Wednesday 11 May 2016

Santa Maria island, Azores - ICAEA meeting - The 28th (evening) and 29th May 2016



Hosted by APPLA the annual ICAEA meeting was held in the Azorean island of Santa Maria having been supported by several enterprises including the one I work. Whist I will not refer the rather interesting and  relevant subject matters we discussed in this blog I'll have to mention that it was an immense pleasure to have beeen able to gather with some "old" friends, as well as meet "new" ones.

















Upon having reached Santa Maria we were driven to Formosa beach belvedere and taken on a  brief circuit around the island.
 
 

















A collegue and I went to a  rather special restaurant in the down town area I had never been to before and which I instantaneously fell in love for, due to the quality of the food and the overall atmosphere. 



















Amongst the various Aviation English Training related activities we were exposed to an aircraft evacuation drill using the chute and one leaving an aircraft filled with smoke caught most participants' attention until a visit to the Oceanic Control Room and the Simulator used solely for local training purposes became the highlight. 
 































The first organised dinner was a rather cultural one as we were exposed to the whole rituals of the Holy Spirit festivities and  what lies behind them. The fact that at my table there were colleagues from very different countries, such as Bosnia Herzegovina, Japan, Macedonia, Poland and Nigeria led us to further discuss traditions and to to do to maintain them. 
 
 
 

















By the time I got to my bedroom I was rather tired but particularly happy as I had had an incredible evening ... one that I will certainly remember for a long time ..., especially because of the companionship.












 


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