Holiday Season, Christmas lights in Zurich

Zurich, December 2025

The best part of having layovers in European capitals in December is indeed the ability to visit Christmas markets and see the Christmas lights and decorations. Zurich was no exception.

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Lindenhof Park

I started my stroll with the Lindenhof Park to have this amazing view over the Limmat river. I first heard of this public park while watching an eposide of the Portuguese show Portugueses pelo Mundo.

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St. Peter Church & Münsterhof

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Bahnhofstrasse

And of course I waited until sunset to see the Christmas lights in one of the most exclusive shopping streets in the world. Not for my wallet though!

Holiday Season, Christmas lights in Lisbon

Lisbon, December 2025

I don't go often to the city downtown, which I avoid since overtourism took away the city's genuine charm and made it unbearable to a local. But going to see the Christmas lights has been a yearly tradition.

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Armazéns do Chiado

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Avenida da Liberdade &
Christmas tree at Terreiro do Paço

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Lisbon City Hall

Hamburg at Christmastime

Hamburg, December 2013

A few old photos of Hamburg. These days the flights to HAM are operated by Portugália Airlines.

Christmas market by day...

... Christmas market by night.

Genève, Christmas Market: Nöel au Quai

Genève, December 2025

First layover of December and the opportunity to visit my first Christmas Market this year. Weather was cold (6 ºC) but I set two goals for the day:

• drink mulled wine at the Christmas Market
• visit the Jouets Boller store

The Christmas Market in Geneva is located by the lake.

At some point I thought I was in some kind of "Le Petit Portugal"!

The other end of the market and the Sissi statue, the Empress of Austria which was murdered in Geneva.

And after seeing the entire market I finally stopped for the first goal of the day - my first mulled wine of the season.

The view of the lake was nice with the iconic Jet d'Eau.

Then I had a quick lunch at a famous fast food brand restaurant and proceeded to a hobby model store called Jouets Boller. I ended up not buying anything which I regret now. But aircraft models became so expensive these days...

One final photo of Geneva:

F-117 Nighthawk & Emirates 777-300ER

Lisbon Airport, November 2025

If you can't see the F-117 it's because it is stealth.

Holidays in London, back in the day!

London, November 2012

Since 2010, London became my favorite European capital as a tourist. So much that I used to spend some of my holiday periods there. Even during cold weather seasons. This was one of those periods.

Boarding in Non-Schengen area means an opportunity to see all those widebodies. These days I was still dreaming to be promoted to the widebody fleet, which would take two years more... Pictured below is the Airbus A340 CS-TOB. The A340 would become one of my favorite aircraft, second only to the L-1011.

Already in London, one of the first stops the Science Museum in South Kensington, where an L-1011 Rolls-Royce RB211 engine is on display. On the gift shop a saw a "Etch A Sketch" which reminded me of my visit to Canada in 1991 where I saw and tried such a toy for the first time!

Strolling in London...

... Royal Albert Hall...

And of course, the Soho district and its Carnaby Street were already decorated for Christmas!

St. James's Park and its squirrels...

And finally the Millennium wheel (London Eye) and the iconic Big Ben...

I have more pictures of these holidays taken with my ultracompact camera which will be shown later. These were taken with my good old iPhone 4.

A little spotting while at work doesn't hurt...

Airport action, November 2025

First, one of our latest aircraft, the Airbus A321-251NX, registration CS-TJS, named "António Sérgio".

This one, alongside with A320neo CS-TVP, already features the new Airspace cabin which is finally being adopted.

Next aircraft pictured is my favorite one... the retrojet!

I also spotted the A330-200 recently delivered to euroAtlantic, registered CS-TGD, the very first Airbus of this ACMI airline.

And finally these last couple of photos of a turnaround flight to Praia. Two Air Tractors and one MAX were at Praia's airport tarmac and later, already in Lisbon, I temporarily renamed our A320neo "Paulo Rego" with my own name...