I am now in Spain and I see now that I was wrong about the beret and shave. In Spain Iīm looking like a misplaced wasp in a swarm of mundos.
I can also tell you that the boarder crossing is immediately detectable. English is spoken here even less than in Portugal and the radio stations all play Spanish music! In Portugal, itīs the American top 40 on just about all the stations and Portuguese music has been washed away like the old city filled in with the riverīs silt near Santo António.
The Portuguese people are extremely friendly, while it does take a small bit of time for them to warm up.
Greg, the Australian in the previous travelogue tells me what he hates about American culture (and I have to admit I canīt say I disagree with his point of view). Is materialism the religion of America? Susan, at one of the Internet cafés tells me how there is a fascination with foreigners in Portugal. Is this because Portugal is generally ignored compared to the other nations in the EU? Another girl on a bus tells me that Portugal is everywhere but in the Algarve, where she is from, but the younger people are starting to accept things a bit more; however, in many places shorts are still scorned at, but no matter what age her country folk are, they love their cellular phones, American music and Brazilian soap operas. What are the social trends here? Do they differ than those in Eastern Europe? I generalize my limited experiences as being all of Europe, cross a boarder and discover Iīve only met one family of Europeans out of the dozens. What will the next town/country/continent bring?!
Loneliness isnīt with me. This was one of my concerns about solo travel, however, I had been assured by other Eurobackpackers this would not be the case. They were right!
My system of packing and touring and research seem to be working well too. I get lost... a lot. And if I give myself some patience, itīs enjoyable. I put away the map until I need to pull it out and find my way back (once I actually walked off the city map!). But this is what itīs all about... finding your way, blazing a trail and looking onward with out knowing what is to come around the bend.
The Sauntering reports are now being featured on a few web sites, including "Backpack Europe on a Budget" and "Start4All!" http://www.backpackeurope.com/traveltales.html http://backpack.start4all.com
I am very much enjoying sharing these stories with all of you and am glad to hear that you are enjoying being virtually here with me!