Capt Lightning
Well-known Member
- Location
- Historic Buchan, Scotland
Well guys, we're back from a great holiday in Lisbon. I'll try not to bore you.
We flew British Airways (Airbus A320) from Aberdeen - London - Lisbon.
The flight down was somewhat eventful. The weather was good in Aberdeen but the incoming flight was late. It turned out that the 'tug' that pushes the plane from the gate wouldn't disengage from the nosewheel and it took 20 mins to sort it. It then transpired that unlike Aberdeen, London was having strong winds and rain. This meant that we were put in a holding pattern over London for another 20 mins.
At least we had plenty of time at London and we boarded the Lisbon flight on time, taxied out and then sat there. After a while the captain gave a short explanation of how air traffic control scheduled departures, adding sadly, "and we're the last one".
Still, in spite of this, with a good tail wind we arrived on time and our taxi driver was waiting. The sun was shining, it was 21C(70F)and we had a great hotel room with a balcony.
For those who don't know Lisbon, it is very hilly. Once off the main roads you encounter a maze of narrow lanes and 'traverses' - some of which are long flights of steps. The pavements and some roads are typically tiled with black and white mosaic stones. There are millions of these- sometimes in quite intricate patterns.
Along these narrow streets you come upon traditional apartment blocks with clothing hanging out to dry on the tiny balconies. There are also a surprising number of small shops selling just about everything.
This is the Lisbon that I like. I could join the thousands of tourists who flock round the popular areas, or who take expensive site seeing tours, but I think they miss out on the real soul of Lisbon.
Anyway, I took loads of photos, but I'll post a few separately. They were taken in Lisbon and the neighbouring towns of Belem (home of the Presidential palace and some great museums) and Cascais, a really beautiful seaside town.
I'd love to say I'm glad to be home, but the weather in Scotland just isn't as good as Portugal!
We flew British Airways (Airbus A320) from Aberdeen - London - Lisbon.
The flight down was somewhat eventful. The weather was good in Aberdeen but the incoming flight was late. It turned out that the 'tug' that pushes the plane from the gate wouldn't disengage from the nosewheel and it took 20 mins to sort it. It then transpired that unlike Aberdeen, London was having strong winds and rain. This meant that we were put in a holding pattern over London for another 20 mins.
At least we had plenty of time at London and we boarded the Lisbon flight on time, taxied out and then sat there. After a while the captain gave a short explanation of how air traffic control scheduled departures, adding sadly, "and we're the last one".
Still, in spite of this, with a good tail wind we arrived on time and our taxi driver was waiting. The sun was shining, it was 21C(70F)and we had a great hotel room with a balcony.
For those who don't know Lisbon, it is very hilly. Once off the main roads you encounter a maze of narrow lanes and 'traverses' - some of which are long flights of steps. The pavements and some roads are typically tiled with black and white mosaic stones. There are millions of these- sometimes in quite intricate patterns.
Along these narrow streets you come upon traditional apartment blocks with clothing hanging out to dry on the tiny balconies. There are also a surprising number of small shops selling just about everything.
This is the Lisbon that I like. I could join the thousands of tourists who flock round the popular areas, or who take expensive site seeing tours, but I think they miss out on the real soul of Lisbon.
Anyway, I took loads of photos, but I'll post a few separately. They were taken in Lisbon and the neighbouring towns of Belem (home of the Presidential palace and some great museums) and Cascais, a really beautiful seaside town.
I'd love to say I'm glad to be home, but the weather in Scotland just isn't as good as Portugal!
