Quinta das Abelhas

went for a bit of shopping yesterday and parked in the ‘car park’ behind the cheap supermarket. after the rain it’s a mudbath but i manage to squeeze into a little dry space next to a big lorry and go do my shopping. to get out of my space i need to reverse into some of the mud & puddles, “hah” i think, “no problem, i have a 4×4″.  hmm.  it appears my go-anywhere car actually doesn’t.  i get stuck in the mud. after some manouvreing back and forth trying to get out but only digging myself in deeper a lovely lady comes along and says she’ll phone the bombeiros for me to come get me out. she phones them but they don’t have anyone they can send out and so can i wait for half an hour to an hour? erm, yes, i say, i’m not going anywhere!

so i wait. and i wait. after an hour and a half i decide i’ll have another go at getting out. so i drive back and forth a bit - i have two wheels on reasonably dry & solid ground so i’m not sure why i’m so stuck. one of my back wheels is pretty dug in and i think really what i need is for someone to sit above the other back wheel which is on dry ground to give it a bit of extra weight and thus more traction but there’s no-one around. i think i’ll wait 10 more mintues then i’ll have to walk to the bombeiros to find out if they are indeed planning on coming to rescue me.

then an attractive young man pulls up in a car and gets out on crutches, so i can’t really ask him for help. anyway, he hobbles over and says “try going backwards and forwards fast”. now i’ve always thought that doing that would result in getting more stuck so i ask him if he’s sure i should try it mais rapido. “shall i try?” he says. “is your leg ok?” i ask. he says yes and climbs awkwardly into the car. i sit in the back to add more weight and after a few attempts we’re free. hoorah. i say “obrigada” about 20 times and think i am in love.

Stumble it!

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