HARROWING ADVENTURE DRIVING

Next day noon, a little tired. We pick up Flo and then a manual shift car. We leave the airport and drive down the straight shot street towards home. A few roundabouts later, we are completely lost and are on a highway heading out of Lisbon. An hour later, we decide to go back to the airport and start again.

We get back to the city and I am driving the manual car. Aside from the pedestrians that dart out into the road without warning, the other drivers who think merging is for wusses, and the roundabouts, there are hills that are about 85º steep. For those of you who don't know what a hill start is, you are poised on the hill with the 85º incline, stopped, with a car 1" behind you and you have to get the car moving forward without hitting the car behind you. Lots of pressure. I got us onto such a hill, with such a car behind us, and could not get it up the hill without rolling back into the car behind us. After 3 minutes of trying, 10 cars behind us honking, pedestrians staring, and my headache pounding, the man in the car behind me finally came out of his car and said in a cheery voice: "Is there a problem?" "Yes" we answered. "Would you like for me to take your car up the hill?" "Yes!" I get out, he gets in and says: "Hi! I am Peter! Welcome to Portugal! So sorry for this." Then drives the car up the hill, puts on the emergency brake, and gets out. Unfortunately for Peter, he is still behind me on yet another hill. He knows enough to get far behind me and I am able to get the car up the hill without hitting anyone. I love these polite people. If that was Chicago, Iºd have been shot.

We then got our car out of Lisbon and headed for a 4 hour drive down to the beach town of Lagos, in the Algarve. We are staying in a very posh marina now. We fit in perfectly, because we are also very posh. (See picture of Geri in photo gallery) TO SEE ALL PHOTOS IN GALLERY, DOUBLE CLICK ON THE B&W PHOTO OF US IN LONDON, IT WILL OPEN THE WHOLE PIC GALLERY (there are many racy photos of Geri inside)

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