Arriving at the Volvo garage in Setubal
It took us almost 2 hours to reach the Volvo repair shop in Setubal; I had driven the distance much faster before but he was very thoughtful and drove like I hoped for, but I must say that I looked at the Volvo many times to see if it was falling of this smal car.
I entered the Garage and talked to the first guy that I guess understood me but didnt want to talk English. One of the other guys came in; it was a young guy that spoke fluent English and turned out to be a very friendly guy.
The first message I got was that they would not be able to fix the car before in 10-14 days; they had vacation at their garage and they shipped some of there own cars for repair in Lisbon. I called the assistance again and asked what to do now! because they had moved me more than 80km from my hotel and all my stuff and this garage had no possibility to fix it. They said that they had followed the standard order and that was to tow the car to the nearest workshop and that was it. I was getting a little bit annooyed at them because there was apparently no procedure to check the availability at this nearest garage.
I found out that it might be possible to have the car fixed in Lisbon because the part was there, but I had to pay myself for having the car towed there; I didn't mind that as long as I could have the car fixed faster. After a couple of calls to the Lisbon branch they could not confirm a date for having it fixed.
The manager got a bit of sympathy for me now and promised to have it fixed at their place if I was willing to let the car stay there for 4 days. Well given the fact that one bird in the hand is better than 10 on the roof, I took the deal, the only thing I needed now was that I had to find a rental car for the coming days.
The young guy who spoke English volunteered to drive me to Setubal city centre to a car rental office.; which was just 2km from where we were at the garage. Again I got a big surprise, none one the four car rental offices in Setubal had any cars available! So I again to call the assistance to have them help me look for a rental. For me it was clear; they should have seniorities at some of the car rental companies so it would be much more easy for them to find me a car. I told them that I was even willing to go the 50 km to Lisbon to get a car.
After two hours they called back with the final answer; there were no cars available anywhere! And they could not guarantee one for the following day as well. They advised me to find a hotel in Lisbon for the night and then their Portuguese partner would contact me with the news; good or bad!.
The situation had gotten from good to worse to almost hopeless. All my things were 80km from there and now they wanted me to go further north without any guarantees that I could get a car, and my phones were running out of batteries after talking to the assistance all day.
Well I realized that there would be a better chance in Lisbon, so I had to go there. It was not that I disliked Lisbon; I love the city but I was on vacation in Alentejo; and I was just happy that I travelled alone this time.
I told the workshop to call a taxi and they did. Today I realize that I should also have asked them to say where to go.
I waited 10 min outside the garage and there he was. It was an old guy with a big smile on his face; maybe he looked at me and said there is money, but I don’t believe that; he was a nice guy and a friendly one, it was just that he didn’t speak anything else than Portuguese.
I entered the well used Citroén C4 Picasso and started to say that I wanted to go to the ferry to Lisbon. Lisbon he got, which was a start! I tried to point at the boats in the harbour and the ones out on the sea but he looked at me like I was a lost son-in-law; a stupid one. I tried for the most of 10 minutes them I gave up. I had been going on with my car problems for more than 10 hours and I just wanted to find a place to stay for the night.
I told him Lisbon and Rossio; I just wanted to go to the city centre and fast. He looked at me like I was from another planet and asked again; I just said Lisbon and Rossio. We started the trip to the city of Portugal. I was not afraid that I wouldn’t have money enough I had lots of cash on me I had thought I had to pay the garage that day.
We took the motorway and I enjoyed for the first time on this trip to be driven. I looked at the meter and it went very slowly even outside Setubal.
We entered Rossio 35 minutes later and the meter was on 48 €, which was what I sometimes pay from the airport in Brussels to the city centre; this was fair very fair, we had been driving more than 60 km. I gave him 55 €, I had to pay the bridge and the freeway toll as well plus 5 € in tips which I felt he deserved, because I felt already much better than 35 minutes before.
