A Cottage in Portugal

I loved this book, but I may be biased because I love Portugal and want to live near Sintra, where this story takes place. It's very amusing... chuckles all the way, with an occasional guffaw.

HELLO! IAM READ THIS BOOK AND EVERYTHING IS TRUE. BUT THE EXAMPLES ARE NOT ONLY THE BUREAUCRACY:EVERYBODY ARE THE SAME. SO, PLEASE, IF YOU WILL GO TO PORTUGAL TO A TRIP ON HOLIDAYS, OK: THE CLIMATE, FOOD AND THE CLICHES.BUT IF YOU LIVE A PERIOD OF TIME, PLEASE: NEVER, NEVER DO BUSINESS! PEOPLE DOESN'T LIKE TO WORK, REALLY. READ THE BOOK AGAIN AND TRANSFER THE EXAMPLES (BUREAUCRACY, HIS EMPLOYES ON THE HOUSE, ETC.) FOR EVERYBODY: BUSINESSMAN, SHOPS, INDUSTRIES, RICHS, POORS: IT'S ALL THE SAME, DOESN'T LIKE TO WORK, ARE RUDE, TREAT YOU "DRY", ONLY SPEAK ABOUT SOCCER (AND THEY ARE A LOOSERS AND HAVE ZILLIONS OF EXCUSES FOR THAT) AND YOU WILL LOST YOUR TIME, HEALTH AND MONEY. RUN! PLEASE.PS: AND THIS BOOK IS ONLY A RESUME, BECAUSE ARE MORE AND MORE BAD SITUATIONS THAT YOU COULDN'T IMAGINE. DON'T DO BUSINESS IN PORTUGAL, DON'T WORK, DON'T BELIEVE IN "SMILES": RUN NOW!

This is the story of the first few months in Portugal of Mr. Hewitt, an american who came to Portugal with his wife to live in a small village near Sintra. The descriptions of his deals with the various departments of the portuguese burocracy are definitely hilarious, and sound absolutely true. Although written about events that took place in 1985-6, most of the picture one gets rings true even today. A funny book.

I'm a portuguese student, and I was told to read this book by a teacher... my God, how I enjoyed it. At first, I was a little angry because of his simplistic way to look at portuguese people. But, towards the end, when he realised that the administration is slow, but the people is good-hearted and well-intentioned, I leaned to agree with many of his writing. I also loved the illustrations, and I still hope to come across Richard and Barbara Hewitt somewhere in the streets of Lisbon.