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BitaTruble -> Adventures in Europe: BitaCriminal Activity! (8/8/2008 10:28:40 AM)
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Now that the jet lag is gone .. let me start off by saying that I absolutely adored Lisbon! I felt very connected to both the culture and the (amazingly friendly) people and my (rather broken) Portuguese actually came in handy a few times while we visted. Himself was equally infatuated with Algarve although it was a bit too touristy for my taste. It seems as though it's lost much of the flavor of the country in an effort to cater to a (mostly British) visitors population. We might as well have been in South Beach or some place like that as far as I'm concerned. I liked it well enough, but really would it rather stay a nice place to visit on a weekend getaway while living in Lisbon. It's about a 3 hour drive between the two places and since the company had rented us a standard transmission it was left for me to drive because Himself can't drive a stick .. which is the segue for my first bit of criminal activity. (Couldn't go all the way to Europe and not cause a least a bitatruble!)
Okay, so going from the 22 onto A2 to get back to Lisbon from Algarve, you have to go through a toll which spits out a ticket to be paid when you get off the highway for use of the highway. If you don't get off the highway, then a bit before you get back into Lisbon, you have to pay the toll via the cashier or, you might have a month pass which lets you go through an express toll (sans cashier).
If I had been able to actually read the language, I would have gotten into the correct lane to start with .. as it is though, (you've probably guessed already) I went into the wrong lane and with the amount of traffic, I couldn't back out and go to the cashier lane so I went through the express pass lane where a picture was taken of the rental car so they could fine it (which is a double fine than the regular toll.) The regular toll for the expanse we travelled was about 18 Euros (multiply by 1.57 for USA dollars) .. and now it's doubled. Quite a nice racket going on to be able to drive the highways of Portugal!
Needless to say, I'm a bit freaked that I've just committed some major infraction that will either get me deported or thrown in jail! Himself thinks, of course, the whole thing is hilarious .. rat Bastid. My first plan is to get off the highway at the next exit, turn around and go through the toll booth after explaining what happened to a cashier. Well, the next exit was about 20 km away and there was no way to get back onto the highway without having to go through another toll booth which would end up compounding the situation. Himself read the back of the toll ticket and there was a number to call for help with different situations so when we got back to our hotel in Lisbon, I called and after several attempts did get through to someone who spoke some English. She assured me that foreign visitors make that mistake all the time and it's not big deal.. no I won't be arrested at the airport for trying to leave the country and no, I won't be deported. ::laughs:: Whew.
Okay, so the process is when we drop the car off at the Lisbon airport, just explain what happened to the rental agent as this happens all the time. Turn the ticket over to the rental agent who, in turn will send it on to the state with the appropriate fee.
Sounds good, easy fix.
Riiiiiiiight.
Our flight was scheduled to leave for Dublin at 5:10 AM which meant getting to the airport by 3 AM.
Guess who's not open at 3 AM!
Bingo! The car rental agency. Not a soul to be found. Leave the keys in the box, thanks for stopping by!
Eek! Ack! Ick! Am I back to being deported or arrested now????
Nope .. no body cavity searches for me - at least not by members of the Portuguese government .. or, at least, not at this time. [8D] (Mores the pity!)
What will happen: the car rental agency will get the ticket. They will send it on to the company which rented the car which will be charged the fine. We have to mail the toll ticket to the company who will send it to the car agency who, in turn will send it in to whereever those things go.
Problem solved! Whew part 2.
Okay, so causing some trouble in Portugal wasn't enough. I mean, we visited several countries .. but as this is already too long in the tooth, I'll leave the adventures in Ireland and London for another post. (I actually managed to get through Amsterdam without causing even a LittleBitaTruble. Go me!)
More later. [;)]
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