Dear Friends,
This morning, when I was checking in for my flight to Porto, I realized that in the counter nearby Singapore Airlines was doing something big. I was attracted by their event and went there to ask what was it all about. It was their inaugurating direct flight Barcelona-São Paulo. That was great news indeed! Since the first time that I lived here, in the early nineties, only for a short period of time there was a direct connection between both cities. Now it is a first class airline that is launching it.
* * * * *
There are very few direct overseas flights starting in Barcelona, although the airport has lanes long enough for any airplane to take off or land. Since the inauguration of the new terminal it is even less understandable why this happens. The answer is not economical, but mainly political. The Barcelona area is big and rich enough to generate demand for several routes. However, the central government has always privileged Iberia and Barajas airport in Madrid. Although the local politicians have long argued in favour of intercontinental flights from Barcelona, so far it had not materialised, or very little. The Singapore Airlines flight may augur better days ahead for lucky us, that live in Barcelona and travel abroad.
* * * * *
Although it may seem surprising that an Asian company is offering this connection, instead one of the many local ones, it does make sense. That is a Singapore/São Paulo flight, with two separate legs: Singapore/Barcelona and Barcelona/São Paulo. It serves those wishing to travel between any of those three cities, in any direction. Probably most passengers will only fly one leg of the route, and only few will go all the way from Asia to South America or in the other direction. It doesn't matter. As long as it is profitable and the company keeps it running, it is great news for us living here.
* * * * *
A few weeks ago I wrote about TAP cancelling flights and saying that it was for technical reasons. It happened again this morning. However, this was maybe the first time in my life that I could see from the airport windows that it was true: the airplane was there, it was fully booked, we were already queuing for boarding, when all was cancelled. I have to admit, although airlines are compulsive liars, they do not always lie. Sometimes what they say is true. The opposite of Zsofi and I: we never lie, only when it is absolutely necessary!
Wish you a nice week!
Maurício
Monday, 28 March 2011
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
TAWOMG - Wrath of God
Dear Friends,
I'm currently reading "Wrath of God" by Edward Paice. It was a present from my brother when we met in Rome in January. It is about Lisbon's earthquake in November 1755. Experts estimate that its magnitude might have been around 9,0 degrees in the Richter scale. At that time it was one of the most devastating quakes on record. A tsunami, two powerful aftershocks and a big fire that lasted for a week followed it. 80% of Lisbon was destroyed. Estimations are that between 30.000 and 40.000 people perished in the disaster. The Royal Family was spared by chance: that morning they were at Belém, not at the Paço da Ribeira, the royal palace. The palace, as the whole neighbourhood by the Tagus River, collapsed due to the shake, was flooded by the tsunami and then caught by the fire. Nothing remained of it.
* * * * *
The book is very well documented and reports vividly what happened that day and how some real people, most of them British citizens living in the Portuguese capital, coped with the events and survived. In 1755 Lisbon was the fourth largest European city and Portugal one of the richest kingdoms (mostly thanks to Brazilian gold). It was also a deeply catholic country. In face of tragedy, many believed that doomsday had come and their reaction was to pray for God's mercy.
* * * * *
Just seven months before Lisbon had opened its new opera house. It was the largest, finest and richest in the whole of Europe. It was one of the megalomaniac projects ordered by late King Dom João V. Nothing of it was left. From all material losses, this is the one that shocks me most. Portugal was never again capable of building anything similar to it. Lisbon, though, was rebuilt under the plans of Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo (later created Marquis of Pombal) and gained a new and modern urban design.
* * * * *
Although time, place and technology are completely different, "Wrath of God" helps to figure out what happened in Japan last week. The Japanese earthquake was also of magnitude 9,0 in the Richter scale, in a costal area, followed by a tsunami and many aftershocks. In the eighteenth century the news of the disaster took weeks or even months to be known in different parts of the world. Today everywhere in the globe we can see live TV images of the catastrophe unfolding. Another big difference is the present threat of an atomic disaster, depending on what happens in Fukushima
* * * * *
When I read on the papers about Fukushima my first thought is an obvious one: what they tell is probably only part of the truth, masked by some lies. That is not to blame the Japanese government - any government in any place would probably behave so in a similar situation. Will we ever know all that went wrong in the nuclear plant and the real risk involved? Let's hope that the worst can be avoided, but official news is a bad indicator of what is really going on.
* * * * *
I also remember a book that I read three years ago, after visiting Tokio. I wrote about it in the second posting of this blog. It is Alex Kerr's book "Dogs and Demons - The Fall of Modern Japan". One of the chapters is about Japan's nuclear plants. What Kerr describes is almost unbelievable. When you read the book you get the impression that, should one day the Japanese nuclear plants be under a serious threat, the situation would most probably go out of control. Again, let's just hope that in the present situation the Japanese experts will be able to avoid a nuclear disaster and what Kerr writes in his book does not apply to Fukushima.
* * * * *
The earthquake that hit Japan last week is a powerful reminder that, in fact, neither safety nor security does actually exist. Those are an aspiration of our time, but in fact they will never be absolute. You never know when an earthquake, a car accident, a plane crash, a stroke, a kangaroo jumping in front of your car or any other event may happen and change it all.
Wish you a safe week,
Maurício
I'm currently reading "Wrath of God" by Edward Paice. It was a present from my brother when we met in Rome in January. It is about Lisbon's earthquake in November 1755. Experts estimate that its magnitude might have been around 9,0 degrees in the Richter scale. At that time it was one of the most devastating quakes on record. A tsunami, two powerful aftershocks and a big fire that lasted for a week followed it. 80% of Lisbon was destroyed. Estimations are that between 30.000 and 40.000 people perished in the disaster. The Royal Family was spared by chance: that morning they were at Belém, not at the Paço da Ribeira, the royal palace. The palace, as the whole neighbourhood by the Tagus River, collapsed due to the shake, was flooded by the tsunami and then caught by the fire. Nothing remained of it.
* * * * *
The book is very well documented and reports vividly what happened that day and how some real people, most of them British citizens living in the Portuguese capital, coped with the events and survived. In 1755 Lisbon was the fourth largest European city and Portugal one of the richest kingdoms (mostly thanks to Brazilian gold). It was also a deeply catholic country. In face of tragedy, many believed that doomsday had come and their reaction was to pray for God's mercy.
* * * * *
Just seven months before Lisbon had opened its new opera house. It was the largest, finest and richest in the whole of Europe. It was one of the megalomaniac projects ordered by late King Dom João V. Nothing of it was left. From all material losses, this is the one that shocks me most. Portugal was never again capable of building anything similar to it. Lisbon, though, was rebuilt under the plans of Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo (later created Marquis of Pombal) and gained a new and modern urban design.
* * * * *
Although time, place and technology are completely different, "Wrath of God" helps to figure out what happened in Japan last week. The Japanese earthquake was also of magnitude 9,0 in the Richter scale, in a costal area, followed by a tsunami and many aftershocks. In the eighteenth century the news of the disaster took weeks or even months to be known in different parts of the world. Today everywhere in the globe we can see live TV images of the catastrophe unfolding. Another big difference is the present threat of an atomic disaster, depending on what happens in Fukushima
* * * * *
When I read on the papers about Fukushima my first thought is an obvious one: what they tell is probably only part of the truth, masked by some lies. That is not to blame the Japanese government - any government in any place would probably behave so in a similar situation. Will we ever know all that went wrong in the nuclear plant and the real risk involved? Let's hope that the worst can be avoided, but official news is a bad indicator of what is really going on.
* * * * *
I also remember a book that I read three years ago, after visiting Tokio. I wrote about it in the second posting of this blog. It is Alex Kerr's book "Dogs and Demons - The Fall of Modern Japan". One of the chapters is about Japan's nuclear plants. What Kerr describes is almost unbelievable. When you read the book you get the impression that, should one day the Japanese nuclear plants be under a serious threat, the situation would most probably go out of control. Again, let's just hope that in the present situation the Japanese experts will be able to avoid a nuclear disaster and what Kerr writes in his book does not apply to Fukushima.
* * * * *
The earthquake that hit Japan last week is a powerful reminder that, in fact, neither safety nor security does actually exist. Those are an aspiration of our time, but in fact they will never be absolute. You never know when an earthquake, a car accident, a plane crash, a stroke, a kangaroo jumping in front of your car or any other event may happen and change it all.
Wish you a safe week,
Maurício
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