TV in Portugal

Obviously for this blog I need to pass some comment on TV in Portugal.  The interesting thing here is that the majority of US programmes shown are subtitled rather than dubbed.  This means that there are many more options for the English speaker to watch (usually from the US).  Surprisingly, many are ahead of the UK - the Good Wife is ahead of More4 by a few episodes and Scandal is near the end of series three which hasn't even started in the UK (and has even been dropped by More4!)  Whilst the main channels are mainly Portuguese, even they will not translate imports.  You would have thought that with Brazil being a bigger market that also speaks Portuguese that dubbed versions would be available, maybe people are just used to it this way.  However, whilst you will find many people who speak English, there doesn't seem to be the same universal speaking of English about that you might find in the Netherlands (which also has subtitles) or indeed Germany.

One of the curious things is that they keep the breaks in US TV programmes, without actually taking the breaks!  Fine in dramas, but in "reality" programmes (Dancing with the Stars, MasterChef) you end up with either a clear "join us after the break" "welcome back" or a scene being repeated 5 seconds later where they have used it before and after the break!   The translators must notice when they are typing the same words over and over again...

The other odd thing is that references get translated as well as the language.  So, 911 becomes 112, and a mile away becomes 1.5km (they are just the ones I can see because of the numbers - who knows what else may be hidden in the language!)

Faro, Portugal

I am currently taking a trip (by train) across Portugal from south to north.  I started off with a few nights in Faro, on the Algarve.  Whilst most people may fly into Faro and get a bus off to a resort, I based myself in the city which is just by the airport (so much so that it is very obvious when planes are landing as they fly right across the harbour!).

The city itself has many interesting things to see.  The Municipal Museum is an interesting building in its own right, and has some interesting exhibits.  The Cathedral has a great viewing platform from the belltower and a small museum of artefacts.  There are a number of other churches as well, although I missed seeing the advertised room of skulls in one as it was closed when I went there!  I also happened across an art exhibit in the old town, which was interesting, as was wandering the streets of the old town itself.  Many houses were covered in tiles on the outside, and the roads cobbled or with pretty patterns.

A day trip by train to Tavira along the cost was a highlight of the trip.  The town itself is split across a river, with an old bridge joining the two halves (and some newer ones now too!)  There are two town museums here, with one looking at the Islamic heritage of the place and the other looking wider.  There are also a number of historic churches, and a castle in the centre of the town.  This gives some good views over the town but is also a health and safety nightmare - lots of stairs and edges that have no rails that people could easily fall off!  Fun though!  In the afternoon I walked out of town and caught a ferry over to Tavria island a resort of restaurants, sand dunes and a long sandy beach.  Whilst the weather was sunny the sea wasn't warm enough to tempt most people in, but that didn't stop me - after all opportunities to swim in the sea don't come along that often!  All in all, I thoroughly recommend Tavria for a visit.  There was perhaps less going on with my trip to Olhao, perhaps because it was Sunday and a lot of the attractions (and the quayside market) were closed. 

On my first day in Faro Portugal marked 40 years since 25th April 1974 when the dictatorship was overthrown.  This day was a bank holiday (as every 25th April is), meaning that some of the tourist attractions were closed.  It was marked by a concert the evening before (which I missed as it must have started gone 9:30 - although I did hear some practice earlier in the evening!) and a march through the town on the day itself.

One final mention for the food.  I found some incredible value there, including one restaurant where I had bread and olives, soup of the day, main course (from a choice of ~10), desert, carafe of wine and coffee all for only €8.50!  An all you can eat Japanese restaurants for under €14 were also very enjoyable!

Malta

Whilst 2013 was a quiet year for travel (certainly a quiet year for this blog) I did get to spend a week in Malta which is worth writing some notes about here. 

One of the surprising things was that there is a reciprocal agreement between the UK National Trust and its Maltese equivalent.  I found this out after paying to visit the Red Tower, but later visited a couple more sites around the island.  They were all defensive towers of some sort or other (and would only have cost a euro or two to visit anyway!)

Other interesting historic sites included underground second world war bunkers and the Parish Church at Mellieha.  The bunkers were especially notable, as I visited at a time when I was the only person there.  To be wondering along dark, low bunkers (which stretch for many hundreds of yards) on your own was really quite eerie (especially when they had a few mannequins dotted about!)

Getting around the island was aided by the comprehensive bus network - not necessarily quick (and occasionally crowded at rush hour) but a day ticket was good value.  A trip to the capital, Valletta, was well worthwhile.  There was lots to see around the town, in particular the old city walls (and also the big bell shown below which warned people not to get too close before it rang!).  The Cathedral (St Johns) was impressive, and also had a lot of Maltese history with its knights and grand masters.  The National War Museum was occasionally random but had some interesting displays, particularly on Malta's role in WWII and how they came to be awarded the George Cross.  The national Museum of Fine Art was a bit hidden away, and not necessarily a lot to find when you got there!  One thing to note - the town is very hilly - between the city walls and the sea front you will go up and down twice if you pick the wrong route through!

A day trip to Gozo was also a highlight.  The capital Victoria in particular is very impressive, particularly up on the city walls.   From here you can see across the whole island as you walk round.  There is also a Cathedral to visit (as well as many other churches across the island), and more national trust sites on the coast. 

The British influence in Malta is still clear, despite having its independence for many years.  Post boxes are of a traditional British design, and many British shops are here, including Marks and Spencer, Burton and BHS!  Being there before Christmas decorations were as prevalent there as they would be back in the UK, both street decorations and trees (including one made out of plastic bottles!) and also school children on a "Santa train" going through the streets.  One thing that isn't British is the TV, which is many local or Italian.  However one very useful part was that any US imports on certain channels were played out in English rather than being dubbed into Italian meaning there was something to watch!

Reflections on New York

For my final day in New York I headed across Central Park again towards the Guggenheim museum.  At least I thought I was heading towards it - a few wrong turnings and I ended up 15 blocks down from where I had aimed to be!  When finally there the Guggenheim museum had a good display of selections from its permanent collection (again on an abstract theme) and a photography exhibition.  Just as interesting though was the building.  Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright it was set out in a spiral foundation, meaning that you moved around and up the building rather than (in the main) being in traditional galleries.  It was different (if a little corridor-esque) and quite clever.  What was also clever was the method they had for hanging pictures which meant that they appeared to float away from the rear wall (which itself was on a slope)!

From there the last stop of my trip was further along the road (known as "museum mile" - the "Met" which I visited on my first day is also along there) at the Museum of the City of New York.  This had displays on the history of banking in New York plus on protest movements over the ages.  The final gallery I visited had a photo display of the streets of London over the years - appropriate as London was my next stop, flying back to the UK.

Overall it was a good and busy week in New York.  I say "New York", practically I haven't been outside of Manhattan during the time that I was there (despite one attempt to do so!).  I have tried to make full use of the museums pass that I took out, and have probably done so (although with hindsight I should have been a little better at planning where I should go - there are still plenty more places that I haven't been to see yet).  What was interesting though was some of the limited opening hours that some attractions had - many were closed on Monday (not just because it was the Labor Day holiday) and on Tuesday (or another day) too.  Very few were open before 10 (some not until 11) and started closing at 4, with almost all shut by 5:30.  For a city with the number of tourists that New York attracts, I found this very surprising.

Over the week, the weather has been variable.  Always quite warm, there have been some spells of sunshine, but also some rain (as seen when I was up the Empire State Building) and quite a lot of cloud.  Not enough to stop me doing anything though.

One of the surprises of the trip has been the New York Subway system - but not in a good way.  Arriving in New York last Saturday I found it terribly confusing to work out where it is I should be going.  First I found that directions are given as "Uptown" or "Downtown" which I didn't know whether was geographical, numerical or psychological (actually, both the first two apply).  Secondly, although a train may go along a route, it may not stop at all the stations along it (arriving on a Saturday evening there were signs that "A goes along C line late night".  Not knowing when "late night" was, an A turned up and I got on it.  Fortunately I just caught the announcement that it was going non-stop through the station that I was wanting to get off on!).  On a train there is very little indication as to where it is going, where the stops are etc apart from some announcements which are very difficult to hear.  There is little indication on the platforms either - most do not have a "next train" display nor a clear display of the next stations on a line.  One even left it very unclear that there were no trains at all that day!  The platforms themselves are generally as hot as the bowels of hell itself, fortunately the trains themselves are air conditioned.  They are not always terribly easy for getting about on, for example in Manhattan the trains generally run for north to south - there are very few that go across (hence all the walking on Thursday!)  However, I still managed to get about!

All in all it has been a great trip - I have seen three very interesting cities and a lot of museums, galleries and historic sights within them.  It has been all go all of the time (I suppose the train journey was my "rest day" but even that wasn't just having a sit down!) - I probably need a holiday now!

Criss Cross Quiz

My first stop of my penultimate day here was to visit the American Museum of Natural History.  Now, to be honest, it probably wouldn't have been top of my list of places to visit, but the fact that (a) it is next door to my hotel and (b) with my New York Card it didn't cost me anything to go have a look meant that I was curious to see what was inside.  What I found was a very old fashioned museum, with the majority of exhibits either stuffed animals in glass display cases or about groups of people such as "Indians" (but not, say, "Europeans" - what was the implication about what was "Natural History" as opposed to just "History"?).  This seemed quite odd in this day and age (there were a few more modern displays, but they were in the minority) and whilst the museum was going through some renovation, it may well need a lot more before too long.

From here I walked across Central Park to the Whitney Museum.  Here I found a queue to get in - out into the street - for probably the first time at any venue.  The reason appeared to be that there was an exhibit with limited entry where you needed a timed ticket - I was offered one for 15:40 - given that it was 12:00 I felt I would have moved on elsewhere by then!  I was able to see the rest of the current exhibits though (the permanent collection was closed for renovations) including an interesting political-based floor.

I then took the Subway down to town, getting off at the impressive Grand Central Station, and when down there walked back across town via a second-hand book store where I could have bought many books if I had the luggage capacity!  I was walking over to visit the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space museum.  I had somewhat overlooked this museum until planning today but there were two key reasons to visit in that they had both a Concorde and a Space Shuttle there.  The Space Shuttle (Enterprise, which was the test shuttle) had only recently arrived following the retirement of the shuttle programme.  Both of these (and many more) were based on or by USS Intrepid, a huge aircraft carrier which saw service in World War II and Vietnam, which you could look round as well which was very interesting (although I am too tall to go to sea in the navy!). 

Finally I walked back across town (again), via the Times Square museum where they have the ball that drops every new year on display.  I went to visit the Paley Centre which had been advertised as a television and radio museum but was in fact an electronic library of many TV (and radio) shows which you could search, like a better quality version of You Tube.  I was able to round out my day spending a good period of time looking at some historic moments in US television.

Tributes

Over the years on my trips I have visited many scenes of tragedies, such as the Oklahoma bombings and Hiroshima.  The next stop on my trip was the most recent and therefore the most raw of them - the site of 9/11 in New York.  The location of the World Trade Center has been turned into a memorial garden - the footprint of each of the twin towers has been turned into a memorial pool, with waterfalls going down into them.  The site is currently in the middle of a building site as many of the plots around the site are being rebuilt, including a new tower that reaches to the same height as the twin towers (with an additional aerial which reaches to 1776 to reflect US independence).  The building and the crowds meant that it wasn't necessarily peaceful, but it was a very strong memorial to those who died.  From here I went round the 9/11 Tribute Centre which was a moving reflection on the events of the day - a full museum is being built on the site itself, to open later this year.

From here I looked round a few of the smaller museums that were in the area.  The Museum of Finance looked at the financial system, including banks and the stock market, and a timeline on the financial crisis that they are going to need to extend!  Fraunces Tavern was a historic site from the war of independence where George Washington resigned his military commission, freeing him to end up running for President (and not establishing a military government).  The Museum of Skyscrapers brought some of the day's visits full circle as it reflected on the growth of New York's Skyscrapers, including models used in the building of the World Trace Center.  I then tried to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, but the signs to it sent me round in circles so I gave up and went to the New Museum instead.  This is a contemporary art gallery and had some of the "avant garde" pieces that were perhaps missing yesterday (here with some relationship to technology), but mainly from the 1960's and 70's so not that new!

I rounded off my day with a trip to see a play on Broadway.  Earlier in the day I picked up some half price tickets to see Gore Vidal's "The Best Man" (still not cheep, even at half price!).  The play was great - it is set at a political convention with two men vying for their party's nomination to run for the presidency. It stars James Earl Jones, John Larroquette (Boston Legal) and should have also starred Cybil Shepherd (Moonlighting) but obviously it was her night off last night (moonlighting elsewhere?!?).  It was a really good and captivating few hours and I am glad that I caught it.  It was also really timely as the actual political conventions are on at the moment, with the Republicans last week and the Democrats this week.  Whilst the candidacies are well and truly concluded before the conventions nowadays, they are still on "primetime" with an hour each night on the main three channels which is an amazing amount of coverage from a UK perspective!  The hour per night is actually the shortest the coverage has ever been, and on several nights speeches have significantly over-run (Bill Clinton tonight, Mitt Romney last week) - revenge on the networks??

Up in the clouds

For my next day in New York I started off by taking a tour of the NBC Studios at the Rockerfeller Center.  This took you behind the scenes into some of their most famous studios, including the studio where the Nightly News is broadcast on and that for the famous "Saturday Night Live" (which from British eyes is always surprising that it is broadcast at 11:35pm at night!).  To actually be on the floor of the news studio was the type of access that you would rarely get elsewhere.

From there I went on to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) which was just down the road.  This had a strong permanent collection as well as some interesting special exhibits, including some flag paintings and an exhibition related to childhood (which due to poor signage I entered at the wrong end and ended up going back in time!)  One impressive part was an area where motion capture turned children into animated monsters in real time!  I also spent too long watching a recorded game of Tetris on a screen until I realised what I was doing...  The permanent collection was good, but included lots of pieces that were similar to those I have seen elsewhere (I think there have been sculptures by Alberto Giacometti at at least 5 galleries I have been at this trip!) - there was nothing really surprising.  The only down note was not being allowed out into the sculpture garden as there was a little bit of drizzle going on!

I then had a wander through town, which took in Broadway and Times Square (which was busy) and New York Central Library.  Here there was a great exhibition on the concept of "Lunch", including some of the automats that used to be part of New York.  There was one story that said that a popular coffee place used to offer coffee at 5 cents.  As the prices of the raw materials went up they started reducing the quality but were losing significant amounts of money.  If they could have charged 7 or 8 cents they might have been OK but the machine would only work on a 1 coin basis so eventually it had to go up to 10 cents which people hated and led to its decline.

My final stop was the Empire State Building.  As we were going up we were warned that there was zero visibility and given the option to come back some other time.  However, as I had seen the views across New York already I was going more for the experience so I wasn't turning back.  Actually, the weather made the visit.  At some points you were enveloped in clouds at the top, but it was windy so they were moving and would clear, revealing views of the city below.  Quite a unique experience and not too wet, so a lot of fun and some different photos!