, so it really doesn’t help me.

However, the most important lesson I have from driving is that it appears to me even the Portuguese don’t know what these signs mean, or consistently ignore them, because, once I found out they are, indeed, meant to inform the driver of “suggested” speeds and “maximum allowable” speeds, I am often behind a driver going far less than the suggested lowest speed, and honked at by cars behind me who want to exceed the maximum speed. And, there do not appear to be any traffic police anyway.

Beautiful street in Tomar, Portugal.

The people are lovely. They are warm and helpful. In fact, one time while rounding a sharp turn on a narrow street, I got stuck on some rock, and a passerby helped me navigate safely around it. At a local market, a woman tried to go in front of me to pay, and the stall owner saw I was first, and told the woman I was ahead of her. The only thing I do find confusing is how they handle health. I was at a cafe one day and watched a small girl, perhaps 5 years old, walk up to the oldest lady their and cough in her face! In fact, she moved closer to the lady so her cough was just right there. Before I knew it, there was a chorus of coughs, as if everyone in the cafe was trying to prove their cough was the worst. And, no one covered their mouths! Oh, well. That aside, Portugal is a lovely country!

2 Comments

Gregory Monks on May 20, 2018 at 03:59

I think you’ll find that the “maximum” speed limit is often treated like a minimum speed limit: it is here in Britain! As for kph, a kilometre is a little over half a mile, so I usually divide a mile by two and add a bit back on, which in the case of 50kph could give you approximately 30mph, which is the standard speed limit for urban traffic here in the UK, for example…