Our apartment here had seemed very much like someone's home, and we'd suspected that the family had moved out in order to gain some rental income from it. When our host returned to help us check out this morning, bringing his wife and young daughter, ready to move back in, our supposition was confirmed. This was a telling indicator of the effect of the difficult economic times Spain continues to experience.
Our departure from Seville was complicated by the presence of runners participating in a race through the city streets. Our GPS coped well, and we got to see some parts of the city we hadn't visited before.
We were headed west toward the coast of Portugal, and once there we were able to make a couple of stops that made our drive north to Lisbon more than just a long day on the road.
We
had lunch at a beautiful spot high above a couple of coves with lovely beaches,
crashing waves, and rocky outcroppings.
Then, it was on to
Lisbon, where we found our apartment without difficulty, and our host waiting
to show us its ins and outs. Once again, we've chosen not to be in the
old town center, as we've read that Lisbon is notoriously unfriendly to
cars. We've opted instead for a place where we can leave the car and use
a subway station nearby.
When we entered Portugal on a limited-access motorway, we were directed to lanes for foreign cars. There, we swiped a credit card to which our license plate was linked. As we continued along the motorway, we periodically drove under cameras that recorded our passage and signs that indicated the toll being charged for each segment of the trip. We decided that (aside from the Big Brother aspects) it was an efficient system that would eliminate much tollbooth hassle and delay. What we did not realize was that Portugal has multiple electronic toll systems and they don't "talk" to each other. Consequently, as we approached the entrance ramp to a motorway this afternoon, we did not stop to take a ticket, but went through the electronically monitored lane instead. Something began to feel wrong almost immediately, but there was not much to be done at that point, other than continue on our way. Sure enough, when we reached the toll plaza in Lisbon, we discovered that our earlier registration did us no good on the route we'd just traveled and we had to pay the toll from the most distant entry point, just as if we'd lost our ticket. Needless to say, we've revised our opinion of Portugal's electronic toll collection; it's efficient, all right, but only for revenue collectors!
When we entered Portugal on a limited-access motorway, we were directed to lanes for foreign cars. There, we swiped a credit card to which our license plate was linked. As we continued along the motorway, we periodically drove under cameras that recorded our passage and signs that indicated the toll being charged for each segment of the trip. We decided that (aside from the Big Brother aspects) it was an efficient system that would eliminate much tollbooth hassle and delay. What we did not realize was that Portugal has multiple electronic toll systems and they don't "talk" to each other. Consequently, as we approached the entrance ramp to a motorway this afternoon, we did not stop to take a ticket, but went through the electronically monitored lane instead. Something began to feel wrong almost immediately, but there was not much to be done at that point, other than continue on our way. Sure enough, when we reached the toll plaza in Lisbon, we discovered that our earlier registration did us no good on the route we'd just traveled and we had to pay the toll from the most distant entry point, just as if we'd lost our ticket. Needless to say, we've revised our opinion of Portugal's electronic toll collection; it's efficient, all right, but only for revenue collectors!
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