LAND! After a room service breakfast, we were off the ship by 11am on to a warm and sunny Madeira. We had a car hire arranged and had to walk a few hundred yards to meet the rep who had our car waiting. We already knew we wanted to find the airport and take some pictures as from a high vantage point in the mountains you can actually look down on planes landing.
We found the airport quite easily by following the signs and then picked our own way through the mountains. As we got higher up it became cloudy and even rained, but we found a good spot to stop the car. Parked next to us was an old Vauxhall Viva with its tail end literally hanging over the cliff edge. The owner was either brave or crazy! We figured crazy!
We checked the flight schedules and found there were scheduled departures in the next 30 minutes, so we stuck around. Sadly they were taking off the opposite way; so we got some shots taxiing, but not actual take off. It was too long to wait for arrivals, so we went for a drive. We found a few places to stop and take pictures of the ship, but by now we were feeling hungry, so decided to head into town.
We parked the car by the harbour and then walked into town. It was sunny and hot once more. We found a café to sit and eat that seemed to be frequented by a lot of our crew and by locals, which must be a good sign. We managed to get a table outside, as it was really busy. I had melon & ham and Paul had ham omelet and chips. The café was located in a small shopping arcade. One of the shops was a lady who hand made glass beads (like Pandora). They were threaded on leather cords and she sold necklaces and bracelets in various colour combinations. They were also really good value and I got a necklace and bracelet for €25.
We then wondered through town looking in some of the tourist shops. It was a really nice town, pedestrianised and quaint. Madeira is definitely worth another visit.
We moved the car to a car park right opposite the ship and got some more great pictures of the ship, its logo and the landscape. We then went for another drive, eventually stopping at a shopping mall. We were running short of time but I did manage to get a top from Zara. We then made our way back to port at Funchal to return the hire car at 5pm.
We needed a quick change and brush up to get to dinner on time. We knew the couple from Texas wouldn’t be joining us due to having dinner reservations at Palo, but the couple from Massachusetts didn’t make it either, so we dinned alone. The menu was ‘Flavours the World’. We both started with Mexican spicy beef turnovers (that looked like small pasties), then Canadian cheddar soup. Main course was US steaks. For desserts we separated; I had the English bread and butter pudding, Paul had the New York baked cheesecake. My pudding turned up cold and I couldn’t figure if it was meant to be this way as it really was stone cold. I asked the waiter to check, so he scurried off and came back with a fresh one, which this time was warm. Being just the two of us we managed to get out quite quickly so came back to our room for sail away. As the Captain announced the summary of our journey, he told us that the seas were going to be rough until we got to Gibraltar. We thought it might get pretty bad from the way he worded it, which was ‘Not to worry, the ship would not get damaged’.
Tonight’s show was a flamenco group called ‘Passionata’. Paul really wanted to go as he apparently likes flamenco. We found new favorite seats in the theatre at the front of the upper section, where we get loads of legroom and a great view. These seats fill up quickly though so we have to get there early. The show was actually quite disappointing and the seas were definitely rough. After the show we came straight back to the cabin which being at the back of the ship was swaying. I managed to sleep through it, but Paul was up in the night as it kept rocking him off his side. I don’t think it is the roughest we have known but it certainly was really rough. On the way back to the room we saw an English lady on the stairs, who, despite wearing her patch said she felt really queasy. We advised her to go low and centre and is possible to lie down. I wonder how many people are going to get ill.