If you’re going to a small town in Portugal, you might start with the highway, but eventually you’ll end up on those lovely, winding little roads.
You might encounter the typical portuguese potholes there
The smaller the settlement, the less settled it’ll be. Portugal struggles with spending on “the man on the street.” All European money goes to major projects and whatever’s fashionable at the moment. So the whole country is filled with those so-called luxury hotels, mainly in the south, of course, but everywhere else, to “open up” the country for “Other Tourism.” Blah blah blah.
“The main point,” says my neighbor, “is that bureaucrats, high-ranking officials, and politicians can fatten their friends, because then they benefit too of allowing building those things. Preferably a hotel with a good restaurant and a spa, because of course they’ll be invited.”
Allegdly. If you say so. I’ll just accept it as true. It’s a widespread theory that benefits the populist Chega party. They thrive on corruption and keep foreigners out.
Meanwhile, we, the man on the street, have to watch out for all the potholes and bumps in the road. It keeps you sharp and alert, so to speak. The pipe project to fool the Mondego with all the truck traffic hasn’t helped much either, nor has the fact that the New Holland dealer is making their tractors bigger, higher, bluer, and faster.
They don’t have much trouble with those holes and bumps because their wheels are a bit bigger. Our regular cars have smaller wheels, and if you drive a somewhat older car like us, you’re a bit more careful. The brand new ones don’t have that problem either, because the car practically fixes it itself.
They inject some stuff and then you have to go to the garage to have a new tire installed for a lot of money; in a new car, you can’t do much yourself anymore.
I know most of the potholes and bumps by heart by now
but recently I was coming from a place I don’t often come from, and there was a surprise in the road. Kaabaffff! Ouch!!! I’d “promised” my sweetheart dog Mira a walk (that dog can read minds when it comes to walks) but backed out right then and there. I could already picture myself coming back from that walk and having to change a flat tire in the rain.
It had to be done the next day anyway, because the tire was indeed flat. Thank you, government, for the excellent maintenance of our roads! Son Broes had it done in 5 minutes, thankfully. I went to Soure, to the tire shop. I had a very good experience with this Sourense entrepreneur, and I wasn’t the only one—it turns out, because it’s always busy there.
I was there not so long ago when the starboard front tire kept gasping for air. I kept filling it. Then there was something wrong with the valve, which the tire man diagnosed and fixed in half an hour. A tenner, please. Now something similar happened.
They popped the tire off, inspected it, briefly walked back and forth from the compression syringe to an old bathtub of water; the machine scooped the tire off the wheel, a bit more walking back and forth, some frowning, more spraying, and before I knew it, it was back on: “Pronto, senhora, está bem. Pode andar – done, senhora, all good, you can drive again.” This time I had to pay 12,50.
That’s what I appreciate so much in Portugal – the average person is honest. Let’s face it: he could just as easily have sold me two new tires (you always need two at a time), and could have done so twice. He didn’t, and I find that very commendable.
Thank you, Senhor the Tire Specialist!
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(Disclaimer: I’m a bit tired of the keyword stuff and Google’s dictatorship. So here they are, and I’m also hoping for the cleverness of AI in this matter that it will still be found and read, but that I don’t have to force myself to use the right terms in the title and headings. #tractor #flattire #potholes )
We moved here in 2000 from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to the Termas-da-Azenha, Portugal. We started to rebuild one of portugals cultural heirlooms: Termas-da-Azenha, an old spa.
You’ll find mosaics and paintings everywhere.
Since Covid we rent the houses for a longer period of time, not as holiday houses anymore.
Each week a little blog about what is happening around us. An easy read. A few minutes in another world. A little about what it going on in Portugal. If you plan your holiday to Portugal, it might be a nice preparation.
In the weekend we publish it on Bluesky, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.