Driving In The Azores vs. Driving In America: How To Not Be a Stupid Tourist Like Us.

Yeah, I was completely unprepared for driving in a country that wasn't America, Ireland, or England and I wish I had known some things before taking to the road. So I have given you a rundown of how driving in the Azores differs from America and how they are better than us. Here it is:

1. Azores drivers don’t honk unless someone is in trouble/going to hit something they don’t see. Americans honk because of danger, someone cut them off, someone is driving too slow, someone’s annoying them, they’re in a bad mood, they got cut off, etc.

2. The people there drive over the line which is terrifying at first but since the roads are so narrow that it just makes driving easier for them (when no one else is there). And since they never text and drive, it’s not a huge problem because they move over the minute the see you. In the US, if a driver is over the line, it’s usually because they are distracted or texting so you don’t know if they will look up in time to avoid collision. Which in turn, makes you honk. Perpetuating this vicious cycle.

3. There are no “right turn on reds” allowed, which I luckily found out very quickly by observing drivers…no need to break the law in another country.

4. There are no cops controlling traffic because there’s nowhere for them to pull you over-yes the roads are that narrow- and people don’t have accidents because they are not distracted, don’t ride the left lane, are respectful of other drivers, and since most cars are manual and the roads are windy (pronounced “whine-dee), it’s not as easy to speed.

5. It is illegal to ride the left lane, it is for passing ONLY.

6. Street signs are very different here. You will see one of two signs indicating if you can pass. One has two cars in gray next to each other with gray diagonal lines through it OR two cars driving next to each other and one is red, no lines. In America, if there is a sign with a line through it, that mean NO, don’t do this thing. In Portugal, that means it’s ok, do this thing. If something is in red here, that’s the indication of NO, don’t do this thing. It’s very confusing and hopefully there are not many color blind drivers on these roads.

7. Overnight Parking here is tricky but we’ve finally figured it out. In the parking lots or any place that is metered, it doesn’t charge you overnight but rather from 8am-7pm, Saturdays are half days and Sundays are free. You can pay for parking at say, 6pm for 4 hours, and it will print out a ticket for 4 hours later, minus the time it stops charging, so 11am is when the meter would expire. Yes I know that’s confusing but once you figure that out, you do not need to panic about where to park overnight since half of the hotels do not have places for your cars.

8. Parking in general is also a bit difficult to figure out. There is a blue sign with a red X on it that means “No stopping” which can in turn mean “No parking”. However, there is a white sign with a gray X that means you can park there…what??? It really means that the no stopping zone has ended, which in turn means that you can park there. There’s also a blue sign with only one red line through it that means “No Waiting.” If you are parking on the street where there are no designated spots, you cannot block a doorway or a driveway, and you need to get up on the curb/sidewalk. There is not enough room in the alley for you to park the way you would in the US. Get as close to the wall as you can and then push your side mirrors into the car. I made that mistake in Ireland and trust me, you don’t want those mirrors sticking out.

9. Half of the roads here are one way but Google Maps does not know that so hopefully you have a navigation buddy. Don’t be like me and get annoyed with them for not reading the map properly while you’re concentrating on driving in a foreign country. It is not their fault because again, the map does not show one way roads as one way.

10. Do NOT do the American thing and pull up close to a car stopped at a light or stop sign. I know the majority of the cars in the US are automatic but most of them here are manual, and if you’ve ever driven a stick shift, you know the roll back a bit when you start from a completely stop.