Endurance Travel

Flying has always been something of an ordeal, particularly flying cattle class out of Heathrow or Gatwick. Now it's beyond "ordeal" - a real test of endurance.

 

Leaving Gatwick we arrived at the airport 2 hours and 15 minutes before take-off. Check-in took half an hour, about normal for TAP. Then five minutes just to reach the end of the security queue, which was leaving the terminal, and 90 minutes to clear security, all this time on our feet, shuffling along. How the pensioners heading off to the Canaries or the families with young children bound for the Costa del Sol survived, I don't know. Typical British stoicism abounded in the queue, but I was exhausted as we dashed through the shopping area to our gate, showing "Final Call".

 

The worrying part is that the security is relying on the fright factor. They really cannot see liquids in the hand luggage. We forgot to put our allergy drops in the hold bags, so took them with us, no problem! Anyway, so far so good on the incident front. Given the choice, I would think twice about travelling though, purely based on the stress and inconvenience that has to be endured.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

After all the hype and endless "making of" programs on the movie channels on the cable, this film was something of a let-down. Perhaps if I had not seen those programs, it would have been better, as I had already seen the major action sequences that are the most enjoyable parts of the film.

 

The three main characters, Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley are excellent and well supported by Jack Davenport as the down-and-out Norrington. I was less convinced by the Davy Jones and Bootstrap Bill characters.

 

In terms of the script, the main problems is that it doesn't stand up by itself; this is clearly a bridge between films one and three, and this becomes clear very early in the movie.

 

At least the kids loved it, though even they, at 8 and 12 years old, complained about the final scene - a very unsubtle trailer for the third movie. As for going to the movies to see this one, the sound was great but the long fight scene on the beach was spoilt by dirt flashing past in the projector.

 

Not such a bad film that I won't buy the DVD when it comes out, for a more comfortable viewing environment. I'll have to get a bigger TV though...

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Rio Sul Shopping

What better to do on one's first day off work than to go shopping. Yuk!

 

Among other places, we ended up at Rio Sul Shopping in Seixal, now fully upgraded from Continente Seixal to the full glory of a second tier mall. What's wrong with it? Well for a start, I never liked the name. Why name a shopping centre after an obscure tributary that flows into the River Vouga in the centre of S. Pedro do Sul? Maybe the marketing guys know even less Portuguese geography than I do. I also found their advertising campaign very bland - nothing new or dynamic - just about sums it up in fact.

 

Sonae decided to put in a parking space location system, the first I had seen in Portugal, which guides you to a free space. All very well, but the corners are too tight at the end of rows, so they have closed the last space to allow cars to make the turn. But they forgot to tell the parking system, which detects no vehicle and shows the space as free. As a result, all rows have a green light! There is also no blue light to show that only disabled/pregnant spaces are available. The wonders of modern technology!

 

The restaurant area is huge, with a nautical theme and a wonderful glass roof. The heat was unbearable with the only free tables inevitably in full sun on a day which reached 36ºC with people advised to go to the shopping centres to get away from the heat - lovely.

 

As for the shops, the poor selection demonstrates the second tier qualities of the centre. I think I'll stick to my quick, surgical supermarket visits at this one and reserve serious shopping for Almada Forum, the Colombo or Amoreiras.

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German Discount Groceries

Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, is pulling out of Germany because Germans don't want to pay to be better served, preferring to go to Lidl. Now I agree with them about service - at a supermarket who cares - but I am so allergic to actually going shopping that you won't find me in Lidl. Give me a hypermarket any day. One-stop shopping, in and out as quickly as possible, buying what's on the list and probably nothing more. It's not that there's anything wrong with Lidl's products - the lasagne and ready-mixed Sangria are great - I just can't buy everything in one go.

Somewhere in the murky depths of my mind another obscure connection was made. I remember reading that the Germans could rescue their Social Security system simply by buying and consuming as much as 20% less food. Healthcare would cost the State less due to reduced obesity, and they could save more for their retirement, easing the pension burden.

If the Germans prefer not to pay for service, what do they buy with the cash that they save? Greater quantities? It would appear so. And this is not just a German problem. Obesity is rife in the UK and ever more commonplace in Portugal where lower disposable income should encourage more careful shopping. Food for thought...

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