The surf instructor said it has rained only once so far this year! Crazy! Lots of fires this summer and getting worse by the year because of global warming and people deliberately starting fires according to the news. I also think the smoking everywhere does not help. Wed be in gardens and forests that are attractions and people have cigarettes dangling in their mouths.
Alcohol is soooo cheap! You can buy 10 yr old vintage port for 4$ and wine bottles for or a beer for 1euro. You can also buy sangria and wine by the liter out of an oak barrel and fill up your bottle in some grocery stores. Love it!
Speed signs on the hwy here have chips in them so it shows the speed limit on the dash of the car, cool!!
Its nonetheless the country Geoff and I have visited that seems and is the safest ! You could pretty much walk around anywhere and feel safe even at night. It is known to be very safe country apart from a few pickpockers in tourist areas of course.
The Portuguese love their eggs , on everything on steak, on hamburgers, on sandwiches, tons of stuff.
Honking : we noticed right away that honking is the way to go here, with all the small roads in big cities, its a good way
Sooooo many people smoke here! Camille said wed need masks more for that! Ashtrays everywhere and smoking aloud on terraces. So not used to that anywhere.
No big restaurant chains, tons of family restaurants with tables. If is normal to have babies and little kids out at midnight walking around and in restaurants.
Id say 80% of population speak good English, especially the younger generation. The 75 and older speak more
French or just Portuguese. In the main cities, most speak English and in the middle of Portugal, its harder as they might not see as many tourists. Even when they speak it, they seem to prefer not to.
Fanciest McDonalds in the world is in Porto and is in an old awesome building and has fancy chandeliers.
Customer relations does not seem to be as important here as in Canada, Theyll see you waiting at the cash register and just keep doing whatever they are doing, no hellos, can I help you, Ill be right there or smile in alot of places. We seem to be much more friendly and approachable in stores. Restaurants are better for that.
There are many grab and go vending machines in the big cities to buy anything from a hamburger to coffees.
hi but they just stare and do not smile, ever! I had one lady smile back and say hi in 3 weeks. Different culture as us I guess.
Face masks? What face masks? Nowhere except on public transit and taxis. A few random here and there. Very uncommon.
Tolls on highways and it beeps to let you know money is flying out the window! Will be interesting to see our toll bill tomorrow!
McDonalds - different names for food items, mc royal cheese is the quarter pounder and they sell pea soup!
Allergies: so much easier to figure out than in Canada! For one, small restaurants so they go talk directly to the cook, more homemade less processed food, so less ingredients.
your fruit and veggies in the dept and puts a sticker on bag for you. We learned that the hard way at the cash when we couldnt understand what the cashier was telling us grocery stores smell! They smell like fresh fish, as its always a big part of the store. You can buy eel, prawns bigger than the size of your hand and preserved salted fish.
There are nuts in almost all the bread and soft serve ice cream is made with powder (that contains nuts) and water so our go to was pineapple and mango popsicles !
Lots of places do not take credit cards , 40% approx unless big store or restaurant as its more the small business owners.
No big merchants except in major cities. We didnt see any chains like McDonalds, Starbucks for weeks except at the beginning and end of our trip in places like Lisbon, Porto, Faro.
