All Change..................home and away.

My career at Jet2.com has taken a new and interesting turn.

I have been anointed crew bus driver due to the previous incumbent having a severe problem of "mind over mattress".

Tom was a cordial, willing and pleasant young man but he could not apparently get himself out of bed on a morning with any degree of reliability and unfortunately for him, if your planes are to be on time, the crews must arrive before the passengers.

Hence on Wednesday gone he got the bullet and I was offered the dead man's boots.

I have to say they fit very nicely, 2 earlies, 2 lates, 2 days off. Earliest start 5-30am latest finish 6-00pm ....................bliss.

Having already booked a flight with "Ruinair" for the 21st of June (5 quid) magnanimous Jet2 agreed to honour it as a pre existing holiday. I have to be back on station by the 26th June so intend to be in town for 4 days.

Our friends Steve and Maria returned last week from a 10 day visit and though they are no strangers to the village, I am pleased to report that Santa Luzia worked it's magic on them and they are eagerly anticipating a return visit.

During their stay Steve and Maria encountered a number of people who are regular readers of this blog.

Willy and Tricia from Dublin were in town as were readers from Horsforth here in Leeds whose names completely slipped Steve's mind ( I find Sagres has that effect too) .

In particular however they befriended a Scottish/Canadian couple ( and here I have to confess that it is my memory that falters as I can only recall the name Angus) with whom they shared meals at Tridoce, televised football at the Paderia and maybe just a few drinks with Fergus at Bar Mundo.

I thoroughly enjoy writing this blog but it is enormously gratifying to get some feedback and find that others enjoy it just as much and may even find some of the information in it useful.

Should any of you have any stories or information relating to Santa Luzia do not hesitate to contact me. I have no objection at all to a little interaction and in fact would positively encourage it.

I am looking forward this visit to seeing how the two new developements on the promenade are coming on. The former Cafe Anna-Rachel and the garage like building which stood at the side if Canto Azul have both been demolished to be replaced by three story buildings consisting of a ground floor commercial space and apartments on the two upper floors. Both developments are due to be complete before summer and it will be interesting to see if the commercial spaces in particular find tenants.

The single story building just behind the roundabout
which has been demolished to make way for a three storey apartment block.

I was delighted on looking through my archive of Santa Luzia pictures to find the above example of the double garage doored single storey building on the promenade which has been demolished. When we first used to visit Santa Luzia this building was still in use as a storage place for the fishermen's equipment and during the hot summer months it was always festooned with octopii hung to dry in the sun.

This local delicacy is cut into small cubes and chewed. It is pungent with a mouthwateringly strong seafood flavour and particularly complements an ice cold Sagres beer.

The first time a friendly and obliging local fisherman carved me a lump of this I was little short of horrified. Not because I have any problem with octopus, on the contrary, I love the stuff, however my years in the licensed trade have often brought me into contact with drugs and drug users and the generous brown lump of dried tentacle dropped into my outstreched hand bore an uncanny resemblance to the very finest Lebonese black canabbis resin!!

Misunderstanding resolved I chewed the offering with a gusto which delighted my benefactor and we went on to have a twenty minute conversation, unfortunatly that was some years ago when I had no Portuguese whatsoever and whilst I grinned and nodded with enthusiasm I understood not one word of what he said!!!!

Done and Dusted.

I am writing this post today as a sad and poor substitute for being in Santa Luzia.

Having bobbed across for 2 days last week and found it very acceptable we had planned to do the same again this week, however, Mount Flapperrapperpapperjjack or whatever it's called had different ideas.
Our flight from LBA was cancelled due to volcanic ash. We thought we could circumvent the situation by switching to East Midlands Airport on the 11th but Flappathingymajig was having none and that flight was cancelled too.
The moral of the story......................never argue with a volcano, especially if you can't pronounce it's name.
Our visit last week was however very therapeutic, the sun shone gloriously and the fish were biting. I had to strike a compromise deal with Joan and apply a little paint to the walls of the house but there we go.........................life is not all beer and skittles.

I have to sadly report that the partnership deal between Fergus and Peter & Tanja has floundered.
As I have no wish to engage in the politics of the matter suffice it to say that other "interested parties" made the situation untenable.

ICE CREAM

Other developments in town which i have so far failed to inform you of include the opening of Santa Luzia's first ice cream parlour.
Situated almost immediately next door to Restaurant Capelo on the promenade Quiosque Muxagara is sure to be a great attraction during the season.

Quiosque Muxagara.

Despite ice cream being a very expensive luxury in Portugal there is nothing the Portuguese enjoy more than gathering the whole family for ice creams. When you observe three generations of a portuguese family gathered around a table tucking into "Copas de gelados" the joy and pleasure is palpable.

In this respect I believe I may have Portuguese genes in me somewhere.

I shall be one of their best customers and to this end have already perfected the phrase "Uma copa com tres bolos se faz favor".