Time Out Market, Lisbon

On By Rick McIn food, travel3 Comments

Best advice when visiting Lisbon is to eat MOST of your meals at Time Out.

It’s a massive place where you have a lot of choices at reasonable prices.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Over a couple of weeks, I ate there perhaps 6 times.

My favourite was something billed as a traditional Portuguese meat sandwich. I tried several variations.

Last time I Portugal, my favourite was the Francesinha ( ‘Little French Girl’). It’s a high calorie feed.

My friend Paulo recommended I try a traditional Portuguese light lunch. Cod croquettes alongside a beans dish.

Of course PORK is a mainstay in Spain and Portugal. This was a delicious dish … of some kind.

The traditional desert is a custard tart.

Billy Summers by Stephen King

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Published August 2021, this book is set about 6 months before the pandemic.

It got great reviews and I do recommend it for everyone.

Stephen King is one of the most popular authors all time. Net worth is $500 million plus.

Though nobody ever called his books literature, he is one of the best story tellers. And Billy Summers is a great story.

Billy Summers is a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he’ll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out.

But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done.

So what could possibly go wrong?

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I like King’s political activism. He hates Trump and most things GOP. Feels rich guys (like himself) should pay more tax.

Tree to Sea Bike Touring Loop, Vancouver Island

On By Rick McIn cycling, travel1 Comment

I’m looking forward to exploring the northern half of Vancouver Island by bike.

Sometime.

I’ll do some variation of the Tree to Sea Loop, 1000-kilometres on gravel around the lesser-known areas on the north end of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. It’s 90% unpaved.

Highlights include massive valleys, oceanside villages, towering coastal mountains, and deep fjords via an impressive patchwork of forest service roads.

Right now the route requires a water taxi from Tahsis to Zeballos, which will be replaced by the Unity Trail that will eventually connect the two communities.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Better Off Dead by Andrew Child

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This is book #26 in the Jack Reacher series. Quite good, in my opinion. Better than the previous Andrew Child book.

As always, Reacher stumbles into an incredible scenario … by accident.

He bumps into Michaela Fenton, an army veteran turned FBI agent, trying to find her twin brother, who might be mixed up with some dangerous people.

Fenton is a badass herself, a good compliment for Reacher.

This book kept me going from start to finish.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe 

On By Rick McIn books, human rightsLeave a comment

Good book. I’m not sure I’d call it Young Adult, however. though it’s often listed amongst the top YA novels of all time.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is a coming-of-age young adult novel by American author Benjamin Alire Sáenz.

Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza is the main protagonist.

He’s a typically angry, bored and confused teen. A loner.

Set in El Paso, Texas in 1987, the story starts when Ari meets another Mexican-American teen, Dante Quintana.

Dante is an admirable person in every way. It’s his influence and their friendship which finally helps Ari grow up.

A happy ending.

Several themes feature prominently. These include Mexican-American identity, gender and sexuality, particular masculine gender roles and homosexuality, intellectualism and artistic expression, as well as family relationships and friendship.

Killing Eve – season 2

On By Rick McIn TVLeave a comment

Now that the shock of Villanelle being an emotionless psychopath has been established, season 2 is not nearly as good as season 1.

One good plot thread concerned finance manager Aaron Peel. But it ended in an unsatisfying way. Writers couldn’t come up with anything better?

And the weird relationship between an MI6 specialist nerd and a Russian professional killer isn’t convincing.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Pembrokeshire Murders

On By Rick McIn TVLeave a comment

Good TV.

This is the 13th in a series of ITV mini-series featuring notorious British murder cases of the past two centuries.

Pembrokeshire Murders is a British three-part television drama miniseries, based on the Pembrokeshire murders by Welsh serial killer John Cooper. …

In 2006, newly promoted Detective Superintendent Steve Wilkins decided to reopen two unsolved 1980s murder cases linked with a string of burglaries. New advances in technology for Forensic DNA analysis, witness reports and artists impressions of the suspect …

Luke Evans is excellent in the lead.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

On By Rick McIn books, moviesLeave a comment

I was happy to get my hands on the sequel to Thursday Murder Club.

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim—the Thursday Murder Club—are still riding high off their recent real-life murder case and are looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet at Cooper’s Chase, their posh retirement village. …

The writing is witty. The old folks endearing, especially Ibrahim.

It’s a lark. Don’t take the plot — or the murders — too seriously.

And soon to be a major motion picture from Steven Spielberg. It will be more like Best Exotic Marigold Hotel than a murder mystery.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Birthday Party in LISBON

On By Rick McIn cycling, hiking, travel2 Comments

I’m 64-years-young on November 2nd.

I’ll be celebrating in Lisbon, Portugal. You know — the most vaccinated nation in the world? 😇

No quarantine. No covid test. BLAST. Connecting in Montreal, I was one of about 10 connecting passengers informed that we did need a Covid test before getting on the plane. I got a 20 minute test at the airport for $150. Very confusing as Portugal allows vaccinated passengers to arrive without a test on TAP airlines and others. I blame Air Transat for poor communication.

I’ll be hiking famed Fisherman’s Trail. And Seven Hanging Valleys.

Renting a touring bicycle from BikeIberia.

BUT if anyone asks, I’m there mainly looking to get some dental work done. North American dentists are the most overpaid in the world.

searching for a dentist

As usual, I’m flying to Europe on Air Transat. Cheapest by far — BUT they don’t have many flights / week.

As it happens, I celebrated my 53rd birthday in Porto, Portugal. So this is something of a re-do.