Tule fog

A nice view of the city beneath the clouds, as we approach for landing.

Airplane Mode

Orange and gold on the beautiful Florida skies. "The Sunshine State" proclaims its title by presenting us with a dazzling sunset above the clouds.

Fleet Week Madness

Blue Angels 1 through 5, but where's number 6?

number 6 emerging from the fog

A midsummer's nightmare

On my way back home from Eastern Europe I had a sort of longish layover in London and decided to visit a friend and catch up. Little did I know that I was about to cross London 3 times in a less than 12 hours...

After a train ride and taking a London taxi in the middle of the night, passing a blurry The Gherkin on my way there, I finally arrive chez Dilly.

the two of us in her spacious living room

And at the break of dawn, after chatting for hours and sleeping only for a couple of them on her warm comfy bed, I'm on the top deck of a London red bus on my way back to Stansted airport, again...

arriving Liverpool Street Station

So far so good. What I wasn't counting on was with what I can only assume to be an overbooked flight. Not only Ryanair didn't allow me to board the plane, I was given no reasonable explanation for this and was asked over 100 pounds to rebook my flight.

Tired, angry and completely baffled, I ended up deciding to cross London one more time, during rush hour, in the hope of getting to Gatwick on time to catch a TAP Portugal flight. And I made it just in time...

And this is the story of how I will never set foot on a Ryanair plane ever again.

Sobrevoando os Açores

A levantar voo de Ponta Delgada, S. Miguel.

O pico do Pico.

National Mall

visiting Obama in D.C.

Rooftops at sunrise

We don't look at many of these in California...

rooftops, I mean :)

Aah! Feels so good to be jet lagged... how else would I see Nuno's airplane starting its descend from Maria's window at sunrise?

And if you're going to San Francisco...

Be sure to wear some hair in your flowers.

And sitting on the left side of the plane sure won't hurt either.

High-Speed Maneuvers

I'm not the kind of person who has a thing for the army, the navy or the air force, but I've got to admit, the Fleet Week air show is pretty impressive and fun to watch...

Aerobatic pilot Sean Tucker and the Oracle Challenger III

Fat Albert

and the Blue Angels, just showing off...

1, 2, 3 and 4...

hmmm... which way is up??

Spelling bee

BA: "Thank you for calling british airways. Can I help you?"
me: Yes, I would like to change my flight.
BA: "What is your booking reference? Can you please spell? Please hold on while we confirm the details of your flight."

(music)

BA: "Thank you for holding. What's the name of the passenger? Can you spell? Please hold."

(more music)

BA: "Mam? You'll be charged with a fee higher than the one we informed you on our website because we are incompetents and we like to rob people. There will also be an additional $20 charge for changing your flight over the phone even though you couldn't do it online because our website doesn't allow you."
me: Fine... (i'm used to being robbed anyway)
BA: "I'll need your credit card information. Can you spell the card holder's name? Please hold."

(this music is starting to be annoying)

BA: "I need a billing address too. Oh, that's a really long address! Where is it... Portugal? Wow! (people singing "happy birthday to you" in the background) Can you spell that for me?"

me: y-o-u a-r-e u-n-b-e-l-i-e-v-i-n-g-l-y m-o-r-o-n s-t-r-e-e-t
BA: "I'm sorry, is that 'F' as in 'fire'?"
me: No, it's 'S'... as in 'STUPID'
BA: "Thank you! Please hold."

(oh no!! not the music again...)

BA: "Thank you for holding. Unfortunately we won't be able to change your flight today and you will have to call us again tomorrow for some more spelling and some more delightful music. Can I be of any further assistance?"

Hello Pacific Ocean

Finally!!! Arriving at SFO after 17 very long hours...

looks familiar?

san francisco bay sloughs seen from the sky