smarts in Europe - A 90-day Adventure

(Part 2)

by Richard & Heidi Hill, Smart Trailer USA owners

Time passes as your fearless (?) reporters continue their journey through Europe.

The following day we took the S-bahn, or surface train, back out to Rossenhof. This time the ramp was level with my wheelchair so we had no problem getting on. Getting off, however was something else.  We had to go 3 stations past our destination to get to one with an elevator. My chair does not do well on steps or escalators and all the stations are underground. Yeh, I know I said it was a surface railway, but they put the stations underground a long time ago just to frustrate me.

Anyway, since the bus (all of which are handicapped accessible), was more than an hour wait and it was cold and rainy, we taxied to Rossenhof, where we had a lovely visit with Karl and a friend. Most of the afternoon was spent enjoying a fantastic train set that four uber elderly men have built. All to scale with multiple trains and intersecting tracks, working road guars, draw bridges, cranes, log lifts, lights, elevators, etc. Wow! Ever so neat.

Later that evening we took the bus, S-bahn and another bus to visit Heidi's aunt, who is actually only a year older and who has always been her best friend (at least until recently when I took over the job). We had dinner with them, enjoyed the reunion and then took a bus and train back to the Hauptbahnhof. The we walked it back to the hostel. Well, actually, Heidi walked and pushed me all the way - at midnight through a rather rough area. We made it safely back without having to call in any air strikes or detonate any small nuclear weapons!

The next day, another train ride to the airport and a short 2 hour hop down to Porto, Portugal, where we are now.  This time I wore my new prosthetic lower leg and foot, thinking that such a short flight might not cause the stump to swell from the reduced pressure in the cabin.  Hah, wrong again.  Couldn't hardly get the darn thing off when we arrived.

A week after arriving in Porto, Heidi had a hip replacement operation, which went marvelously well.  Now she is recuperating and undergoing physical therapy while new bone grows around the socket.

She is doing great, though Richard is having trouble with the new prosthetic leg fitting properly.  But, this is perhaps due in part to the rush in which we began the trip.  A new leg was provided by the VA Medical Center in Gainesville, FL, just one day before we departed.  The team there really came through for me, and now it's up to me to make things work.

We're now in December, the weather has been lousy with rain for most of our time here in Porto, Portugal.  It snowed just a few miles away the other day.  Not the kind of weather a Florida boy likes to see.

But now at last, Heidi is allowed to drive again and so we can get out of the house.  I, unfortunately, cannot drive here in Europe since nearly all cars have manual transmissions and I can't deal with a clutch and a fake leg at the same time!

Now, since this article is entitled smarts in Europe, it is about time that I mention them.  They are everywhere, they are everywhere!  Over 900,000 of the little buggers have been sold over the past 10 years here in Europe.  There are a number of different versions, built to test the market.  A smart forfour, a sports model, and several versions of the fortwo.

Parking is tight in most European cities, to say the least.  It really cracks me up to see a fortwo parked perpendicular to the curb!  That sure solves the problem of parallel parking and it doubles the available spaces! 

Don'tcha just love it?

Gas prices are about $8 per gallon here, so you see a lot of very small cars, but the fortwo is the smallest production car in the world.  Since they are still somewhat of a rare bird in the US, they draw a lot of attention, but not so much here.

People in Portugal drive like crazy, very fast, very recklessly - to my way of thinking.  But I notice very few damaged cars.  The number of wrecks you see on the roads and highways are far less than anywhere in the US.  Drivers here are far more observant, always using turn signals, always returning to the right lane after passing, watching the mirrors, but driving like bats out of hell...

The weather has been rotten, raining most of the time we have been here, but hopefully it will be nice for Christmas.  We will be going up to the lovely little village of Caminha, which is right on the northern border with Spain.

More next time.