In-flight, February 2025
Just a couple of photos on our way to Toronto:
The aircraft was the Airbus A321LR with tail number CS-TXB.
Laziness in Funchal & Sissi's statue
Funchal, February 2025
Although Funchal is truly an enjoyable place, our layovers there are not that in good when you look at the schedules.
Once more, I arrived in my hotel room way after 2:00 am and my wake-up would be at 1:50 am the next night. I never consider going to the breakfast when arriving so late. I prefer to get a full 8-hour sleep than to interrupt my sleep to eat.
Next day because I have to go to bed early, I never have extraordinary plans to explore the island a bit more.
Gotta love the Niemeyer's staircase.
Later I was informed that there was an equipment downgrade so I would return later in the morning instead of waking up at 1:50 am. I went to catch some fresh air. Did you know there is a Sissi's statue in Funchal? Have you watched the Netflix series The Empress?
And finally the casino's vibrant colours at night.
Oh no! Not another New York post!
New York, February 2025
Yes... fresh from this month! And I still have many photos of previous layovers in New York from the past years in my hard drive. The New York fountain is still far from drying up. But as I said, photos in this post are very, very recent.
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Newark
It has been snowing a lot lately in New York so these views were not a surprise at all.
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Midtown
Midtown
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| Empire State Building |
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Central Park
Going to the Central Park after a generous snowfall is always a good idea. The scenary is amazing.
And the famous Bethesda Fountain which showed up in Home Alone 2 is a favourite spot of mine.
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Virgil's Real BBQ
Virgil's Real BBQ
This was my second time on this restaurant. I found it in 2018, near Times Square. If you are a fan of chicken wings and ribs, you'll love it.
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Airbus A321LR
Gotta love this little transatlantic airliner. I do, so much!
New York again, again and again
New York, January 2025
This was my first time landing in JFK Airport flying on the Airbus A321LR. During the winter season, flights to both EWR and JFK airports have been exclusively operated by the LR in the most recent years.
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Brooklyn Downtown
Brooklyn Downtown
On my "Want to go" list I had L'Appartement 4F in Brooklyn Heights where I bought croissants for my breakfast.
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Brooklyn Bridge
It was a very windy day in New York but I dared to cross the Brooklyn Bridge on foot. Not my first time doing this, though.
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Downtown Manhattan
Downtown Manhattan
I didn't have any goal or something to see or buy - as this was a very short layover - so I just wandered around in Downtown Manhattan.
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Return Flight
Return Flight
As soon as we reached our boarding gate in JFK Airport, a gorgeous Boeing 747-8 from Air China was arriving. It automatically drawn my attention. But soon it was time to prepare the cabin of our tiny LR with its nice mood lighting feature for the return flight to our home base - Lisboa.
Boston, Salem and Charles River
Boston, February 2025
So this was my second time this year in Boston. I don't mind the cold weather at all. I'm now used to it and with the years I learned how to properly dress in cold weather. This was an unusually long layover but since I already know Boston very well (I started flying to Boston in 2016) there is not much left to do in the city. Even my shopping list abroad was empty. I ended up buying a pair of sweatpants and I came up with the idea of buying an AirTag which would have been helpful with some situations I had to deal in the past with my suitcase - fortunately I never lost anything other than temporarily.
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Boston Common
Boston Common
Again the Common Park is something you can't avoid. The lights at night at the Frog Pond are nice to see but guys... aren't we in February already?!
On the second day I joined a collegue visiting Salem, a coastal city and residential area on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Catching a train (Amtrak) in the North Station, the trip takes about thirty minutes and the ticket has a cost of 8$ each way.
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Salem
Salem is also a tourist area well known because of the Witch Trials in 1692. And of course we visited the Salem Witch Museum to know a little bit more about its history.
Other than witchcraft tales, Salem is a really small town full of wooden houses.
Back to Boston, I went to James Hook & Co for lunch, which was establised 100 years ago! The lobster roll was amazing!
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Boston & Cambridge
On my way to the Apple Store in the CambridgeSite shopping mall to buy the AirTag, I took this photo in the Beacon Hill neighborhood.
The sun was setting really fast while I was crossing the Charles River towards Cambridge.
The Museum of Science is the one thing that I am missing to do in Boston. But as the museum is currently undergoing major renovations, I prefer to wait until they finish it all.
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| Lechmere Canal Park |
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Longellow Bridge
Longellow Bridge
On my way back to Boston I chose Longfellow Bridge instead of the Dam Bridge. And I got to shoot some beautiful pics.
And finally one last photo of the Massachusetts State House:
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Return Flight
Return Flight
The return flight to Lisbon benefited of strong tail winds taking just 5h40 to cross the Atlantic.
