Wednesday 4 January 2012

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













7 comments:

  1. I love your photos Joe. One of the best things about the web is being able to see how others live, a little window into another world. Happy New Year fella.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You all look like a happy mob having a great time..

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dicky: Thanks, a very happy new year to you also
    ´
    Tempo: We try, even in the face of adversity to be happy. Thanks for the comment

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey...yeah great pics and good feel to this post...happy/merry new year..hope it all works out well...
    on a different note...i so wanna go to funchal later this year...looks n sounds like a great place..dont worry this aint a prompt for 'do you have a spare room' hahaha

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dan: Great idea, come over Dan and we'll have a few drink sessions :) As for accomodation, pls let me know in advance - I can find you a nice place to stay

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are on Joe...now time to save some dough...or perform another one of my intricate and foolproof heists :)

      Delete
  6. Foolproof Heist! Pls send me the instructions :

    ReplyDelete