The Banging in Portugal

I have been trying to publish this for a few days, but using a cell phone modem in Portugal was so slow that it took about 10 mins to get to blogspot. The Cascais internet cafe was out of the question at 15euro an hour. Luckily Hotel Arosa here in Madrid has free wireless. This internet stuff is just not going to work out, I tell you. Here goes:

In order to save me poisoning the last uncynical mind in Israel, my team sent me on vacation to Portugal. Its hard to find things to complain about while going for scenic walks along the Atlantic coast, drinking fresh beer at the German Beer garden next door and admiring the fit Portuguese women, but I understand my responsibilities well.

Our hotel, is being renovated. They are rebuilding the forth and fifth floor from 7am to 7pm each day. I am not sure what they are doing but it messes with the quite necessary afternoon "drooling on pillow" naps. On our reservation form they promised that the "build work" would be done by last weekend. According to the Lonely Planet guide, the Portuguese have been proven the laziest people in the world (how do you prove this? see how many people are just too lazy to take the motivation survey?) so I should not be surprised. When Jo went to complain they looked at her innocently and agreed, yes, they will be banging from 7 to 7. No matter how sweetly she smiled they refused to comp us the 5.50e breakfast. Still, its hard to get too upset while I sit here on my balcony and gaze out at the English couple lying around the empty pool. Its been most enjoyable to watch the maintenance guys try fix the busted drain with a hose for the last three days.

Nice people here mind you. Although a few of the women working in the Tourist Information stops could definitely find a home as a cashier in our local supermarket.