Rental car from hell & finding happiness again
The bus dropped me off at the airport & I walked into the main terminal to find a Vodafone SIM dealer right away & the girl that helped me was lovely. In order to get my next rental car I had to call the car rental company & they would come with a shuttle to take me to the location the cars were held at. I had paid 80EURO through Booking.com to reserve a car & that was to include insurance…wow! What a smashing deal! I asked the nice girl at the SIM dealer if she would call the car rental company for me to make things easier for us all & she readily agreed. In no time my shuttle was there to whisk me & my bags to grab the little Opel Corsa I had booked.
About 10 minutes into this shuttle ride, I questioned the driver about how far away it was, but he didn’t respond. Everything fell to shit immediately when the shuttle driver drove up a pothole filled dirt road to a ramshackle building & dropped me off & left. Oh boy…all my rental car filled nerves were tingling! A really nice girl, who spoke impeccable English had me fill out forms & explained without a hint of emotion on her face that buying the insurance was mandatory 450 EUROS & I also needed to leave a 1100 EURO deposit in case of damages + another 300 EURO for gas & toll charges. Hahahahaha. FFFFUUUUCCCCKKKKK!!!!!!! The veins in my neck started to throb as I asked her how this was possible…I showed her the rental agreement through the booking agent & absolutely nonplussed she said with a shrug of her shoulders, “the 80 EUROS is just to hold the car booking, we don’t honour the terms that booking sets out, these charges are all legitimate in Portugal & if you want to cancel we will charge you the 450 EUROS as you’ve committed to the booking now & we have your credit card number.” Absolutely no emotion registered on her face. Holy fuck. Holy holy holy fuck. “Also, the car you booked is not available, so we have another & it’s the only one we have available, so ya…,sign here”. I look around & two men are standing in the doorway & they don’t look friendly. She showed me to the shittiest little KIA 5 speed money could buy & helped me load my bags into the trunk. Luckily, the credit card I gave her only has a $2500 CAD limit on it & after signing & paying, I drove off the lot, parked, messaged my bank the details & locked my credit card. Fuck you assholes…& dry hump the horse you road in on.
I’ve been looking over my shoulder ever since.
I vowed I wasn’t going to let this get me down & wreck my view of Portugal, so I talked positively out loud to myself the entire drive to my next destination…A Serenada Enoturismo Winery Bed & Breakfast snuggled in the hills near Grandola. The major highway getting there was great & barely another vehicle on it. Four wide lanes & clearly marked signs until I turned off into a bit of a holy-shit road. After driving in Scotland & the Cotswolds, nothing could make me overly nervous, but add in steep cliffs with no guardrails & my hands started to sweat. After about a dozen wrong turns, I finally turned into paradise, deep in the hills of Portugal.
Serenada is a boutique winery & lodge with stunning views & serene surroundings. The air was crisp with autumn in full force & I could see for miles…blue sky & sunshine in every direction. The host was a kind man who lead me to my room…a stunner with ample space & a huge balcony with views of the vineyards. He told me dinner was served at 8 p.m. & breakfast at 9 a.m….all included in the price of the stay…$108CAD. Yay! I asked about any walking paths & he explained the route I should take & left me be. Once he closed my room door I flopped on my bed. What a day of ups & downs! I experienced every emotion over the course of the last four hours…apprehension, anger, fear, dread, indifference, disbelief, excitement, exhilaration & now peace! It was only four o’clock! What a life!
I dawdled in the room for a bit & then set out for a walk through the Portuguese countryside. The resident dog as my guide, I walked for hours through the most beautiful setting & when I got back to my room, I chucked all my clothes off, showered quickly & crawled under the covers for a siesta before the dinner gong sounded.
I fell to sleep & for the first time in ages I slept like there was no tomorrow…deep & dreamless.
