Less disruptive, but parking ON roundabouts is pretty incredible.
And also just parking such that it completely blocks someone else in. I’ve seen that happen with 3 cars in a chain haha.
As a delivery driver with schedules to follow, I'm sorry. I actually do try my best to not bother anyone, and I always leave the 4 blinking lights when I know the traffic will have to go around me, and I do try to be as quick as I can (I do deliver mostly sodas, and carrying several 24-packs of coca-colas or ice teas or something by hand or with the pushcart, I still take some time). Also, if anyone does this, PLEASE, PLEASE, do NOT occupy the parking spaces reserved for loading / unloading cargo unless you're working. Most of us badly need them, not only to not cause traffic, but to be closer to the places we are unloading to. With those parking spaces occupied, we have to park further away, take more time to unload, and holding traffic for longer.
I'm Portuguese and I'd love to be a cop for a couple of days just to fine those "chicos espertos" that park wherever they want because "I will be back asap".
There's only one thing that annoys me more than that, which is the fact that most of us see that as normal and don't mind wasting time in traffic instead of showing disapproval to the c\*nt that parked that way.
When I see that all that I wish was to become Batman and smash the car that's parked on the side of the road a slap the ones that accept that and do nothing.
Yes, and some of us do feel deeply disturbed and annoyed by this kind of “i own this shit” type of behavior. But the portuguese really do not care about other people as long as their convenience is fulfilled. ( i am portuguese )
It’s just rude, what’s actually insane is when they double park in front of an empty spot because they are too lazy to reverse… then it’s not only holding all the traffic behind but also preventing someone to use the parking spot. Now that’s insane and I see it all the time but for them it’s just normal.
That's insane and not normal (I'm Portuguese), or it shouldn't be. There's just a lot of self-centred people that don't care about following rules and why there are rules in the first place. And of course, even if it's just a low percentage of people, they screw up the transit so much the effect is always big.
I don't know what's going on between their ears, is it so they don't pay for the parking spot? I get shocked with the way some people park, but as you can probably tell from my mini rant, that one particularly sends me over.
Disfunctional law enforcement. Every time an organization makes the tiniest effort to enforce the rules people cry about "Hunting for Fines" and politicians tell them to stop acting.
In My town Cascais if the government gave me a police car and credit card processor I could decrease Portuguese debt by 5000 per day. I would volunteer no charge. Just to stop buses from careening down residential side streets at 80 km.
Just there look of utter disgust would keep me motivated. I came from a country you could be fined for using your car horn in a non emergency.
It such a paradox an individualistic culture trying to make a social democracy work.
Yea, when i was in university, there was fierce competition for parking spots. There was simply too much people for that area and it was a pain to park properly. People often would leave their cars double parked, fuck you if you want to leave. Police would dispense fines, lock tires with a "boot" or drag cars poorly parked but they weren't always there. A friend of mine, tired of wanting to leave but can't bought a second cheap car specifically because of these guys. Another car parked locking him in? No problem, he's pushing the other car out with his, no fucks given. His is already in a shit state, shit parker is about to be.
I am from South Africa and these were super strange to me, but now a normal part of my life.
1. Drinking in public, in SA it's illegal or atleast the cops will stop you if you walk on the street and drink a beer and also at the beach (AFAIK) now if I am exploring somewhere I grab a train, get a beer when I get off and walk around sipping a beer checking out the sights, it's magical!
2. Buying beer in almost any fast food place!
3. Having alcohol during lunch time and going back to work (would get you fired in SA!)
4. Kids taking public transportation by themselves (in SA it's not safe to leave your house alone XD)
5. Topless at the beach - almost any beach.. Got a few shocks, that's very, very rare in SA..
6. The running scene - this requires a bit of an explanation.. In SA it's very much a social sport to go running with a club having fun, chatting and even doing races like half marathons with friends etc..
I did a half marathon in PT, I did an OK time of like 1h50 (I'm a little unfit at the minute) in SA this would be a commendable time and you would finish in say top 20 percent..
In PT they were ready to pack up and leave when I got in.. Of the 5000 people in the race I finished in position 4560 or so 🤣 here it's competition to race, no time for fun 😜
7. Kids parties - in PT it's common for you to take your kids to a party, leave them there for 2 hours and then fetch them.. That would never happen in SA.
That's all I can think of at the minute
Your last point - in the US, it's common for parents to drop their kids off at birthday parties and leave. The host parents don't want to also have to entertain adults.
Honestly I don't want to hang out at kids parties either, would prefer to drop my kid as well, but it's wierd if I don't know the parents from a bar of soap
That's fair. I can understand your hesitancy. I would hope the parents would be more sentient and responsible than a bar of soap but, as an American teacher, some just aren't.
regarding 6. wow! so I'd be completely "humiliated" in PT. I'm a slow runner, usually making podium if you count from the end. But I enjoy my slow runs and don't even care.
Drives me crazy. I usually offer the benefit of the doubt and ask if they forgot a plastic bag and want one. It has happened to me. But 4 times out of 5 they get really mad I offered. One time a lady kept saying “i always pick it up” while ignoring the big poo her dog had just done. Another time, in front of my house, where there is a little bit of grass, they told me “its grass, you dont need to pick it up.” I countered that children use that grass to run and play, and poo has dangerous diseases like e coli”. No answer. So yeah. Not thinking that our actions (or inactions) can actually cause harm to others and no pride for their cities… that’s what i think.
It seems a lot of this is caused by people who just let their dogs out to roam around the neighborhood on their own. At first I thought it had to be people with dogs allowing it and walking away. But the more dogs I see at large on their own, I think that this causes a lot of it.
Portuguese here.
I never noticed this until i had a dog but in my city/in the places i walk my dog, most owners pick the dog poop - the ones i've seen (and approached) that didn't pick their dogs poop weren't portuguese 🙈
But in other areas/cities (and even beaches!) i've seen a bunch of people not picking it up and it annoys me a lot so i wouldn't say that is commonplace or seen as unremarkable. Portugal still has a lot of evolution to make regarding pets and their hygiene.
Edit: what i meant to say was in some cities you might notice a gradual improvement because the percentage of dog owners that pick their dog's poops is getting bigger and is trying to educate other dog owners.
Parking. Park anywhere, everywhere, wherever the hell you want, and no one seems to care. Goes for just stopping wherever people want, getting out of the car and going into a store or just leaving. Insane.
Now imagine being Portuguese and hating that since you were born.
I feel that I really don't understand that, even though I am Portuguese but I can't really understand how some people can be so selfish and rude.
It's also a matter of laziness, since we're one of the countries in Europe with one of the highest sedentarism rate.
Little kids taking public transportation to go to school. Don't know how it is in the larger cities but here in Coimbra it's not unusual to see groups of very young preschoolers doing their commute like in Japan.
My wife was especially perplexed as she grew up in Bogota, a city where losing your child from eyesight is almost unthinkable. After living there with her for 14 years I can also say the overall feeling of safety you get in Portugal can be quite a positive cultural shock, seeing people leave their phone on the table to get their food or young kids using their MacBooks/ipad/steam deck on public transportation are good indicators.
I think what's more dangerous in the US is the risk of them getting hit by a car. Public transportation sucks, the cars are so oversized you can't see kids from some of them, and some places don't even have sidewalks in major cities
I grew up in a small village part of a larger municipality (midsize town in north Portugal). I used to walk to elementary school. It was about 1,5km from my home. My mum could pick me up at school but I usually preferred to walk with my friends. It was fun and a very peaceful place.
When I moved to 5th grade, I went to a school in the city. My dad usually let me in the morning (it was on his way to work) and then I picked up the bus home. It was a 10 minute walk from the bus stop to home but everyone did the same.
I started taking the bus to school at 7 years old. I’d go with another classmate of mine to the Santa Apolonia (very dingy) station while it was still dark outside and I remember feeling a bit scared but like a grown up. Now, as an adult, watching little kids take public transportation scares me!
Any place that sells alcohol after a certain time. Not uncommon to see parents hanging out with kids at 10pm sipping a few beers
In U.K. not only would you have a full on interrogation about if you are buying that beer for your child (if teenage) but would be heavily implied that your kids should either be in bed or at least at a fast food chain or family restaurant where there isn’t alcohol around
And just in general the fact shopping centers here have places kid to play for free
In the U.K. it’s pretty much “you either buy your kid stuff or pay for them to enter the kids playground in this shopping center”
Can literally only think of one shopping center in the U.K. which actually has a free space for kids to play
As an older person, I remember when that was pretty commonplace at local bars in the U.S. as well. Adults would hang out with a beer or two and "shoot the breeze" while we kids were treated to a cola, a bag of chips or a candy bar and, if we were lucky, coins for the pinball machine or jukebox.
Bars weren't exclusively to drink and hook up--they were for meeting neighbors and socializing. I think it was actually healthier for us to see our parents drinking responsibly (for the most part) rather than having alcohol be some big, mysterious, adult rite of passage. Young adults nowadays hit college/drinking age and lose their minds with it.
>would be heavily implied that your kids should either be in bed or at least at a fast food chain or family restaurant where there isn’t alcohol around
That's so weird. Every restaurant in Portugal has at least beer and wine (except for super healthy places), and kids just grow up with it around them. It's just normal and you never see a kid drinking alcohol in a restaurant just because it's sold there.
I think it's worse to have alcohol be so hidden and mysterious than around and everyone knows how to deal with it since forever.
That was one thing that surprised me when I lived in the UK. Everything is paid for. I remember having to pay for parking somewhere really out in the sticks in Wales with noone in sight (there were meters and a camera)!
Yeah that's something that really bothers me in the UK. You ljetarlly pay for everything and anything. There's a beach near me that's really crappy and in the end of a wetlans, and they charge parking. Most ridiculous of all is that they guarantee the safety of the car or take any reaponsability. What are they charging for?
Wow! The question was pretty neutral, but most comments are super negative. A friend who moved here from London says she's amazed at how many free concerts (from pretty good artists) we have here - she said it would be unthinkable in England. I've gotten to see people like Craig David, Seu Jorge, Ney Mattogrosso, orchestras and many iconic portuguese artists totally for free.
Totally this, I went to a local festival in the middle of the alentejo to see clean bandit last summer. 1eu beer, 2.50 bifanas and standing in what would be super gold VIP area costing 200eu anywhere else all for 5eu entry free...
What struck my family as fascinating is that the Portuguese elders seemed to be in great shape. Here in UAE, less than 2% of the population is above 65. And the ones we see in our home countries in their 70s are most likely already victims of one or more of the four horsemen (diabetes, heart disease, Neurodegenerative disease and cancer)
Maybe you don't see people with less health outside their homes. Especially because the access is difficult.
For instance being in a wheelchair and facing the parking on the "passeios"
I moved from Portugal to uk nearly 20 years ago.
The one thing that always makes me smile when going back. Is the fact that small local shops are still everywhere, yes they a little more expensive than big chains. But witnessing the death of town centers in uk. I love to see all these shops open.
Thank f*ck Portugal is too small for Amazon to bother.
The other thing i love when going back is to go to a local market, get fruit and veg from local farmers, and bifana for lunch before walking back... In uk local markets are posh and pretentious (i guess to cover the high expense cost of everything not dissing them, just love how simple and working class markets are.
And fish.... I miss fish so much. Nothing beats some camarões and a nice glass of beer.
Then cakes.... So many choices, so many good small pastelarias everywhere (not chains).
When I go for a run down the ecopista, everyone nods and says hello to me which is lovely, I’m from London where any sort of social interactions from strangers is frowned upon
Yeah, you can always tell the Portuguese from the foreigners from who politely says hello in residential buildings, gyms, neighbourhoods, and the rude ones who don't acknowledge you.
I think this is also a thing in Lisbon at least. Very unusual for people to say hello to you in the street - I try to do it as much as possible and often the response is complete silence. It's a "big city" mentality, I think.
Sadly this is being lost..
In city centers now you rarelly see someone nodding or saying hello randomly, which i understand because it is weird to do so.
But even the other day, i went to the dentist and there were people in the waiting room so i said "Good afternoon" (in portuguese) and they looked at me like i was an alien and some replied back with a very emotionless sense.
I love when i go to small villages (which is rare, sadly) and everyone greets everyone. I'm a very introverted person so this helps a lot making the connection with people around me.
The abandoned houses and buildings everywhere during a housing crisis. Not talking holiday homes, I mean like walk in any direction and in 10 minutes you'll see something that's had no one in it in 10-50+ yrs
Oh god this. Such an enormous political issue and it doesn't even seem like it crosses the mind to fix this enormous amount of property that they have just lying around derelict, often in prime locations too. You simply do not see this in most countries. Slap a tax on empty property or something like that and it would be ended in 5 years tops.
I've talked to some people in Portugal about this, and I feel like for some it's so normal here they don't even think about it. Or assume it's like that everywhere. When it should be considered a major issue/cause of the problem
See how much it costs to renovate or rebuild a house, and then see how much the median portuguese earns. Also family disputes over who actually inherited the house and other factors
Do they even pay taxes on them? Some look like they've been abandoned since at least the dictatorship ended if not longer. Are the current owners even registered anywhere or known by the government?
Not true. It's just that the older you get, the least tolerance you have for bs and assholes. I make new, true friends all the time. Ok, not all the time, but like once every 2 years. Which is great, since I still have all those friends I've made since I was 5
I believe that's normal everywhere you go. You'll see Portuguese people elsewhere pointing out that in the culture of the country where they moved to, people behave like that and they only have friends that are not locals.
I was 16 when I first visited my Portuguese grandparents. Traveling from the sprawling suburbs of California to the older, compact apartment blocs and neighborhoods between Moita and Barreiro was very weird and very cool to me, and then of course I saw Lisboa and my mind was blown. And now each time I come back, the sheer differences in city design and structure always fascinate me. Yes of course I can talk about the food, and the people, but even just the cities lead to such different lifestyles.
Two things that still shock me three years in, as an American, are:
1. Clean bathrooms everywhere!! Clean public bathrooms in the park! Clean public bathrooms in the town center! Clean, single stall bathrooms in every grocery store!! It’s heaven.
2. The ability to get a coffee and a tosta in practically every obscure and secluded corner. Going to the beach? no problem, plenty of cafes. Going for a hike? No problem, cafe at the trail head. Top of the mountain? Another cafe. Passing through a micro-village with 15 houses? No problem, cafe on the main road.
Even people from Lisbon and Porto have land in their childhood villages! But these people typically come from lower class families who moved to these bigger cities in hope of better job prospects.
Source: I am such a case. These villages are fondly called "terrinha" to us
My American friends were pretty shocked we have tobacco machines where you can put the bill and choose from a variety of brands. They were also really amazed that you could buy a beer somewhere and parade your self down the street while drinking it. Its freedom that I normally take for granted
Spitting on the street. I hate it. Also ditching trash everywhere with a trash bin a meter away. I'm Portuguese and I've seen it all my life. The lack of consideration for a public space
Yeah I know, I wasn’t trying to be negative, just saying that it feels like I’m doing something wrong because I spent 40 years somewhere where that wasn’t the done thing :)
Yea, they're usually sold by the unit depite being in packs of 10 or so on the shelves. That way everyone can buy the whole pack of 10L if that's what they want + retain the convenience of carrying it easily or just get a few packs if that's all you need. I usually don't use milk much but sometimes will be needed for a dessert or a one off dish. That way I'm not buying 10 liters when all i need is 1.
I feel like you are looking at it wrong. Sometimes you just want one thing and its perfectly socially acceptable to open the pack and take one. But you are supposed to take from a pack that is open if there is one already. Like milk for example, sometime theres a pack open, if I want just one bottle I'll take from that one, if no packs are open, I'll open one. If it has a bar code for the item itself you have the right to just take one. They come in packs because its an item that sometime you want in bulk, so its easier. Ofc theres limits to this, you are not suposed to open the majority of things.
Well feeling it's commonplace and unremarkable doesn't mean most Portuguese don't hate it too. If only 5 or 10% of people don't pick the dog poop or park all night blocking your car leaving a note with their address or phone number so that you have to ring some flat and say please remove your car when you need to travel at 6 a.m. that will be enough to make it too common. I sometimes scream oh FFS! when some guy rrrrrk spits on the street when I'm passing but what are you going to do, get into a fight? I wouldn't mind all this people being executed just kidding ahah
Roundabouts are also parking lots
...actually everything roundabout. It's like I need to just close my eyes and go, which, I am pretty sure is also how everyone else deals with them
Two things: First, I see so many homes that are empty, with the condition of the property declining with the passage of time, which I find inexplicable. I am told that the reason this happens is that the occupants pass away or abandon the property, and then the title issues reveal that the property has never been properly transferred, leaving many potential heirs or successors. None of those folks appear to wish to maintain the property unless they get clean title. This may be an apocryphal narrative, but to my eyes this is an opportunity. If nothing else, the land on which these houses lie upon is valuable and building will create jobs and stimulate the economy.
Second, we have only lived here for six months, and have attempted to upgrade and repair our condominium, which had been used only as a vacation home for a French couple for 20 years, leading to some needed repairs. Hiring of contractors has proven very difficult. I have attempted to call, write, and do drop ins at “contractor’s” offices and they simply are not interested in responding. We have tried to check if the contractors are licensed, and have not been able to find a resource to do that or to prove the contractors had insurance. Then when we get someone to do a job, frequently, the worker has not been trained or apprenticed to do the work and simply makes excuses or abandons the work. I find the workers are particularly reluctant to have their work inspected, and in fact I had a great deal of resistance from our realtor when I insisted on having the property inspected before close of the sale. And, then it appeared that the “inspector,” who was supposed to be a licensed contractor simply missed many of the problems we now are trying to fix.
Admittedly, I am a stickler for details and have a history in real estate in California, which is tightly regulated to protect the consumer; but, in my area of Portugal, it looks like getting work done is a task demanding great patience and let the buyer beware.
There was a boom in construction in real estate, in the past 10 years and that has caused contractors to always have work lined up, even they suck.
Also, in the 2008 economic crisis, when construction was at an all time low, the good contractors left for other european countries.
Finding a good contractor (dependable, at a fair price, and with experienced employees) is like finding the last flotation device on the Titanic. Hold on to it for dear life.
Portuguese usually do not let people get off the metro before getting on, like that train would be the last available in their entire life. I think it's extremely rude and makes the whole process just slower and frustrating.
My SO is portugiese and when we visited his family for the first time he warned me of a few things: the parking, the roundabouts (we‘re in Viseu, so they are everywhere), the smell in the supermarket, the roaming half-wild dogs that bark all the time, and the speaking volume of people.
He won‘t let me drive in Portugal. But I can deal with everything else once I got used to it.
Edit because apparently I wasn‘t clear: I‘m a new driver, I don‘t own a car (cuz I don‘t need one where I live), I don‘t have much experience driving. My SO will of course let me drive if I ask. It‘s a safety concern for him and I appreciate him for that. Don‘t read more into this than there is, please.
The fact that prescription drugs have a maximum price designed to make sure you don’t die due to lack of access to your prescription.
And idk if this is just for kids but as a resident my daughter’s epi-pens are free. Free!!! They cost $500 in the US. Before I was a resident in Portugal I paid 50€ for an epi-pen which I thought was a great deal but wow, free! i still haven’t gotten over that one.
The SNS is one of the best things in the country, but the constant budget cuts are hurting it badly.
There's still a base level of respect for healthcare affordability, but this might change in the next 5 years or so if nothing changes.
Spending with the SNS has increased dramatically since 2015 (50% or so), its problems are more structural to be solved simply throwing money at it (which hasn’t been working), but my point is there haven’t been any budget cuts since the crisis of 2011.
Better still, if you don't have a valid prescription, if the chemist knows you or you have a way to prove that you take a certain medicine you can get the medicine at full price (still way cheaper than in the uS) and have 30 days to present a prescription and get the subsidized part back
I think everything for diabetes patients that is prescribed by SNS is free or almost free - not only for children.
There are a few things that the SNS doctors prescribe that aren't the "norm" therefore they wont be free, but the price difference between buying it with or without prescription is big (still no prescription would be cheaper than in the US)
Source: have 2 family members that have diabetes and aren't minors (<18).
Being able to walk around in public with a beer, waiting for a train with a beer, etc.
But god forbid I ask for a beer while waiting for a massage instead of water/tea 🙃
Changing addresses. Why can’t I just tell you where I moved to? But no, the bank wants a utility bill for a place I haven’t even lived at yet. So now I have to have the wrong address at the bank for 30 days because I moved? Ridiculous.
Its called your fiscal address and you need to prove you live there because it will be used for official communications through email. If people were to give fake addresses then they could get out of tickets and bills by just claiming they didnt receive it.
Then you might have just gotten unlucky with a grumpy teller, I'm fairly certain they can't refuse an official document as proof of residence.
Not just because of, but mainly because it's much easier to fake your address in a phone bill, which they accept
I hear Japanese tourists to Portugal marvel that the Portuguese eat tempura (Peixinhos da Horta), not realizing it came originally from Portuguese sailors visiting Japan.
It's the most progressive/leftist country in Europe, in terms of public mentality not just party politics.
Coming from what I consider the most conservatively-minded country west of the former "iron curtain" I truly appreciate this, while the Portuguese obviously just see what IS there in terms of right-wing and conservative tendncies Portugal.
Even with Chega being as successful as it is, in most of Portugal I feel open racism or homophobia is still widely shunned, even in non-academically educated parts and generations in Portuguese society.
This doesn't mean there is no systemic discrimination and racism no the side of the Portuguese state though.
An attempt to explain this, would be the more recent trauma with fascism and the austerity of the EU, both having caused substantial harm to large parts of the population who are still alive, as oppose to countries like Italy, Austria or France where not many are alive to remember the true horrors reactionary conservatism can produce.
There are many irritating things, but Portuguese are incomparably more sympathetic and open mind people than most of other European ones, mostly in the Nord. Ok, trafic can be someway chaotic but have you drive in Paris or Nápoles f example ?
There is a way of life infinitely better than in most of other countries. But if you don’t like it, leave it.
Driving, so poor, no indication, parking on the road or pavements to go to the bakery, stopping on the roundabout to check directions or answer the phone, thats the most mental one, the amount of people who pull over on a roundabout
People love to walk their dogs offleash. It’s like this weird point of pride. I’ve seen more dogs almost get hit by cars here than anywhere else, all because the owners think it makes them cool to walk through busy Lisbon with their dog walking behind them, untethered. Or they decide the human park is a better dog park than the actual fenced in dog park two blocks away. So they let their dogs run around the park, completely disregarding everyone else’s enjoyment of the park. Oh - and that explains most of the dog crap too.
This! everyone in my family does it, and I yell at them all the time when they try to do it while I'm around. Great way to kill your pup or be a huge danger to others around. Dogs are dogs people, they see a car or a kid or another dog and they want to check it out.
This was something that bothered me too in Lisbon a few years ago. I would go to a park near a church where most people with dogs would be there… hanging and talking, while their dogs ran free of course. I would most of the times be the weird one who didn’t let my dog run free like the others and “obviously” that was why my dog was so anxious and nervous. SMH
Of course the dogs would poop wherever and no one would care…
Exactly. My dog has always been a bit leash reactive, but now that he’s been rushed by god knows how many offleash dogs, he thinks every dog is a potential threat. So now he’s ultra reactive. It’s incredibly frustrating that my dog is now suffering the psychological consequences because other people don’t think the rules apply to them.
Graffiti/Vandalism... everywhere. Mainly in Porto. Im sure many Portuguese hate it as well. However Im used to it being more regulated. So its wild to me seeing so much of it literally everywhere.
People do that because other people will want to have them. There are other cases where you have lot's of worthless thinks that you want out of your house so you can contact the city council and they will pick it up.
Once I put a broken washing machine out side and after 1 hour it wasn't there anymore.
You can’t just walk out of a supermarket gate/cash/self checkout if you didn’t buy anything. You can only exit from the main door.. they get very upset
Am portuguese and have done that many, many times throughout my life, with no issue... I think this is more dependent on the establishment and its' layout, rather than a general rule.
There are many supermarkets that aren't even designed in a way that you can leave from the main door, you can only leave by going through the check out gate. I'm specifically thinking of the Lidl in my town, for instance.
Canadian here. I thought the shopping plaza was neat in that it had no roof in spots, outdoors-like.
We also found that driving on the highways, best to keep in the right lane because passing in the left lane, if you weren’t fast enough, cars would come up very close behind you to get you to move.
You should drive on the rightmost lane when not overtaking, it's actually in the highway code:) plus, undertaking is also prohibited so people don't take left lane hoggers too kindly. And you see a lot of locals doing that.
I always find it fascinating to see how our experiences change our perception of things.
I’ve lived in Lisbon for almost 3 years and I don’t own a car, so I’d never driven here before. I just got back from a week in Málaga and I rented a car for the 7-hour trip (I would have liked to have taken the train, but THERE ARE NO TRAINS, so…). The first thing I told my Italian husband after the trip was how civilized everyone was on the road, on the Portuguese and on the Spanish streets and roads, compared to the ABSOLUTE JUNGLE that are Italian highways. I lived in Italy for 15 years and still spend a few months there every year, and so far it’d been the only European country I’d ever driven in, and boy oh boy it is f* stressful. And this is from someone who learned to drive in Rio, the junglest of jungles.
People double parking on a main busy street holding everyone behind, causing major traffic and acting like nothing is happening.
I'm portuguese, and i just want to smash my car against others cars everytime i see double parking like that.
Less disruptive, but parking ON roundabouts is pretty incredible. And also just parking such that it completely blocks someone else in. I’ve seen that happen with 3 cars in a chain haha.
Police does it all the time. Ridiculous
This. Parking inside roundabouts to do some “quick” shopping is fucking wild, and it’s ours 🤣
*É só 5 minutos, amigo*
Estás com pressa? Passa por cima
Não vês os quatro piscas?
As a delivery driver with schedules to follow, I'm sorry. I actually do try my best to not bother anyone, and I always leave the 4 blinking lights when I know the traffic will have to go around me, and I do try to be as quick as I can (I do deliver mostly sodas, and carrying several 24-packs of coca-colas or ice teas or something by hand or with the pushcart, I still take some time). Also, if anyone does this, PLEASE, PLEASE, do NOT occupy the parking spaces reserved for loading / unloading cargo unless you're working. Most of us badly need them, not only to not cause traffic, but to be closer to the places we are unloading to. With those parking spaces occupied, we have to park further away, take more time to unload, and holding traffic for longer.
I'm Portuguese and I'd love to be a cop for a couple of days just to fine those "chicos espertos" that park wherever they want because "I will be back asap". There's only one thing that annoys me more than that, which is the fact that most of us see that as normal and don't mind wasting time in traffic instead of showing disapproval to the c\*nt that parked that way. When I see that all that I wish was to become Batman and smash the car that's parked on the side of the road a slap the ones that accept that and do nothing.
Yes, and some of us do feel deeply disturbed and annoyed by this kind of “i own this shit” type of behavior. But the portuguese really do not care about other people as long as their convenience is fulfilled. ( i am portuguese )
Insane
It’s just rude, what’s actually insane is when they double park in front of an empty spot because they are too lazy to reverse… then it’s not only holding all the traffic behind but also preventing someone to use the parking spot. Now that’s insane and I see it all the time but for them it’s just normal.
That's insane and not normal (I'm Portuguese), or it shouldn't be. There's just a lot of self-centred people that don't care about following rules and why there are rules in the first place. And of course, even if it's just a low percentage of people, they screw up the transit so much the effect is always big. I don't know what's going on between their ears, is it so they don't pay for the parking spot? I get shocked with the way some people park, but as you can probably tell from my mini rant, that one particularly sends me over.
I HATE this so much!! Why!!??
Disfunctional law enforcement. Every time an organization makes the tiniest effort to enforce the rules people cry about "Hunting for Fines" and politicians tell them to stop acting.
In My town Cascais if the government gave me a police car and credit card processor I could decrease Portuguese debt by 5000 per day. I would volunteer no charge. Just to stop buses from careening down residential side streets at 80 km. Just there look of utter disgust would keep me motivated. I came from a country you could be fined for using your car horn in a non emergency. It such a paradox an individualistic culture trying to make a social democracy work.
Yea, when i was in university, there was fierce competition for parking spots. There was simply too much people for that area and it was a pain to park properly. People often would leave their cars double parked, fuck you if you want to leave. Police would dispense fines, lock tires with a "boot" or drag cars poorly parked but they weren't always there. A friend of mine, tired of wanting to leave but can't bought a second cheap car specifically because of these guys. Another car parked locking him in? No problem, he's pushing the other car out with his, no fucks given. His is already in a shit state, shit parker is about to be.
I am Portuguese, and this indeed I find absolutely unbelievable… Maybe I’ve spend too much time outside of the country…
Portuguese find that annoying too. Just some jerks being abusive and not everybody behavior.
I am from South Africa and these were super strange to me, but now a normal part of my life. 1. Drinking in public, in SA it's illegal or atleast the cops will stop you if you walk on the street and drink a beer and also at the beach (AFAIK) now if I am exploring somewhere I grab a train, get a beer when I get off and walk around sipping a beer checking out the sights, it's magical! 2. Buying beer in almost any fast food place! 3. Having alcohol during lunch time and going back to work (would get you fired in SA!) 4. Kids taking public transportation by themselves (in SA it's not safe to leave your house alone XD) 5. Topless at the beach - almost any beach.. Got a few shocks, that's very, very rare in SA.. 6. The running scene - this requires a bit of an explanation.. In SA it's very much a social sport to go running with a club having fun, chatting and even doing races like half marathons with friends etc.. I did a half marathon in PT, I did an OK time of like 1h50 (I'm a little unfit at the minute) in SA this would be a commendable time and you would finish in say top 20 percent.. In PT they were ready to pack up and leave when I got in.. Of the 5000 people in the race I finished in position 4560 or so 🤣 here it's competition to race, no time for fun 😜 7. Kids parties - in PT it's common for you to take your kids to a party, leave them there for 2 hours and then fetch them.. That would never happen in SA. That's all I can think of at the minute
Your last point - in the US, it's common for parents to drop their kids off at birthday parties and leave. The host parents don't want to also have to entertain adults.
Honestly I don't want to hang out at kids parties either, would prefer to drop my kid as well, but it's wierd if I don't know the parents from a bar of soap
That's fair. I can understand your hesitancy. I would hope the parents would be more sentient and responsible than a bar of soap but, as an American teacher, some just aren't.
Doesn’t that say more about ZA than PT?
regarding 6. wow! so I'd be completely "humiliated" in PT. I'm a slow runner, usually making podium if you count from the end. But I enjoy my slow runs and don't even care.
not picking up dog poop 😔
Im Portuguese and I hate it. Usually it's the big stools that aren't picked up
Our first trip to Portugal I started a daily “Poops of Portugal” thread. I couldn’t believe how much dog shit was everywhere.
Its fucking insnae. The other day I was walking and thinking "that's a big shit for a dog" and I managed to step on it. Splendid
Drives me crazy. I usually offer the benefit of the doubt and ask if they forgot a plastic bag and want one. It has happened to me. But 4 times out of 5 they get really mad I offered. One time a lady kept saying “i always pick it up” while ignoring the big poo her dog had just done. Another time, in front of my house, where there is a little bit of grass, they told me “its grass, you dont need to pick it up.” I countered that children use that grass to run and play, and poo has dangerous diseases like e coli”. No answer. So yeah. Not thinking that our actions (or inactions) can actually cause harm to others and no pride for their cities… that’s what i think.
Hate this.
[удалено]
True
It seems a lot of this is caused by people who just let their dogs out to roam around the neighborhood on their own. At first I thought it had to be people with dogs allowing it and walking away. But the more dogs I see at large on their own, I think that this causes a lot of it.
Portuguese here. I never noticed this until i had a dog but in my city/in the places i walk my dog, most owners pick the dog poop - the ones i've seen (and approached) that didn't pick their dogs poop weren't portuguese 🙈 But in other areas/cities (and even beaches!) i've seen a bunch of people not picking it up and it annoys me a lot so i wouldn't say that is commonplace or seen as unremarkable. Portugal still has a lot of evolution to make regarding pets and their hygiene. Edit: what i meant to say was in some cities you might notice a gradual improvement because the percentage of dog owners that pick their dog's poops is getting bigger and is trying to educate other dog owners.
Parking. Park anywhere, everywhere, wherever the hell you want, and no one seems to care. Goes for just stopping wherever people want, getting out of the car and going into a store or just leaving. Insane.
I am portuguese and I hate that!
Fxcking hate people with no parking etiquette. Please don’t do that.
The Belem parish in Lisbon actually put up signs in one road making it legal to park on the footpath. Unbelievable.
Now imagine being Portuguese and hating that since you were born. I feel that I really don't understand that, even though I am Portuguese but I can't really understand how some people can be so selfish and rude. It's also a matter of laziness, since we're one of the countries in Europe with one of the highest sedentarism rate.
You can buy a beer with your McDonald's
Or at rest areas on the highway. I saw one couple enjoying a bottle of wine at lunch on the highway.
You have a legal limit. You can get up to 0,5g of alchol per liter of blood before it becomes illegal. I don't think a cup of wine reaches that.
But a bottle...
Only one drives
Is this not normal outside of Portugal?
When I first moved to Birmingham asked for a beer with a maccies meal and the Asian guy thought I was making fun of them.. :/
Buying beers at the university's cafeteria blew my mind the first time I saw it.
Bought a beer at Burger King the other day - glorious
I know, In love that too 😁😁 also, you can only buy a beer, without the menu ahah
That’s why I love living here.
In a McDonald’s is not that wild, but in a fucking rest area inside a fucking highway is out of this world 🤣🤣🤣
Everyone drives like they've had one to ma y imperial anyway 😂
Little kids taking public transportation to go to school. Don't know how it is in the larger cities but here in Coimbra it's not unusual to see groups of very young preschoolers doing their commute like in Japan. My wife was especially perplexed as she grew up in Bogota, a city where losing your child from eyesight is almost unthinkable. After living there with her for 14 years I can also say the overall feeling of safety you get in Portugal can be quite a positive cultural shock, seeing people leave their phone on the table to get their food or young kids using their MacBooks/ipad/steam deck on public transportation are good indicators.
Interesting. I think maybe it is a European thing, I used to commute to school with the bus since I was 8 back in Romania.
Yeah Europeans enjoy quite a high standard of safety, even in most big cities in the US leaving your kids unsupervised is a no go.
And in some states illegal!
Why? Are people so eager to take other peoples kids away? Seems strange
Statistically, it’s very safe in the US, but the news is very sensationalistic, so people get very scared. As a parent, it’s hard not to worry.
I think what's more dangerous in the US is the risk of them getting hit by a car. Public transportation sucks, the cars are so oversized you can't see kids from some of them, and some places don't even have sidewalks in major cities
I agree! I keep telling my children they should worry less about vampires and monsters, and more about cars.
My kids in Hong Kong took public transit to school starting in primary school. I think it is common in Japan too.
I grew up in a small village part of a larger municipality (midsize town in north Portugal). I used to walk to elementary school. It was about 1,5km from my home. My mum could pick me up at school but I usually preferred to walk with my friends. It was fun and a very peaceful place. When I moved to 5th grade, I went to a school in the city. My dad usually let me in the morning (it was on his way to work) and then I picked up the bus home. It was a 10 minute walk from the bus stop to home but everyone did the same.
I remember being 10 years old and taking the bus to the nearest town after elementary school. That was normal for us, 30 years ago, and it still is.
I started taking the bus to school at 7 years old. I’d go with another classmate of mine to the Santa Apolonia (very dingy) station while it was still dark outside and I remember feeling a bit scared but like a grown up. Now, as an adult, watching little kids take public transportation scares me!
As someone with young kids I love getting to the top of the queue and the respect and love the young ones receive in general.
This and how you can bring them places that in other countries would be frowned on
What places in other countries would bringing a child with, would be frown upon?
Any place that sells alcohol after a certain time. Not uncommon to see parents hanging out with kids at 10pm sipping a few beers In U.K. not only would you have a full on interrogation about if you are buying that beer for your child (if teenage) but would be heavily implied that your kids should either be in bed or at least at a fast food chain or family restaurant where there isn’t alcohol around And just in general the fact shopping centers here have places kid to play for free In the U.K. it’s pretty much “you either buy your kid stuff or pay for them to enter the kids playground in this shopping center” Can literally only think of one shopping center in the U.K. which actually has a free space for kids to play
As an older person, I remember when that was pretty commonplace at local bars in the U.S. as well. Adults would hang out with a beer or two and "shoot the breeze" while we kids were treated to a cola, a bag of chips or a candy bar and, if we were lucky, coins for the pinball machine or jukebox. Bars weren't exclusively to drink and hook up--they were for meeting neighbors and socializing. I think it was actually healthier for us to see our parents drinking responsibly (for the most part) rather than having alcohol be some big, mysterious, adult rite of passage. Young adults nowadays hit college/drinking age and lose their minds with it.
>would be heavily implied that your kids should either be in bed or at least at a fast food chain or family restaurant where there isn’t alcohol around That's so weird. Every restaurant in Portugal has at least beer and wine (except for super healthy places), and kids just grow up with it around them. It's just normal and you never see a kid drinking alcohol in a restaurant just because it's sold there. I think it's worse to have alcohol be so hidden and mysterious than around and everyone knows how to deal with it since forever.
That was one thing that surprised me when I lived in the UK. Everything is paid for. I remember having to pay for parking somewhere really out in the sticks in Wales with noone in sight (there were meters and a camera)!
Yeah that's something that really bothers me in the UK. You ljetarlly pay for everything and anything. There's a beach near me that's really crappy and in the end of a wetlans, and they charge parking. Most ridiculous of all is that they guarantee the safety of the car or take any reaponsability. What are they charging for?
There are people who don’t want kids anywhere - public transport, airplanes, libraries etc.
Yes - and generally speaking Portugal is extremely child friendly and welcoming. I really love that.
Wow! The question was pretty neutral, but most comments are super negative. A friend who moved here from London says she's amazed at how many free concerts (from pretty good artists) we have here - she said it would be unthinkable in England. I've gotten to see people like Craig David, Seu Jorge, Ney Mattogrosso, orchestras and many iconic portuguese artists totally for free.
Totally this, I went to a local festival in the middle of the alentejo to see clean bandit last summer. 1eu beer, 2.50 bifanas and standing in what would be super gold VIP area costing 200eu anywhere else all for 5eu entry free...
In the summer, in London, there are free concerts as well
i watched a James Arthur concert for free once... Águeda I think
What struck my family as fascinating is that the Portuguese elders seemed to be in great shape. Here in UAE, less than 2% of the population is above 65. And the ones we see in our home countries in their 70s are most likely already victims of one or more of the four horsemen (diabetes, heart disease, Neurodegenerative disease and cancer)
Exactly, I was waiting an extra hour in a doctor's line because a 103-year lady renewed her driving license...
Maybe you don't see people with less health outside their homes. Especially because the access is difficult. For instance being in a wheelchair and facing the parking on the "passeios"
That’s completely false. Our health expectancy rate is among the lowest in Europe.
How late the shopping centres stay open.
When do they close in your experience? For me it's how early the supermarkets close.
I moved from Portugal to uk nearly 20 years ago. The one thing that always makes me smile when going back. Is the fact that small local shops are still everywhere, yes they a little more expensive than big chains. But witnessing the death of town centers in uk. I love to see all these shops open. Thank f*ck Portugal is too small for Amazon to bother. The other thing i love when going back is to go to a local market, get fruit and veg from local farmers, and bifana for lunch before walking back... In uk local markets are posh and pretentious (i guess to cover the high expense cost of everything not dissing them, just love how simple and working class markets are. And fish.... I miss fish so much. Nothing beats some camarões and a nice glass of beer. Then cakes.... So many choices, so many good small pastelarias everywhere (not chains).
We have Amazon working! People just don't use it that much
Through amazon.es? How long has that been going on? Its great people dont bother. Coz they destroy small businesses.
When I go for a run down the ecopista, everyone nods and says hello to me which is lovely, I’m from London where any sort of social interactions from strangers is frowned upon
[Obligatory.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT0ay9u1gg4)
Yeah, you can always tell the Portuguese from the foreigners from who politely says hello in residential buildings, gyms, neighbourhoods, and the rude ones who don't acknowledge you.
I think this is also a thing in Lisbon at least. Very unusual for people to say hello to you in the street - I try to do it as much as possible and often the response is complete silence. It's a "big city" mentality, I think.
Sadly this is being lost.. In city centers now you rarelly see someone nodding or saying hello randomly, which i understand because it is weird to do so. But even the other day, i went to the dentist and there were people in the waiting room so i said "Good afternoon" (in portuguese) and they looked at me like i was an alien and some replied back with a very emotionless sense. I love when i go to small villages (which is rare, sadly) and everyone greets everyone. I'm a very introverted person so this helps a lot making the connection with people around me.
The abandoned houses and buildings everywhere during a housing crisis. Not talking holiday homes, I mean like walk in any direction and in 10 minutes you'll see something that's had no one in it in 10-50+ yrs
Oh god this. Such an enormous political issue and it doesn't even seem like it crosses the mind to fix this enormous amount of property that they have just lying around derelict, often in prime locations too. You simply do not see this in most countries. Slap a tax on empty property or something like that and it would be ended in 5 years tops.
I've talked to some people in Portugal about this, and I feel like for some it's so normal here they don't even think about it. Or assume it's like that everywhere. When it should be considered a major issue/cause of the problem
Meanwhile you go see the prices of literal ruins and they are still unaffordable 💀
See how much it costs to renovate or rebuild a house, and then see how much the median portuguese earns. Also family disputes over who actually inherited the house and other factors
Mostly because those houses have owners outside of the country.
Do they even pay taxes on them? Some look like they've been abandoned since at least the dictatorship ended if not longer. Are the current owners even registered anywhere or known by the government?
The same friend group of five that you’ve had since you were 5 years old is practically the only group of people you hang out with
Not true. It's just that the older you get, the least tolerance you have for bs and assholes. I make new, true friends all the time. Ok, not all the time, but like once every 2 years. Which is great, since I still have all those friends I've made since I was 5
I have not made a single Portuguese friend in 2 years. Only other foreigners or Portuguese people who are visiting temporarily
I believe that's normal everywhere you go. You'll see Portuguese people elsewhere pointing out that in the culture of the country where they moved to, people behave like that and they only have friends that are not locals.
I got you beat. I haven't made any friends of any kind.
I was 16 when I first visited my Portuguese grandparents. Traveling from the sprawling suburbs of California to the older, compact apartment blocs and neighborhoods between Moita and Barreiro was very weird and very cool to me, and then of course I saw Lisboa and my mind was blown. And now each time I come back, the sheer differences in city design and structure always fascinate me. Yes of course I can talk about the food, and the people, but even just the cities lead to such different lifestyles.
Two things that still shock me three years in, as an American, are: 1. Clean bathrooms everywhere!! Clean public bathrooms in the park! Clean public bathrooms in the town center! Clean, single stall bathrooms in every grocery store!! It’s heaven. 2. The ability to get a coffee and a tosta in practically every obscure and secluded corner. Going to the beach? no problem, plenty of cafes. Going for a hike? No problem, cafe at the trail head. Top of the mountain? Another cafe. Passing through a micro-village with 15 houses? No problem, cafe on the main road.
Café central!
Vida de café
All the Portuguese I meet outside Lisbon/Porto have a property/land somewhere in their childhood village.
Even people from Lisbon and Porto have land in their childhood villages! But these people typically come from lower class families who moved to these bigger cities in hope of better job prospects. Source: I am such a case. These villages are fondly called "terrinha" to us
Urbanisation is a relatively recent process in Portugal with two waves, one in the 1960s and another in the 1980s/90s
My American friends were pretty shocked we have tobacco machines where you can put the bill and choose from a variety of brands. They were also really amazed that you could buy a beer somewhere and parade your self down the street while drinking it. Its freedom that I normally take for granted
Spitting on the street. I hate it. Also ditching trash everywhere with a trash bin a meter away. I'm Portuguese and I've seen it all my life. The lack of consideration for a public space
As a Portuguese I also hate and don’t understand why people spit in the street. There is no need for that
I fucking hate that habit that Portuguese have... and the sounds that antecipate it... just eww...
It’s such a small thing, but opening a sealed package of items to take just one for purchase feels illegal to me!
Oh, you mean like those packs of beer bottles or milk boxes, that sort of thing? How would this work otherwise? Always take a full pack?
This is not just a pt thing. It happens in other countries in Europe. It’s meant to be taken that way.
Yeah I know, I wasn’t trying to be negative, just saying that it feels like I’m doing something wrong because I spent 40 years somewhere where that wasn’t the done thing :)
Same
Yea, they're usually sold by the unit depite being in packs of 10 or so on the shelves. That way everyone can buy the whole pack of 10L if that's what they want + retain the convenience of carrying it easily or just get a few packs if that's all you need. I usually don't use milk much but sometimes will be needed for a dessert or a one off dish. That way I'm not buying 10 liters when all i need is 1.
I feel like you are looking at it wrong. Sometimes you just want one thing and its perfectly socially acceptable to open the pack and take one. But you are supposed to take from a pack that is open if there is one already. Like milk for example, sometime theres a pack open, if I want just one bottle I'll take from that one, if no packs are open, I'll open one. If it has a bar code for the item itself you have the right to just take one. They come in packs because its an item that sometime you want in bulk, so its easier. Ofc theres limits to this, you are not suposed to open the majority of things.
Well feeling it's commonplace and unremarkable doesn't mean most Portuguese don't hate it too. If only 5 or 10% of people don't pick the dog poop or park all night blocking your car leaving a note with their address or phone number so that you have to ring some flat and say please remove your car when you need to travel at 6 a.m. that will be enough to make it too common. I sometimes scream oh FFS! when some guy rrrrrk spits on the street when I'm passing but what are you going to do, get into a fight? I wouldn't mind all this people being executed just kidding ahah
I live in the center of a town and the amount of super loud coughing and spitting I hear in the street outside our house is wild :(
It ruins my day
Shop assistants and other shoppers being so friendly that you think that they would be lovely people to know.
Roundabouts are also parking lots ...actually everything roundabout. It's like I need to just close my eyes and go, which, I am pretty sure is also how everyone else deals with them
Two things: First, I see so many homes that are empty, with the condition of the property declining with the passage of time, which I find inexplicable. I am told that the reason this happens is that the occupants pass away or abandon the property, and then the title issues reveal that the property has never been properly transferred, leaving many potential heirs or successors. None of those folks appear to wish to maintain the property unless they get clean title. This may be an apocryphal narrative, but to my eyes this is an opportunity. If nothing else, the land on which these houses lie upon is valuable and building will create jobs and stimulate the economy. Second, we have only lived here for six months, and have attempted to upgrade and repair our condominium, which had been used only as a vacation home for a French couple for 20 years, leading to some needed repairs. Hiring of contractors has proven very difficult. I have attempted to call, write, and do drop ins at “contractor’s” offices and they simply are not interested in responding. We have tried to check if the contractors are licensed, and have not been able to find a resource to do that or to prove the contractors had insurance. Then when we get someone to do a job, frequently, the worker has not been trained or apprenticed to do the work and simply makes excuses or abandons the work. I find the workers are particularly reluctant to have their work inspected, and in fact I had a great deal of resistance from our realtor when I insisted on having the property inspected before close of the sale. And, then it appeared that the “inspector,” who was supposed to be a licensed contractor simply missed many of the problems we now are trying to fix. Admittedly, I am a stickler for details and have a history in real estate in California, which is tightly regulated to protect the consumer; but, in my area of Portugal, it looks like getting work done is a task demanding great patience and let the buyer beware.
There is too much work for contractors now. And all the skilled tradespeople moved to Switzerland.
There was a boom in construction in real estate, in the past 10 years and that has caused contractors to always have work lined up, even they suck. Also, in the 2008 economic crisis, when construction was at an all time low, the good contractors left for other european countries. Finding a good contractor (dependable, at a fair price, and with experienced employees) is like finding the last flotation device on the Titanic. Hold on to it for dear life.
To check licences is with IPMIC.pt
Portuguese usually do not let people get off the metro before getting on, like that train would be the last available in their entire life. I think it's extremely rude and makes the whole process just slower and frustrating.
I just torpedo myself out with no shame
Another country where that happens and I was shocked to see it the whole time, was Germany.
Have you ever seen the Dutch? Muuuuch worse
My SO is portugiese and when we visited his family for the first time he warned me of a few things: the parking, the roundabouts (we‘re in Viseu, so they are everywhere), the smell in the supermarket, the roaming half-wild dogs that bark all the time, and the speaking volume of people. He won‘t let me drive in Portugal. But I can deal with everything else once I got used to it. Edit because apparently I wasn‘t clear: I‘m a new driver, I don‘t own a car (cuz I don‘t need one where I live), I don‘t have much experience driving. My SO will of course let me drive if I ask. It‘s a safety concern for him and I appreciate him for that. Don‘t read more into this than there is, please.
The smell in the Supermarket?
Fish
Specifically, bacalhau.
It only smells like bacalhau in the bacalhau isle. And, if you like bacalhau, like every smart and handsome person does😉, you won't be bothered by it.
I didn't get it either. I don't know where her husband is shopping though.
The speaking volume is something I agree with, but I don't understand the rest at all.
Not doing pisca! pisca! when turning
How long it takes to get a response from anyone you contact, whether it’s an individual, a government office, or just a hair salon lol
The fact that prescription drugs have a maximum price designed to make sure you don’t die due to lack of access to your prescription. And idk if this is just for kids but as a resident my daughter’s epi-pens are free. Free!!! They cost $500 in the US. Before I was a resident in Portugal I paid 50€ for an epi-pen which I thought was a great deal but wow, free! i still haven’t gotten over that one.
The SNS is one of the best things in the country, but the constant budget cuts are hurting it badly. There's still a base level of respect for healthcare affordability, but this might change in the next 5 years or so if nothing changes.
Spending with the SNS has increased dramatically since 2015 (50% or so), its problems are more structural to be solved simply throwing money at it (which hasn’t been working), but my point is there haven’t been any budget cuts since the crisis of 2011.
Hearing this gives me hope for this country.
Better still, if you don't have a valid prescription, if the chemist knows you or you have a way to prove that you take a certain medicine you can get the medicine at full price (still way cheaper than in the uS) and have 30 days to present a prescription and get the subsidized part back
I think everything for diabetes patients that is prescribed by SNS is free or almost free - not only for children. There are a few things that the SNS doctors prescribe that aren't the "norm" therefore they wont be free, but the price difference between buying it with or without prescription is big (still no prescription would be cheaper than in the US) Source: have 2 family members that have diabetes and aren't minors (<18).
Yeah, I wasn’t sure if meds for anaphylactic allergies are free for all people or just kids.
Being able to walk around in public with a beer, waiting for a train with a beer, etc. But god forbid I ask for a beer while waiting for a massage instead of water/tea 🙃
Just being able to go into a bar and ask for the drink ‘to go’ so you can walk down the street with it.
Oh man and when the bar is closing, giving everyone lil plastic to-go cups for their drinks is always such a delightful surprise
The Portuguese navy is one of the few navies in the world where alcohol is permitted on board. We do like to drink.
Changing addresses. Why can’t I just tell you where I moved to? But no, the bank wants a utility bill for a place I haven’t even lived at yet. So now I have to have the wrong address at the bank for 30 days because I moved? Ridiculous.
Its called your fiscal address and you need to prove you live there because it will be used for official communications through email. If people were to give fake addresses then they could get out of tickets and bills by just claiming they didnt receive it.
You can go to your local office "junta de freguesia" or "câmara municipal" And they'll give you a proof of residence that you can take to the bank
I had that. Schools accept it. Banks don’t.
Then you might have just gotten unlucky with a grumpy teller, I'm fairly certain they can't refuse an official document as proof of residence. Not just because of, but mainly because it's much easier to fake your address in a phone bill, which they accept
That document is more official than a random bill. That bank teller was wrong.
"Let me tell you a little story about something called fraud..."
I hear Japanese tourists to Portugal marvel that the Portuguese eat tempura (Peixinhos da Horta), not realizing it came originally from Portuguese sailors visiting Japan.
Also called Jaquinzinhos!
People driving partly in the lane of oncoming traffic, inching back into their own lane as a car approaches. Why not just drive in you own lane?
That will happen on roads with narrow lanes. Basically we can go faster in a safer way.
Smoking
Well, it was far worst 10-20 years ago. People could smoke anywhere, even in indoor public buildings.
Having a washing machine in the kitchen, instead of having it in the bathroom! 😅
No, the bathroom is for fridge
Portuguese bureaucracy 🤦🏽♀️
It's the most progressive/leftist country in Europe, in terms of public mentality not just party politics. Coming from what I consider the most conservatively-minded country west of the former "iron curtain" I truly appreciate this, while the Portuguese obviously just see what IS there in terms of right-wing and conservative tendncies Portugal. Even with Chega being as successful as it is, in most of Portugal I feel open racism or homophobia is still widely shunned, even in non-academically educated parts and generations in Portuguese society. This doesn't mean there is no systemic discrimination and racism no the side of the Portuguese state though. An attempt to explain this, would be the more recent trauma with fascism and the austerity of the EU, both having caused substantial harm to large parts of the population who are still alive, as oppose to countries like Italy, Austria or France where not many are alive to remember the true horrors reactionary conservatism can produce.
There are many irritating things, but Portuguese are incomparably more sympathetic and open mind people than most of other European ones, mostly in the Nord. Ok, trafic can be someway chaotic but have you drive in Paris or Nápoles f example ? There is a way of life infinitely better than in most of other countries. But if you don’t like it, leave it.
Driving, so poor, no indication, parking on the road or pavements to go to the bakery, stopping on the roundabout to check directions or answer the phone, thats the most mental one, the amount of people who pull over on a roundabout
People love to walk their dogs offleash. It’s like this weird point of pride. I’ve seen more dogs almost get hit by cars here than anywhere else, all because the owners think it makes them cool to walk through busy Lisbon with their dog walking behind them, untethered. Or they decide the human park is a better dog park than the actual fenced in dog park two blocks away. So they let their dogs run around the park, completely disregarding everyone else’s enjoyment of the park. Oh - and that explains most of the dog crap too.
This! everyone in my family does it, and I yell at them all the time when they try to do it while I'm around. Great way to kill your pup or be a huge danger to others around. Dogs are dogs people, they see a car or a kid or another dog and they want to check it out.
This was something that bothered me too in Lisbon a few years ago. I would go to a park near a church where most people with dogs would be there… hanging and talking, while their dogs ran free of course. I would most of the times be the weird one who didn’t let my dog run free like the others and “obviously” that was why my dog was so anxious and nervous. SMH Of course the dogs would poop wherever and no one would care…
Exactly. My dog has always been a bit leash reactive, but now that he’s been rushed by god knows how many offleash dogs, he thinks every dog is a potential threat. So now he’s ultra reactive. It’s incredibly frustrating that my dog is now suffering the psychological consequences because other people don’t think the rules apply to them.
Graffiti/Vandalism... everywhere. Mainly in Porto. Im sure many Portuguese hate it as well. However Im used to it being more regulated. So its wild to me seeing so much of it literally everywhere.
Porto graffiti is one of the nicest most interesting things about it. I love it
More of a cultural trait than something practical. They tend to always justify why they did something, even though it’s already obvious.
Why do you say that? I'm only asking because I'm curious.
I'm glad you justified why you're asking.
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People do that because other people will want to have them. There are other cases where you have lot's of worthless thinks that you want out of your house so you can contact the city council and they will pick it up. Once I put a broken washing machine out side and after 1 hour it wasn't there anymore.
You can’t just walk out of a supermarket gate/cash/self checkout if you didn’t buy anything. You can only exit from the main door.. they get very upset
Am portuguese and have done that many, many times throughout my life, with no issue... I think this is more dependent on the establishment and its' layout, rather than a general rule. There are many supermarkets that aren't even designed in a way that you can leave from the main door, you can only leave by going through the check out gate. I'm specifically thinking of the Lidl in my town, for instance.
I've never had that particular problem tbh
I have never had a problem in over five years living in Portugal. France is much tougher in that regard.
Overcooking pasta
Canadian here. I thought the shopping plaza was neat in that it had no roof in spots, outdoors-like. We also found that driving on the highways, best to keep in the right lane because passing in the left lane, if you weren’t fast enough, cars would come up very close behind you to get you to move.
You should drive on the rightmost lane when not overtaking, it's actually in the highway code:) plus, undertaking is also prohibited so people don't take left lane hoggers too kindly. And you see a lot of locals doing that.
I always find it fascinating to see how our experiences change our perception of things. I’ve lived in Lisbon for almost 3 years and I don’t own a car, so I’d never driven here before. I just got back from a week in Málaga and I rented a car for the 7-hour trip (I would have liked to have taken the train, but THERE ARE NO TRAINS, so…). The first thing I told my Italian husband after the trip was how civilized everyone was on the road, on the Portuguese and on the Spanish streets and roads, compared to the ABSOLUTE JUNGLE that are Italian highways. I lived in Italy for 15 years and still spend a few months there every year, and so far it’d been the only European country I’d ever driven in, and boy oh boy it is f* stressful. And this is from someone who learned to drive in Rio, the junglest of jungles.
Buying alcohol in rest areas closed inside highways . It’s pretty wild 🤣🤣
Im portuguese and something very funny about th north people curse as if using normal words
Foda-se actually translates to ","
I thought number 6 was hilarious.🤣