Thursday was a holiday around here. And a holiday is always a nice set for an adventure. Exactly what happen to me this last Thursday.
It all started when keoshi fell in love with a new camera, the fujifilm x100, and if there’s one thing you gotta know about him is that when he wants something he’ll get it, sooner or later. This time it was as soon as last Thursday. The camera was placed nearly 300km (186 miles) away from where we were but… off we went! The two of us plus akira, Marta and João. We were happy cheery people (and dog) in a small driving adventure! We visited different cities we ate on the road and akira was even entitled to a burger! When we got to the camera sanctuary the camera was the most amazing ever, the trip was totally worth it! We were at ease and had a walk in the city, had a few local sweets, and we decided to go to the beach for a bit!
So we went to the beach, had a little fun, but it was getting cold and darker and we had to leave. We got to another city where we had the most delicious kebab I’ve ever had! It was sooooo good! We enjoyed our meal and hopped in the car again expecting nothing less than a smooth ride straight home. But that was not what happened.
If you ever come to Portugal bring a gps with you. There are no indications of which road to take. People here must know always where to go and how to get there because this is a general thing… No information whatsoever.
By the time we were back on the road it was dark. And gas was low. And getting lower by the minute. Even though there were many gas stations on the way keoshi didn’t fill up. I actually also didn’t see the need. We could fill up on the next station in Fátima. Aaahhh… Fátima. Do you know Fátima? It’s a sanctuary. Everything there revolves around religion…and one would think people were nicer and kinder and comprehensive… Wrong. Oh but how we all laughed about the prospect of running out of gas and having to push the car! I laughed so hard tears ran down my cheeks! Because there was no way there wasn’t a gas station open in a city that receives so many people like Fátima! Of course not! OMG that thought was so funny!
In Fátima gas was lowest of the low. The first gas station was closing, the woman was still inside and refused to start up the whole thing just to help us out… It was just 3 minutes past the closing time. We even begged (and remember we were in Fátima)! She couldn’t give a fuck. Pardon my French.
Good thing akira left a little souvenir…
We directed ourselves to the next gas station. Closed. The person was still inside… “there’s another one 5km (3.1 miles) from here” she said…I could not believe this. Duuuuudes! We are almost out of gas!! How could we drive for another 5km?! But we had no other choice… Then it started to get ghastly. No more laughs. The road was a tiny one in the middle of the woods, no lights anywhere, no cars no nothing… Our only hope was to find the damned gas station, and even though there was 90% chance it was closed, we had to stay there and wait till morning for it to open and fill up then…
The gas station was no where to be found and we had no idea where we were… Also the reception was bad so I couldn’t even load the maps on google maps. Sleeping in the car in the middle of freaking nowhere was now a very palpable reality…
But there it was finally! A gas station! It looked almost homemade and there was a tavern full of men drinking beer. The guy promptly got out and turned the things back on and filled up our car. He was so nice and kind! We weren’t in Fátima anymore!
So I wouldn’t be spending the night in a car, in the woods in the middle of freaking nowhere. Some other time! We drove back to Lisbon got lost another time (no indications, remember?) and finally arrived home.
That was my Thursday.
That is something that I never ever forget. What an experience… What a moment.
That’s how you live.
I hope you have a great Saturday.
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