We are in Lisbon, Portugal right now, my first time in this country. We arrived on the bus last night at about 7:30, when we actually should have been here much earlier in the afternoon. That’s right.. more bus problems. Ironically, after an estimated 14-hour drive (which would have gotten us there at around 3:30), the bus started chugging and hiccuping less than 15 kilometers from our hotel. That’s less than 10 miles in metric-speak.. Anyway, with our late arrival and general annoyance at the whole situation, I decided to take the night off and relax at the hotel, since I won’t see one until Thursday..
On another note, check this out:
This was how much it cost to fill the tank on the bus, which I don’t think was even anywhere near empty. To put it in perspective, 150 liters is about 39 gallons (not much larger than a Hummer’s tank), and 193,60 euros converts to 42 cents shy of $300.00. Spain’s fuel prices have risen an insane 300% in the last 5 years, and just this past week there were hundreds of truckers and fishermen protesting.. I learned this when I was told we had to plan a strategic route to Portugal, to try and avoid running into the mess. By numbers, the price of regular unleaded gas in Spain is around $7.56 a gallon right now.. And we figured out that in Lyon, France, it’s almost (are you ready?) $13.00 a gallon..
A little food for thought, in case you’re unfamiliar with what’s going on in Europe right now. Just remember when you’re getting boned at the pump that the US is, all things considered, on the lower end of the fuel price surge spectrum.
Amsterdam’s got the right idea..
