The Week That Was....

Well, I DID make it to Lisbon in the end...and back again - just in the nick of time! UK airports are gradually closing today as yet again the volcanic ash cloud shifts our way. OK, Ash Cloud....do your worst for the next three weeks or so but just sod the hell off next month when I want to fly to Canada!

My early flight out of London Luton was delayed for two hours last Tuesday morning while air traffic control cleverly worked out how we could fly around the ash cloud. Sitting waiting in the airport lounge, drinking bottomless cups of tea and watching SkyNews on a continuous loop of just two stories....the aftermath of the UK election and the RyanAir plane that had to make an emergency landing at Stansted Airport (!)... is possibly not the wisest move for someone with a small bladder, who's also terrified of flying and of using the toilet on an aeroplane (fear of hitting turbulence mid-stream, you pee see).

Finally, I made it through Lisbon airport by lunchtime...hopped into a taxi driven by a wannabe F1 race driver and got to my hotel in record time. Dumping my bags, I headed straight out again to find something to eat, ending up at a cafe/patisserie type place up the road from the hotel. The owner quickly realised I don't know a word of Portuguese and pointed to the menu saying, "Meat, Fish, Omelette"....I opted for the "omelette", which turned out to be two fried eggs, bacon, chips and pickled cauliflower and carrots all piled up on a plate. Very tasty, all the same.

There was just time for a quick stroll to get my bearings before the conference welcome reception. The city was crawling with police as the pope had just arrived. I caught the tail end of a procession of devotees....

And then the man himself in his popemobile....

Most of the week was taken up by lectures, workshops and hobnobbing networking with some interesting characters from both rival companies and potential clients. I did get a couple of free hours one afternoon and decided to take an open-top bus tour of Lisbon. My photos are pretty rubbish on the whole....my camera has anti-shake built in but is not equipped to cope with a bus on high speed vibrate. Here are a few shots to give you an idea - click on the pictures to enlarge or the links to read more.

Luís de Camões Square

Jerónimos Monastery

Pastel de Belém (custard tarts) at the famous Casa Pastéis de Belém, 160 year old pastry shop

The 25 de Abril Bridge, built by the same company (American Bridge Company) that constructed the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (not the Golden Gate)

Torre de Belém at dusk

Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries)

Map of Portuguese exploration on pavement below the Monument

Stepping back to my roots

After a delayed return flight, I finally arrived back in London in the early hours of Saturday morning, landing in a country with a new Tory-Lib Dem coalition government, and a new PM in Number 10.

Out with the Old....

In with the New....

Now I need to catch up on all your posts from the past week!