Porto Santo island, Hotel Porto Santo - The 9th (evening) and the 10th (early morning) of October 2016

I reached Porto Santo on the evening of the 9th, having barely had time to walk to the closest restaurant so as to have a quick dinner prior to getting things ready for the following four days refresher course.

I was taken by the  surrounding peacefulness and the hotel setting scenario, which I wouldn't be able to take advantage from, but which nevertheless would certainly help me carry out my duties in a less stressful way.

(To be continued)

Figueira da Foz - Back and forth on the burocratic lane ... or I wonder ... The 7th of October 2016

Because of the rather complicated Government approach to inheritance documentation I had to go to Figueira back and forth in an almost crazy driving adventure that ultimately led me to getting to know several offical departments and their working dynamics, which might be interesting writing about some day, (for the record of the number of hours spent to obtain a single sheet of paper), but what I am about to write about today is the transport adventure therewith associated. 

I left Oriente train station on a train bound to Porto with a stop over at Alfarelos where I would get the connection to Figueira on the western line trains. This rather short trip of two hours and an half took me back to my adolescent years in which my brothers and I used to stop over at Alfarelos train station, so as to get on a train bound to Porto that would take the whole day.


How could we consider this "painful" day long trip an exciting adventure then I honestly don't know ... but we did look forward to those twice ayear train trips on our way to the boarding schools we were studying at and back. It made me equally wonder how my mother coped with these weekend trips throughout her medical practising life, as if she just went around the corner on an errand ...

Figueira da Foz has changed a lot since my childhood and adolescent years but there are enough recognisable features dating back to those days, amongst which some old buildings like the local market and the townhall with its sculpted panels ... 

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