Monday, December 06, 2004
Who Needs "Local Colour" When You've Got To Go?
Although I love the Algarve and its people, there's one thing that haunts me whenever I visit...
The selection of public toilets on offer!
Now, I don't mean the condition in which they're kept. Most of them are maintained in very clean state by the formidable ladies who haunt such buildings (even the Gents') and hang about hoping for a gratuity as you leave.
Let's face it, since I live in the UK, I could hardly complain about the state of repair of Portuguese toilets. At home, public conveniences are routinely trashed by our well-educated youth (Government figures suggest that 50% of them have degrees, so a BSc in Porcelain Demolition must be a popular subject).
No, I'm referring to these strange devices with two foot-shaped marks on either side of a hole in the ground! The very sight of them fills me with dread, as I never know whether my desperation to 'go' will overcome my feeling of vertigo (and worse!) as I balance precariously over a pit.
Perhaps the European Union's Community Fund could cough up for some facilities that would propel the Algarve into the 21st Century and mid-European lavatorial standards.
Don't get me wrong, there's much about the Algarve and its charming way of life that I would defend tooth and nail. It's just that those 'lead bombardier' bogs aren't among them.
Those British B&B owners, eh?
I can only suppose that they meant a bathroom was private because nobody else had the right to use it while you were in there? Or maybe because it had a lock on the door?
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