The socialist fraternal kiss on the Berlin Wall

Berlin, January 2018

Me and a couple of friends went to Berlin on a layover on the January 1, 2018. 

Short night walk as soon as we arrived...

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Landwehrkanal

Of course everything was closed on this day but we found a bar open for a couple of beers and celebrate the new year. A couple of photos only from that night: Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 building and a strange halo around the moon.

Next day we would visit a contemporary art museum in Moabit neighborhood.

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Hamburger Bahnhof

The building of this museum used to be an old terminal station.

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Berliner Dom

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The Fernsehturm

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Berliner Mauer

And this time I could finally see the famous kiss painted on the wall!

My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love

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Brandenburger Tor

We ended our tour seeing the Brandenburg Gate...

... and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe:

So sad... and unfortunately in the light of the recent general election results in my country, humankind didn't learn anything good from the past...

Maceió - Praia de Pajuçara

Maceió, early 1990s

In the late 80s and early 90s, Maceió was a favorite holidays destination to my parents. Today is one of the long haul routes flown by the smaller but efficient A321LR.

I've already been there last year on a layover and the skyline of the beach front sure looks different from today...

The characteristic shape of hotel Enseada is something you can't miss in Pajuçara Beach:

Little me having a fun time...

The strangest skyscraper in Manhattan

New York, February 2024

Cold winter days in New York last February.... but amazing blue sky!

I tried a kind of an artistic shot with recently new 30 Hudson Yards skyscraper and its curious observation deck "The Edge".

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30 Hudson Yards

But the skyscraper I really like to explore in photos is the Empire State Building.

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Empire State Building

Next spot in my walk would be the Central Park, also a favorite for me.

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Central Park

Bethesda Fountain

Belvedere Castle

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir

On the second day of my layover I decided to go to Lower Manhattan.

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Oculus

The World Trade Center Transportation Hub and its original design also provides opportunity for great photos.

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Jenga Building
& 33 Thomas Street

One of the widebody fleet destinations I will miss is Chicago. But in New York I can still see some sort of a "bean" at the base of 56 Leonard Street (Jenga Building).

Close to the Jenga Tower we can also see one of the strangest skyscrapers. The windowless 33 Thomas Street!

And to end this post, a view of beautiful 56 Leonard Street and One World Trade Center:

Will I ever get tired of New York City? No! Deal with it.

Airbus A330-200, registration CS-TOQ

Onboard TAP Air Portugal, August 2014

In 2014 we got two second hand A330-200's from brazilian airline TAM (now LATAM). This was the first time I flew on one of them (CS-TOQ). These photos were taken on a return flight from Rio de Janeiro, on my first long-haul month.

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Business Class

Business Class was retrofited with also second hand lie-flat seats from Lufthansa. Custom logos of the german airline were of course removed but still one could easily identify the previous owner.

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Economy Class

Door 3R

Economy PTVs

Mid Cabin

Main meal service gettting prepared...

One odd thing about these two aircraft was that they had the most rearward bulkhead covered with carpet.

Aft bulkhead

And at Lisbon airport right after arrival:

CS-TOQ, named Pedro Teixeira

A330 CS-TOQ alongside with CS-TOR were phased out right after the pandemic and were already scrapped.

A few photos of Copenhagen

Copenhagen, March 2024

Always, always a very nice layover.

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Amalienborg

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Kastellet

My return to Rio de Janeiro, 21 years later

Rio de Janeiro, August 2014

Rio de Janeiro is one of our intercontinental destinations with more weekly flights, so it was without surprised that is showed up in my first widebody roster, back in August 2014. And to tell the truth I was anxious to go back to Rio after more than 20 years of absence. Rio de Janeiro used to be one regular holidays destination with my parents, when I was a kid, during the eighties and early nineties. Those were the L-1011 days when I developed a passion for that aircraft in particular and aviation in general. Last time I was there was in 1993.

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Airbus A330-200
CS-TOG

After being dead-headed to Porto and spend there a night, it was time to take our beautiful A330-200 to "Cidade Maravilhosa". With tail number CS-TOG this aircraft was named "Bartolomeu de Gusmão", the same name given to one of our ex-L-1011s (CS-TED). The following pictures were taken at Franciso Sá Carneiro Airport (Porto) before boarding started:

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São Conrado

By that time we used to stay in São Conrado neighbourhood in the southern part of the city. The location was far from ideal since we had to take a cab to Ipanema or Copacabana. Otherwise we would be pretty much isolated in the hotel area. From my room I could spot "Hotel Nacional" an architecture masterpiece by famous Oscar Niemeyer. By then, one could see it was pretty much abandoned and in bad shape. These days it was restored to its previous glory and running as a hotel again.

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Ipanema

Since this was my long-awaited return to Rio, the hotel location didn't prevent me to go to Ipanama Beach and spend there a few hours. The weather wasn't fantastic but it was winter time in the south hemisphere. However, cloudy skies and rainy days became an unfortunate constant everytime I went to Rio de Janeiro all over these years.

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Return Flight

My first layover in Rio de Janeiro wasn't that long. It was around 24 hours before I had to go back to Portugal. So, beside the beach and good food there wasn't opportunity to do much more. Flying on a more modern A330-200 - tail number CS-TOL - we would arrive in Lisbon on a gorgeous summer day.