A frustrating morning ...

I don't think I could have chosen a worst day to visit the new Museum pertaining to the Electricity of Portugal, which because of having been so highly publicised together with the fact that it was a public holiday had thousands of people gather outside its premises in almost uncontrollable queues so as to gain access to its wave-like shaped building overlooking the Tagus river. 

It took me about an hour and a half to reach the site and just a few minutes to turn my back to it and get back home. What a frustrating morning it was ... with the sun being one of the very good things that made it worth having left home.

Moments ...

Some images are said to "speak" for themselves ... they depict moments and sometimes all that is needed is a reference to trigger the memories therewith associated ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At a restaurant by the beach where we had a very tasty  grilled turbot.

View from Hélio's where we went for lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View of the sky, as we left the movies and last meal at a Japanese restaurant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The latest film I have watched ...

I wasn't initially very queen on going to the movies to watch Sully because not only had I already seen the reanacted landing on the Hudson river and read enough (I believed) on the subject matter but was equally determined not to spend my free time connected to Aviation related issues, which are part of my daily duties'world.

 

 

I am happy my brother and particularly my daughter convinced me to because the extracts from the the National Transportation Safety Board inquiry provided me with a full perspective of  Captain Sullenberger's situation as he attempted to justify his prime decision on the water landing after having lost two engines in a bird strike, which saved the lives of 155  "souls on board".


I don't think anyone could have impersonated "Sully" as Tom Hanks did.

 

 

 

 

"Largely eschewing biographical details this take on Sullenberger (which writer Todd Komarnicki adapted from Sullenberger's own book) plays like an ode to competence and commitment. It is also filtered through the prism of a National Transportation Safety Board investigation seemingly determined to second-guess Sullenberger's decision, which saved 155 lives." - Brian Lowry.

 

 

 

"The film movingly depicts Sully's modest insistence that he was just doing his job and the collective courage of the flight  attendants, air-traffic controllers, police officers and the passengers themselves." - Richard Brody.

 

 

"(...) a good story, well told." - Mathew Lickona.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cova beach, Figueira da Foz - The 1st and 2nd of October 2016

Despite the weather not being too warm, my brother, Mia and I ventured into the huge stretches of sand of Cova beach and the subsequent beaches, which under normal sunny days can be seen as far as Aveiro, during two consecutive mornings

 

 

We were the only ones on the beach, apart from a few fishermen who could be seen on the pier and a few odd people strolling in the distance. We "sunbathed" and eventually ventured into the revolting sea and the tricky tide, I so much feared as a child.

 

 

I can't deny it felt really relaxing after a stressful working week and the fact that we got together made it even more special.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home "sweet" home ... or being emotionally divided ...

Mia is (temporarily) back home in the land which witnessed her birth ... but wether it is the home sweet home one always craves for ... I personally have my doubts ...

 

 

United Kingdom has provided her with what her home country wasn't able to - the means to "survive" ... and for all she loves Portugal she now has a deep bond towards her father's homeland ... 

 

 

Being emotionally divided seems to be irrelevant ... because the importance lies on being emotionally balanced ... and that, she certainly is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo taken upon her recent arrival at Lisbon Airport

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The latest book I have read ...

I was given a book for my birthday, which I have just recently started reading. The Palestinian lover by Sélim Nassib (in its Portuguese version) on a secret love affair between Golda Meir and a Palestinian banker caught me off guard and the reason it did (I believe) is tied to the fact that I had always looked at Golda as an exclusively political oriented figure whose sole thoughts and actions couldn't revolve but around a selflessness and devotion-like type of behaviour.

Imagining her having an affair (not so much that it was with a Palestinian) was something beyond my wildest thoughts, which is totally absurd on my part, I must confess but having been conveyed the idea that the thing that mattered most in her life was giving herself to the Zionist led me to wrongly assume that she had no "personal" life.

I quite liked the book, which  made me sympathise with her lover's "ordeal", despite having provided me with a better understanding of what it requires to be strong-willed and do what needs to be done even if one's personal life is affected by one's convictions.

 

Following the recent demise of Shimon Peres Obama stated the "there are very few people who share this world with who change the course of human history, not just through their role in human events but because they expand our moral imagination and force us to expect more of ourselves" and I strongly believe these words could eaily be applicable to her as well.

 "(...) if a thing has to be done you don't waste time with theories and ebates. You just do it." - Golda Meir.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The latest film I have watched ...

Set in New Orleans and based on a novel by Nicolas Bazan, a neurocientist specializing in Alzeihmer's disease, Of Mind and Music is an evocative portrait of love and loss, dignity and despair in the face of such a fate, approaching the subject matter of Alzeihmer's and the toll it takes on caregivers with a deeply affecting emotional restraint. It interweaves storylines with beautiful blues-like music and numerous flashbacks.

 

 

A moving drama enhanced by superb performances (amongst which one by a Portuguese actor Manuel de Almeida, who plays the role of the neurocientist).