Time zone

Each country has its time zone. In some countries such as the U.S.A. and Canada, there are several time zones in a country. While traveling, you have to be very careful if you are going to cross into a different zone.

Many years ago, I traveled from Spain to Portugal. When I arrived in Lisbon, I quickly left my luggage at a friend’s home and then we began the journey. We went to Belem Tower and then headed to a place nearby to eat great egg tarts. Egg tarts in Lisbon are definitely second to none. I always told my friends that I had great egg tarts in Lisbon.

At night, we also went around the city and I just wanted to see this city that I’d never been to before. Then, I asked my friend whether it’s too late. My friend indicated the time and I just realized that Portugal and Spain are in different time zones.

Well, most of Spain is in the Central European Time zone and Lisbon is actually in the Western European Time zone. Hence, Spain is 1 hour ahead of Portugal. Back then, I didn’t notice the difference and didn’t change my watch. I thought it would be too late to go back, however, it was fine.

Previously, you have to be very careful with the time difference, otherwise, you might encounter some troubles. For example, a friend didn’t notice that he was actually crossing the time zone and missed the train. But now, a good thing is that the world clock is set in the mobile phone. Additionally, if you turn on location services on the phone, the clock is automatically updated to correspond to your current time zone. It is a great function in the mobile phone and it does help me avoid some problems. In particular, daylight saving time is also adopted in several countries and that’s something I never experienced in my home country.