Update from Paradise - part 11

Christmas day was celebrated with the family as usual. A traditional feast of fine food and wine that lasted all afternoon and by 11 pm I was at The Warm Up Cafe - packed to the rafters with the usual crowd.

nephew, me, cousin, niece, dad, brother, sister-in-law, auntie
in the garden at Monte

tucking in to turkey and beef, yum

I was kind of surprised to see The Warm Up Cafe packed on Christmas night. I guess all those musicians, like myself, wanted to burn off excess calories with a jam session. 6 am exit.

The few days between Christmas and New Year were spent eating, drinking, playing music and going to bed a bit earlier than normal, for reasons I will disclose further down the page.

Farewell 2011 !

The old year went out with a bang - both pyrotechnical and booze-induced.

The Funchal New Year's Fireworks Display, (second largest in the world), mesmerised all who saw it - even those like me who have seen it countless times. Never fails to impress.

Twelve minutes it took to turn night into day and to blow 1 million euros of taxpayers money in the process. No one gave a hoot at hootenanny about the present economic climate. Well worth it, was the general consensus.

Austerity? What for? If the Mayans are right we may as well spend every last penny while we can!

The picture below could never hope to portray the event in all it's glory, but gives an idea. A camera that captures 360 degrees of night sky needs to be invented first.

Maybe it has already. Please let me know.

just a tiny sample of a huge spectacle 

My 14 year old son Mattie arrived from London on the 26th December (hence my earlier to bed than usual nights) and stayed with me for 9 days. It was  wonderful having him here but terribly sad to see him leave today :(  See you soon sunshine, can't wait to see you again x

My beautiful boy with my beautiful cousin Lisandra on
New Year's Eve at Vila Da Rocha