The moment we got to the departing lounge of Lisbon airport to catch out flight to Funchal a rather colourful party was going on with young party hostesses wearing short black dresses with green silk lace belts tied around their slim wastes, a flowery looking lady and a pseudo pilot inside his green plastic aircraft making their way around the many passengers who stopped to find out what was going on ... a limited area in the centre where many ANA dignitaries and workers stood eating and drinking to the sound of two ladies placed high up on flowery cones ... a Walt Disney production type of setting to signal out the launching of a new lounge ...
As the flight was delayed I wandered about tasting some of the Portuguese delicacies being offered to the passers-by.
We got to Funchal fairly late and soon after having checked in at the hotel crossed the road to have a light dinner in time to get back and try to get some sleep, as the following day I would be assessing the level of English of some candidates, whilst my two travelling companions and colleagues would be interviewing them.
I don't know if it was tiredness or the glass of wine I drank over dinner but I did sleep soundly and got up really early the next morning feeling very energetic.
I didn't resist photographing the panel covering an entire wall of the breakfast room lounge. The whole musical atmosphere associated with the loneliness one sometimes feels within such an ambience caught my attention, and so did an isolated nude statue placed in one of the corners of the lounge.
The three of us managed to get together with some of our colleagues from Madeira, whom I hadn't seen for a while. Lunch at a local restaurant close to the airport brought about unexpected memories of Angola, once I hadn't seen pitangas (a fruit I had only tasted in tropical Africa) since 2001.
The flight to Lisbon was delayed ... so I walked up onto the veranda overlooking the runway and took a few photographs as I waited for the incoming flight from Lisbon which would fly us back home ...
A short work-oriented trip to Funchal and back ... that's what it was all about ... but also a short trip to the world of long gone smells and sounds ...
No comments:
Post a Comment