the most miserable tourism office on earth - has 'Little Britain' arrived here in Carvoeiro?

Hi all went to the tourism office yesterday - recently bought a house here and my family are coming on a visit - worst experience of any kind i've ever had in a tourist office anywhere in the world.

Strange looking woman with glasses ignored me for a while then when i asked about whats good to do , whats happening around Carvoeiro - her reply was 'nothing its just a beach'

I then asked if they had any details of the main parks, waterparks, zoo marine etc - she said ' NO'

I noticed all of the usual leaflets were hidden away behind a counter, so i asked if i could look at them - 'No - you're not allowed behind the counter'
she then repented a little and said 'which leaflets would you like' - as i'm not blessed with bionic eyesight and most of the leaflets are tiny i really cound't say.
One of the larger ones said Golf, so i asked for that - she said do you play golf, and stupidly i said not for years - so she refused too give me the leaflet.

I asked her then about the cliff walks around Carvoeiro - did she have any details - got her there i like walking -
She dug deep into her drawers, pulled out a magazine article - in Portuguese, and waived it in front of me, nice photo of the bays - i said could i have a copy, or buy it - she said 'No' - its not available , only produced for council workers.
She then took out a lovely walking map - held it up for a couple of seconds - i said perfect - 7km of walks East of Carvoeiro- guess what.
Not available, no we don't make copies, back in the drawer, gone, never to be seen again.

i walked around the counter, helped myself to a few leaflets to the total disbelief of the woman and went .

Welcome to Portugal.

If she isn't a volunteer ----then she should be fired!

Very very weird... ill be staying away from her when i come over lol

I suggest you go in again and this time ask her for the Complaints Book that they are required to have by law and that you fill it in - I'll bet you get better service then.

simmo2 wrote:Welcome to Portugal.

Seems like another planet to me

Mattoserrao,

You weren't wearing a Man Utd or Gooners shirt or anything wierd like that?!!!

Hi Mattoserrao

Try the small tourist office in Silves, not the one by the river, but the one in the square , about half way up to the castle. The man in there is extremely helpful, and has some free leaflets and booklets on walks/driving tours around Silves.

You could always come on one of my walks, next ones in September, see : viewforum.php?f=39

The Sunflower and Julie Strathan walking books are generally available from bookshops and give a good choice of walks.

As for coastal walks, there are lovely ones stretching from Ferraguedo to Senora de Rocha...just drive to a beach and walk!

Good Luck
Geoff

If she has blond hair and is around 60 think she is married to one of the bosses at the town hall in Lagoa

Jamielyon4 - this is a must for July - will happily play the dumb tourist for her

HampshireRich wrote:Jamielyon4 - this is a must for July - will happily play the dumb tourist for her

Rich

I think our learned German friend could be the one.....3 hours in Jorges then off to the tourist office...I will get a picture Im over there in 2 weeks....ps 5/1 on, she supports Man U! local you see

HampshireRich wrote:Jamielyon4 - this is a must for July - will happily play the dumb tourist for her

Im sure you will do an excellent job playing the dumb tourist Just back from Munich will have to stop drinking that cloudy beer Portugal beckons in a few days time

Gary

This has got to be one of the funniest posts on this site for some time. Hillarious!

In fact the tourist office could really take off with people just going in to experience this character or rub her up!!

just HAVE to visit in june, and act the dummy (not hard to do admittedly )

maybe even revisit in august and inform her she gave me bad info in june and can she make up for that bad info with a good recommendation now.

Gary/Gaynor wrote:

HampshireRich wrote:Jamielyon4 - this is a must for July - will happily play the dumb tourist for her

Im sure you will do an excellent job playing the dumb tourist Just back from Munich will have to stop drinking that cloudy beer Portugal beckons in a few days time

Gary

Cloudy beer - did someone pee in your glass when you were not looking? - wish I'd thought of that a few weekends ago!