Gone to See Portugal. TAP Air Portugal Return Flight from Lisbon, Portugal.
Remembering pre-pandemic airline food.
TAP Air Portugal. Airline meal on the return flight from Lisbon, Portugal. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Daily Electric Energy Used (45.6 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (13.3 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Cloudy. Geothermal HVAC system turned on to heat the house. Forced air dehydrator on to dry end of season hot peppers. A deficit of 28.3 kWh.
Gone to See Portugal. Street Photography Workshop with Steve Simon. Day -1: Travel to Portugal.
Dinner on the overnight TAP flight from Newark to Lisbon, Portugal. Later in the flight, I looked out the window and saw the Big Dipper. Not the sharpest night sky image I’ve ever taken, but I was really surprised it worked.
Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter Gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.
Big Dipper from a commercial airline jet while crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 3200, 35 mm, f/1.4, 1 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Gone to See Portugal. Day 8: Crossing the Atlantic Ocean on TAP (Air Portugal) Lisbon to Newark.
I checked out of the Bessa Hotel and took a taxi to the airport. Check-in, Security, Customs & Immigration were quick. I didn’t need to remove my shoes, computers, or cameras — but did need to remove my belt with the heavy copper Philmont buckle. I spent some time at the lounge, but was warned when checking in to get to the gate early. At the gate we needed to go through a 2nd security check for carry-on luggage (only if your name was on a list for extra screening) which resulted in some confusion and long lines. They also checked the size and weight of carry-on luggage. If it was too large, it was gate checked. I was waved through. One group of tourists in front of me had small carry-0n luggage when they checked in but then loaded up with tax-free goods (many bottles of Portuguese Port and cigars) that put them way over the limits. They were not Americans, there is another country that has taken over the ugly & rude tourist award. For the international flights, we needed to take a bus out to the jet which also took more time. I ended up with a great seat with a window and extra space for my computer. The meals on TAP are excellent. I will definitely fly TAP again.
Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed here.
Gone to See Portugal. Street Photography Workshop with Steve Simon. Day -1: Travel to Portugal.
I took a red-eye flight from Newark to Lisbon on TAP (Portugal Airlines). The “fast track” pre-boarding security lines at Newark terminal B were not open, so I had to remove my shoes, put each computer, notepad, and phone in separate trays. I also had to remove all the cameras from my camera bag. This is the third time this year that the “fast track” lanes at Newark were not staffed. TAP uses the SAS lounge in Newark. Good Nordic snacks before the flight. The TAP flight left a bit after the scheduled departure time, but still arrived in Lisbon almost an hour before the scheduled arrival time. The dinner served by TAP was excellent. The only time I have had airline food this good before was while traveling Upper Class on Virgin Atlantic (back in the days I was commuting to Cambridge, UK while working on a chemical automation project). After dinner, and most passengers fell asleep the cabin was dark enough that I could see the Big Dipper through my window. I was able to get a picture of the Big Dipper using a Fuji X-T3 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 3200, 35 mm, f/1.4, 1 sec). I held the camera up to the window for the long exposure. Manually focusing to infinity and holding the camera still for 1 second was a challenge.
Individual images in the slideshow can be viewed here.
Big Dipper from a commercial airline jet while crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 3200, 35 mm, f/1.4, 1 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
