Blogs from Northern, Portugal, Europe - page 26

We have arrived. After 21hrs and three flight changes, we are doing well. The kids had a blast on the first flight but then, you know... (are we there yet?). It is inevitable. Kevin will give you his side of the story, here is mine. I count my falling down the stairs and spraining my ankle a great blessing. Because we never could have gotten around without the help of the staff at all the airports. We arrived on the 16 of March 12:30 local time. Seeing the roof tops mad me cry with joy. I know that sounds weird, but hey (maybe lack of sleep?). We took the subway into Porto. Funny, English people call the city Oporto, but here that means one is going to Porto. Once we got off the metro, were soon ... read more

Making full use of the generously provided inflight entertainment system, I offer the following suggestions... (music) Pacifika and their album Supermagique. These are well produced, trippy little tracks with plenty of polyrhythms and beautiful multilingual harmonies. New Agey without being weird ( Yes, please keep the elves and fairies at bay....) (music) Rush and their album Moving Pictures. One of my favourite songs, The Camera Eye, filling your head at 30,000 feet simply cannot be oversold. The soundtrack from my Big City days in Toronto. (film) Neighbours A classic short film by Norman Mclaren and Grant Munro that presents the folly of Cold War politics. (film) Strings/Cordes A sweet short film that shows us how we really do belong to each other. (film) Charlie Chaplin The New Janitor A vintage one here from 1916. A janitor ... read more

Maria ordered me a special request Muslim meal for my midair dinner. She likely figured this would flag me as suspect and hustle me into some full body search and scan at the hands of the Border Patrol. Such is the sense of humour posessed by my dear missus. There was some real confusion on the part of the attendant as she offered me the platter, to be sure. I just smiled and took what was given me. I considered asking which direction Mecca lay so I could unfurl my prayer rug at the appropriate hour, but I reconsidered and decided I best not confuse matters any more than neccessary. Worst of all, I feared that my designation might make it hard to order a glass of wine. The staff soon realized that I was not ... read more

As we are about to embark, Maria has decided that I need a makeover.I did protest feebly, but these things are not really worth resisting.What defence I had mustered was met with a general description of my daily garb as that which would be worn by a bum. Women can be so cruel, and those of the wifely variety, the most cruel of all. So it began. A haircut, innocent enough.And I must say that Maria did an excellent job.I must have stared at myself in the mirror for an hour and a half. I began to feel comfortable. Then the razor came out again, and it came toward my brow. Maria had determined that the eyebrows must be modified. More feeble protests on my part, met with the declaration that my fuzzy forehead made me ... read more

"Associação Porto Bristol" - O Jantar de Natal 2010 : "Oporto Cricket & Lawn Tennis Club" A acta da assembleia-geral que decorreu no passado dia 10 de Dezembro, com uma excelente participação dos sócios da nossa Associação. O Jantar de Natal da nossa Associação foi de novo o evento do ano com o maior número de participações. Quarenta e cinco sócios e um convidado conviveram num ambiente de amizade e boa disposição terminando assim o ano com nota alta. Os “Douro Singers” animaram o serão com cânticos ingleses de Natal, enquanto a projecção de fotos, obtidas ao longo do ano pelos nossos talentosos “in house” fotógrafos, relembraram-nos momentos bem passados em agradável companhia. Findo o jantar o nosso Presidente homenageou os sócios, Eckard Kramer e Waldemar Valente de Sá, que e... read more