The main difference seemed to be that they don’t worry about things as much.

Every society in the world has a certain thing that they cut back on first, and in Portugal that would be the sidewalks. I understand that it’s an old country and they didn’t have much to work with in the first place, but when the time of the automobile and modern transportation came around, sidewalks were the first thing to go, leaving about a half meter of width at some point, for groups of lost travellers and locals, to pass each other on the busy streets of Lisbon. Well, on the flip side, I guess jaywalking probably isn’t a punishable offence.

The city of Lisbon has quite a few similarities with my home town of San Francisco, California - it’s built on seven hills, they have cable cars, the bridge resembles the Golden Gate and they have a history of earthquakes. The main difference seemed to be that they don’t worry about things as much. First off, I didn’t see any cars with their wheels curbed (having the wheels turned toward the curb so the vehicle won’t suddenly roll down the hill), which will get you a quick  and expensive ticket in the SFC. Second off, they don’t seemed so worried about earthquakes, whereas I grew up with constant warnings and earthquake drills as a youngster. But I guess in a city built out of large stones on top of steep hills, if there was an earthquake, you’d be a goner anyway, so why worry.