Day 2: From Madeira to Brazil and back, with a stop in Margaritaville

Whoa! Don't let the title fool you. We're not actually going to Brazil (or Margaritaville, for that matter), but I think you'll see how they all relate. For those already looking for the exit, please come back. It'll all make sense, and we'll have a lot of fun getting from point A to point B. Here's a little bit of background to provide some context for this journey. Remember, this is a party, and not a lecture. Well, maybe a little lecture.

In a nutshell, the Carnival of Brazil can trace its roots to 1723, when Madeiran immigrants introduced a rowdy street festival to the local population. Over time, this festival fused with local cultural influences and African rhythms, evolving into its iconic samba sound. Coming full circle, in the 1970s, Madeira began incorporating Brazil's flashy costumes and samba beats into their Carnaval parade.

It's Carnaval!

See? That wasn't so painful, was it?

But....but, where does Margaritaville fit in?

I'm glad you asked! Madeira is often called "the Hawaii of Europe," mainly for its volcanic origin and year-round mild climate. And I agree! The lifestyle, though, more closely aligns with Margaritaville, that mythical place with its spiritual roots in Key West, Florida. Madeira is Key West's eastern cousin, but with much steeper hills and better wine.

Just consider this connection: Jimmy Buffett released his album Don't Stop the Carnival in 1998, and one version of the album art shows Jimmy in what appears to be Carnival regalia. Check it out below.

image from Google search

Now, I'll grant that this particular album doesn't have much to do with the actual Carnival, but the album art suggests an island vibe that's felt throughout many of his songs, and what we felt on Madeira. The location may be different, but the feeling remains the same. We traded our margaritas for the iconic poncha as the steel drums surrendered to the samba's beat.

As a reminder to my readers, clicking on any link in blue will open in a new window. You won't lose your place here. Clicking on any photo will open a large-format version in a new window as well.

Day 2: Happy Valentine's Day!

Our second full day in Madeira started much like the previous day, to the point of it being a carbon copy, as we prepared to leave base camp to meet C&J. Remember in my previous blog how I mentioned that a certain conversation with Jeff would come up again? I was either in the Twilight Zone or experiencing a scene from Monty Python in real-life. Here is a recap of our conversation as Cindy and I were heading out the door:

Cindy: Be sure to grab those Euro coins. We'll need them for bus fare.

Me: No, we're supposed to try using our cards first.

Cindy: But Jeff left the coins for us. 

Me: For backup! We're supposed to try our cards first, then paper money if the cards aren't accepted.

Cindy: Oh, yeah, that's right! The paper money. I forgot we got some yesterday. 

Me: Yeah, after we try our cards.

Cindy: But what about the coins? Jeff said...

Me: Babe, one more time. It's cards, then paper money, then coins, as a backup.

Cindy: Well, you don't have to get all snippy about it.

Me: <sigh> Yes, dear

Cindy: Did you just roll your eyes at me??

Me: Oh, not at all. I was just making sure my contacts were centered.

Now, please watch this scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and I'll let you decide. It's just a couple of minutes long, and well worth watching just for the comedy value.

Don't get me wrong. Cindy means the world to me, and I count my blessings every day that she's my wife and I get to be her husband. Situations like the above happen very rarely. Both of us have been on the confused end of the conversation, so this is more charming to me than annoying. Charming? It was hilarious (but in a good way).

For the record, the bus system doesn't accept credit cards, so I paid with a 5 Euro note and actually got change back. Those 2 Euro coins are still safely with our other leftover Euros. 

Nothing could be more appropriate about that whole coin conundrum than that we didn't use the bus again after our first and second days on Madeira. A fitting end to such a Python-esque start to our day.

Our breakfast view

photo courtesy of Jeff Homes

We met C&J near the same park from the previous day, had our chinesa and pastel de nata, and proceeded to the grandstand area to find our seats for the parade. We wanted to find our specific seats before it got dark and the crowds arrived. Wow, what great seats! We'll have a fantastic view of the parade later tonight. 

After showing us a few more sights, we decided on an early lunch (elevensies) and made our way to one of Connie's favorite restaurants, Barreirinha Bar Cafe, near the fort we visited yesterday. "It's a bit of a walk, but the view will be worth it." Translation: We need to ascend this steep-assed hill. That's one way to ensure a good appetite. Yes, there was a steep portion, but overall it wasn't that bad. And the view was definitely worth it.

As is common in many European countries, iced tea is a rarity, and for those of us raised on iced tea, it can be frustrating when it's not available. Knowing this prior to the trip, I put the idea of enjoying iced tea in Madeira out of my head. Imagine my surprise, then, when I spotted that icy elixir on the menu. Ohhh, yes! I'll have some iced tea, please. It'll go great with my lunch choice.

Tosta mista

A tosta mista is basically a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, served on the iconic Bolo do Caco bread. Delicious! For such a "simple" sandwich, it delivered a savory delight. Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches are one of my comfort foods, in addition to what I named on this past blog about comfort foods. I would discover throughout this whole trip that my elevensies choice would alternate between the prego especial and the tosta mista. 

We had just enough time to check out a local market before our wine tasting at Blandy's Wine Lodge. Jeff had already booked this tasting for the four of us based on our conversations of what we wanted to do prior to our trip. Following that link will give you a fantastic overview of the company and its wines. I've known about Madeira wine for many years, yet never had the chance, until now, to try it out. This will be the second style of wine in my "triad" to sample in the land of its origin. I had the first in this triad, Tuscany's signature Chianti, in Firenze, which you can read about here. 

Welcome to Blandy's Wine Lodge

Our tour guide led us through many parts of the winery that were actually working areas. She pointed out the storage and aging barrels and how the wine was made. The following are photos of these barrels that show the different types and varieties of wines they made.

Notice the names of the grapes on the barrels, such as sercial, bual, and malvasia. Each grape variety produces a different flavor and level of sweetness or dryness. The following photo will explain each of these grapes in detail. For best results, click the photo to view a larger version.

Grape varieties

Once we finished our tour of the production area, our guide led us to the tasting room, where we could sample three different wines, one dry and two sweet. While all of these were enjoyable, my preference for sweet wines definitely showed itself when I picked my favorite of the three. I'm not an experienced wine connoisseur by any stretch. I know what I like and tend to gravitate toward those types. Up to now, my favorite sweet wine is an Auslese, but the Blandy's Malmsey wines gave it stiff competition. 

From dry to sweet

photo courtesy of Jeff Homes

I had a tough time picking my favorite between the two sweet wines (center and right in the photo above), but if I had to pick just one, it's the 10-year Malmsey (center). It had a velvety mouth-feel and somewhat richer aftertaste compared to the other one. Paired with some dark chocolate, your taste buds would go wild.

My pick of the three

The biggest surprise for me was the color of the Madeira wines, neither "red" nor "white" in the traditional sense, but closer to Scotch or dark rum. Of course, I had to open both the Specs and Total Wines apps on my phone to see if any of these were available locally once we got home. Yay! Thankfully, there are a few of the less expensive Malmsey wines available at either retailer. 

The quartet of fun

photo courtesy of Jeff Homes

Sisters being sisters

photo courtesy of Jeff Homes

Goofin' for the camera

photo by Cindy Newman

First of the triad: Chianti

Second of the triad: Madeira

photo by Cindy Newman

The third of my triad will be sipping an Auslese in the Mosel Valley, within the next year or so. Cindy and I are still in the early stages of planning this trip, but we hope to start finalizing plans soon. Of course, this means I need to start another multi-tabbed spreadsheet for that trip, right? 

As the afternoon wore on, I could definitely feel the party vibe ramping up. More and more people appeared in the central area, with live music playing from several stages scattered about. It's the same kind of energy I noticed at Galveston's Mardi Gras festivities the last time I was there.

Carnaval!

photo courtesy of Jeff Homes

We enjoyed the revelry of the moment until it was time to leave for dinner, another "short walk" from where we were. C&J mentioned that we would be meeting another couple, Jim and Ann Marie, whom they met on a previous trip to Madeira. They would be dining with us and attending the parade with us as well. Cool! The more, the merrier. They arrived shortly after we did, and after introductions, I asked where they were from. "Do I detect a hint of Irish accent?" Jim replied that they're from Newfoundland, and many of the locals there spoke with an accent like his.

Sunrise Asian Fusion

Sunrise Asian Fusion had a wide array of dishes to choose from, and the butter chicken caught my eye. We ordered several appetizers to share family style. As it got darker, the temperature started dropping. I ordered hot tea for both the warmth and the caffeine to keep me going during the parade.

Hot tea for me

With such good conversation and food, the time quickly slipped by us, and we had to hustle to finish dinner, settle the bill, and take "another short walk" to the grandstand area. This was more of a power walk, or an "oh, crap, my departure gate is all the way across the terminal, and I have only three minutes to make the flight" kind of walk. We ended up being just a few minutes late, but our seats were still vacant, and we sat down to watch the spectacle.

Funchal's "Cortejo Alegorico" is the main parade, much in the style of Rio's Carnival. The dazzling costumes, samba music, and general merriment of the crowd all contributed to a party vibe that lasted the entire time we were there in the grandstands. Normally, when adding pictures to my blog, I will caption most of them, unless the photo is so self-explanatory that a caption doesn't add anything to it. Here are just a few of the many photos we took of the parade. 

photo courtesy of Jeff Homes

photo courtesy of Jeff Homes

photo courtesy of Jeff Homes

photo courtesy of Jeff Homes

All of us were amazed at how elaborate these costumes and floats were. The participants exhibited such a high level of energy that I wonder how they were able to maintain it throughout the length of the parade. As the wind picked up, it grew colder as the night wore on. Notice that many of these costumes didn't offer much cover, so hopefully their high-energy dance routines kept them warm. After two hours of watching the parade, I started to get a little cold, even with my anorak on. I'm typically warm-natured and the last to get cold in our group. I was just about to mention this when Connie asked if we'd be OK leaving a little early. "We're getting cold, and would like to start back to the apartment." Cindy was already feeling the effects of the wind chill as well, so we decided to head back to base camp.

 

Our route back included part of the parade staging area. As we walked through this area, I estimated the parade would last at least another two hours, based on the sheer number of participants still waiting in line to begin. We had at least an hour-long walk back to base camp, with some very steep inclines along the way. About halfway there, we stopped at the Hole in One Pub for refreshments and a brief rest. A round of drinks and a light snack did the trick, and we continued our trek, arriving just after midnight. That hot shower worked wonders for me, giving me just enough energy to record the day's events in our travel journal before calling it a night. Tomorrow promised to be another full day of walking and exploring. 

 

What was that? Our "travel journal?" Yes, that's exactly what it is. I found it online, and thought it would be the perfect way for both of us to commemorate our travels throughout the year. Spending a day at a board game convention? Put it in the journal. Trip to Madeira? Put it in the journal. I've kept a journal for most of my previous travels to help reconstruct events for a future blog, but with this one, both of us got the chance to write down our thoughts. 

Coming up next, our day in Camara de Lobos. 

 

Minimum steps: 17740

7.61 miles

 

 The series so far:

1. Fun in Funchal, y'all!

2. Funchal: Day 1, Our First Full Day

 

 Until next time...

 

 carpe cerevisi

 

Funchal: Day 1, Our First Full Day

Despite my best intentions (or delusions?), I thought I'd be able to cover our Madeira trip in two blogs. I know some of y'all are already laughing at this ridiculous notion. Two blogs? Two?? Ok, you're right, two just ain't gonna cut it. After the "planes, trains, and automobiles" of getting from home to, well, let's call it "base camp" for the rest of the trip, I already had enough material for at least one blog. As for the rest of the trip? Yeah, it'll take a few more. I'm calling the apartment "base camp" to make our trip sound even more exotic, not that it needed any help with the exotic part. It just sounds cool to me.

A little background will help here. Cindy's sister Connie and her husband Jeff (we'll call 'em "C&J" from now on) love to walk.....everywhere. When we visited them in DC and Cleveland, we put in many steps each day. Cindy loves hiking, so three out of the four saw this as a totally cool and positive thing. I'm more of an Uber guy, having had my fill of "humping klicks" as a cadet way back in the day. Yes, walking is good for you, and I should make an effort to do more of it, but I'll be the first to admit that I'm just inherently lazy when it comes to that. I knew we'd be doing lots of walking on this trip, so I bought some new shoes, broke 'em in, and prepared to hit the pavement. We did tons of walking on our Italian trip a couple of years ago and I didn't gripe about it then (well, not too much), so I'm not gonna gripe about it now. It's Carnaval!

Day 1: And so it begins

As a reminder to my readers, clicking on any link in blue will open in a new window. You won't lose your place here. Clicking on any photo will open a large-format version in a new window as well.

Let's take up where I left off last time, shall we? At the conclusion of my first blog on this trip, had just arrived at base camp, with C&J waiting for us outside. A short elevator ride delivered us upstairs to drop off our luggage and freshen up a bit. The last thing either Cindy or I wanted to do was take a nap, as much as we both wanted one. Nope, it's mid-afternoon, and we'll stay up until bedtime to reset our body clocks to the local time.

Our first stop was in the Lido area (hey, just like the cruise ships, right?) for some liquid refreshments. Water was fine for our trip, but I was thirsty for something different. Jeff ordered the local beer for him and me, Coral Lager, while Cindy and Connie opted for sangria.

Cheers!

photo courtesy of Jeff Homes

That was a tasty brew! We enjoyed a couple of rounds each, taking in the scenery, and regaling our hosts with tales of our travels from home to here. They caught us up on what has been happening with them and the general plan of what we'd be doing over the next several days. An hour flew by, and we set off to find dinner. 

On our way to Al Forno Restaurant, we passed several souvenir shops. One shop in particular caught my attention for obvious reasons. While I didn't buy these donuts, they made for a great photo op.

Mmmm, donuts

photo courtesy of Cindy Newman

This is as close to those types of donuts as I'd get until we got back home. No worries, though, as we had many other treats to enjoy, beginning the next day. With Madeira being volcanic in origin, I soon discovered just how much "up and down" walking we'd be doing. Some areas were relatively flat, while others were quite steep in many areas.

Al Forno is one of C&J's favorite restaurants, and after looking at the menu, I could see why. Many of our meals on this trip would be family-style, with a few appetizers to share among the table. One caught my attention immediately: Nduja arancini. Nduja is a spicy Italian sausage, yet neither Cindy nor I recalls ever seeing it on any menu during our Italy trip. Go figure. To our surprise, C&J had never ordered this specific appetizer before tonight. Really? How could they not? Well, tonight's as good a night as any to give it a try, huh?

Arancini is my absolute favorite appetizer. It's a fried risotto ball that may or may not have additional fillings, such as the Nduja mentioned above. In fact, I could make an entire meal with just arancini. I first experienced this delectable treat in Carnival Cruise Line's Cucina del Capitano several years ago. Since then, I've actively sought them out whenever we visit an Italian restaurant. On our last Carnival cruise on the Jubilee this past October, Cindy and I took a cooking class and made our own arancini. It was much easier than I thought it would be. We had a choice of adding chopped mushrooms to ours, but with my aversion to fungi, we decided to leave them out. Thank you for accommodating my finicky side, Cindy.

"Newman's arancini"

As much as I'd love to add more photos of our meal, my phone's battery was just about depleted, so no photos this time. The pizza that Cindy and I shared hit the spot. All of us took our time eating and visiting, and since the restaurant wasn't overly full, we didn't worry about having to release the table for someone else. About this time, Cindy and I were both starting to hit our walls. Once we settled the bill, a short walk back to base camp gave us plenty of time to let our dinner settle before a shower and calling it a day.

Our view from "base camp"

photo courtesy of Jeff Homes

Our first "full" day in Madeira begins

It's all about perspective. Here we were, our first full day in Madeira, looking forward to exploring the island and embarking on another travel adventure.

But....

It was also Friday the 13th.

I'm glad I'm not overly superstitious. A little superstitious, yes, but nothing that will cause me crippling fear. Even in this day and age, yes, I do believe in luck, so there's that. We'll see how this plays out a bit later, and I'll let you decide.

I mentioned in my first blog that I always create a multi-tabbed Excel spreadsheet when planning a major trip. It keeps me organized and places specific data I want or need in an easy-to-access format. During our multiple text conversations with C&J leading up to our trip, I mentioned this and Jeff quickly sent his spreadsheet that he created. See? I'm not the only one who's a Type-A traveler. (That link, by the way, isn't from Google but an independent site. I absolutely fit many of those signs!) Google AI even surmised that I created these spreadsheets as a Type-A traveler would, just for the sheer joy of doing so. 

THUD!!

Yep, that was my chin hitting the floor. Google AI totally nailed it! I do enjoy creating these files and manipulating data as I see fit. Cindy is almost as nerdy as I am when it comes to planning, but I think I'm still "Chief Nerd" of our household. A brief review of Jeff's spreadsheet indicated our days would be packed with all sorts of fun things to do and see.

C&J's general MO is to get an early start, walk to some place for first breakfast, walk around some more until it's time for second breakfast, then elevensies, luncheon, and so forth. Ohhhh, yes yes yes! We're gonna live the Hobbit lifestyle on Madeira! (sans the mushrooms for me) Both made it clear that they didn't expect us to get up with them and hit the road. We were encouraged to take our time, especially on this first day, and get started only when we were ready. "Just text us when you're ready to go, and we'll let you know where we are. Make sure to bring some layers in case the weather changes, since we probably won't be back here until tonight." Regardless of where they would be, we were supposed to walk a few yards to catch "Bus number 1 or bus number 2" and get off at this park by a big pond. Jeff and Cindy coordinated this while I was busy writing in our "Adventure Journal." This will be an important detail shortly. 

As it turned out, we had such a good night's sleep that we were only about half an hour behind them. Cindy pointed to a couple of 2 Euro coins on the table. "Jeff said to use these for bus fare today since we don't have any paper Euros with us." I sent C&J a brief text letting them know we were on our way, and out the door we went.

Other than just a couple of locals, all the rest of the people at the bus stop were expats. One British gentleman overheard us talking and asked if this was indeed the proper bus stop for bus #1. "I think so, but this is our first morning here. We're just winging it." We waited about 10 minutes until we saw bus # 1 arrive. We dutifully paid our 2 Euro fare with the coins Jeff gave us, and I tried to send C&J a text to let them know we were on the bus. 

"Unable to send: No connection"

What the hell?? I restarted my phone to see if that would help.

Nope!

Cindy was able to send a text just fine, but my phone just wouldn't connect to the network. D'oh! Before we left, I even set up an international calling plan with Verizon just like we did when we went to Italy in 2024. Our phones worked just fine then, but now my phone was being a jerk about it. At least Cindy could still communicate with them. 

We arrived at the park and walked around the pond to find C&J sitting at a table, sipping on coffee. Two more cups sat on the other side of the table. "They just brought those, so they'll still be hot." They then introduced us to a common Madeira breakfast, and one that served quite admirably as "first breakfast." 

"We ordered both of you a "chinesa and a pastel de nata." 

A whaaaat? 

I thought for a moment that I was either being "punked" by them or a rip in the space-time continuum opened into an alternate reality. Or I just have really crappy hearing. Or I was just losing my mind.

A "chinesa" is a specific type of coffee many Madeirans enjoy along with a delicious pastry called a "pastel de nata." This is a common Portuguese pastry that I found to be quite delicious. We'd have several of these for our first breakfast during our time here.

Chinesa and Pastel de nata

So I wasn't losing my mind.....

I was tempted to order another of these delights when C&J reminded me that we would be having elevensies soon, so I might want to hold off on that second pastry. Fair enough! We did have a second cup of coffee, though. 

Jeff looked at Cindy and said "So Cindy, did your card work for the bus?" 

"No, I used the coins like you said to."

"Those were supposed to be a backup! Two Euro coins are hard to get. We'll get some cash today, but you still should try your card."

(Note: the standard bus fare in Funchal is 2 Euros.)

"Ok, we'll make sure to try our card tomorrow."

(Note: this is gonna come up again the next day with amusing results.)

Last sip done, and we traipsed over to the port area, near where the big Carnaval parade would be held the next day. Workers were busy setting up the viewing stands, adding signs, hanging lights and speakers, and completing the myriad tasks necessary to produce such an extravaganza as advertised. Connie pointed out a local watering hole near the cruise terminal that they like to hang out at.

Just one ship today

Close-up of the above

Funchal's cruise terminal has two piers and can accommodate more ships if they use their tenders. Several years ago, we booked a trans-Atlantic cruise, and one of the stops was this port. Unfortunately, that TA got cancelled because the ship wouldn't be ready in time. Funny how we still got to experience this area anyway.

After departing the port area, we stopped by Santa Catarina Park to view Funchal's oldest church. Dating back to 1425, it was originally built of wood, but later rebuilt in stone.

Chapel of Santa Catarina

That's not a typo, by the way. The plaque on the side spells it the way you see above.

Yo, Chris, whassup?

Yep, that's Christopher Columbus himself, in all his statuesque glory. I don't recall learning about him being from Madeira in history. It might have been mentioned, and I just wasn't paying attention. 

I bet there's a geocache somewhere around here. 

"Unable to connect to network"

Dammit! My phone's been reduced to just a camera at this point. <sigh>

Just around the corner from Chris

I alluded earlier to how there would be lots of "up and down" walking in Madeira. Being volcanic in origin, it doesn't take a big leap of imagination to see why. 

Common sight in Madeira

Just about anywhere you look, you'll see houses built on some steep slopes. I can only imagine the fantastic views some of these houses offer. 

From there, we wound our way down into the downtown area. Without looking at a calendar, it was obvious that Carnaval was in full swing. Galveston's Mardi Gras celebration has nothing on Funchal. I'm not knocking what Galveston does; it's just that Funchal does things differently.

Aside from Carnaval, we took in other iconic sites in Funchal. Portugal is known for their Azulejos, or hand-painted tiles. These tiles are everywhere in Funchal. We walked by this tiled wall, and it reminded me of an episode of The Amazing Race. I reached for my phone to google the specific season and episode to share with the others.

"Unable to connect to network."

Son of a.......GAAHHHH!

Cindy took pity on me and handed me her phone. "Here, babe, find what you're looking for and.....CALM DOWN."

At least I can take a photo of it.

Beautifully tiled wall

Google dutifully gave me the answer I was looking for (Season 23, Episode 3). I thought it might've been filmed here in Funchal, but Google said it was done in Lisbon. Although this isn't the tiled wall that the contestants had to recreate, it is similar to what they had to accomplish. That's what initially drew my attention to it.

These tiles actually form the theme of one of our favorite board games: Azul. There are several versions, in addition to the base game linked here, each offering different challenges and puzzles to complete for the best score. Yeah, "different challenges and puzzles." I tend to do fairly well playing the original Azul, as shown below, but there's another version of the game, Azul: Summer Pavilion, that I'm completely snakebit on. Cindy routinely clobbers me in this game. I believe my current win-loss record is a paltry 2 - 10.

Original Azul game

"Factory displays"

Individual player board

I encourage you to click on these photos to see the larger format, especially the bottom photo in this group. Those tiles in the game accurately represent tiles found in Madeira, and I'm sure Portugal as well. It's not my intent to teach or review this game in this blog, but I wanted to show the parallels between it and real life. If there's enough interest, though, I'll happily prepare a review of all the Azul games in a different blog. Please let me know in the comments section below. I'm always looking for interesting topics to write about.

"Dude, would you PLEASE get back on topic??"

Oops, sorry. Just another "squirrel!" moment hijacking my brain and sending me down the proverbial rabbit hole (or "squirrel hole?").

About the time I was going to suggest stopping for more liquid refreshments, Jeff pointed to another of their preferred places and said we should stop for a bite to eat. Hell yeah, Jeff! As with all our stops like this, we sat in the outside seating area. In fact,  don't recall ever eating inside at any place we stopped during the whole trip. I can understand why. The weather all week had highs in the high 60s with lows in the 50s. Depending on how breezy it was or wasn't, this was optimal touring weather.

We were seated quickly, and C&J recommended several choices for elevensies. I opted for a "prego especial, on bolo do caco," a steak sandwich served on a locally-made bread bun with fries. Meat and potatoes. Just.my.thing. And bread.

Prego especial with fries

"Thith ith really good," I said through a mouthful of sandwich. I chased that bite with a Coral Lager that I had to pry from Stumpy's hands. Thieving little bastard!

Dammit, Stumpy, that's MY beer!

You better start behaving!

photo courtesy of Jeff Homes

Contrary to C&J's normal MO, we decided to hang out here for a while, a bit longer than they normally do. Many groups of locals, in different costumes, started gathering in the area around us. It looked like they were staging for a parade, which we later found out was exactly what they were doing. Funchal's official Carnaval guide listed many parades, but this one wasn't included. From what we gathered, it was for that small area we were in.

Where are the 76 trombones?

photo courtesy of Jeff Homes

From one of the tabs in my spreadsheet, I recalled seeing a cache nearby. I borrowed Cindy's phone and opened the Geocaching app. Sure enough, there it was, right around the corner. After reading the description, I realized stealth was required, so I left the other three behind and walked to "ground zero." While it would've been nice to have Cindy along for our first Madeira, and hence first cache found in Portugal, the stealth requirement made this a solo mission. It took me a little longer than I thought it would, but once my geocaching instincts kicked in, I gave the area another look and.....BINGO! It was a brilliant hide and one I could've easily missed had the lighting been different. 

Sisters having fun

photo courtesy of Jeff Homes

Once the foot traffic died down, I convinced Cindy to pose for a photo near the cache site with the travel bug from Las4. I pointed her in the general vicinity of the cache, and she had difficulty finding it, like I did, until I gave her a clue.

Smile for the camera!

I may have to grow older, but I don't have to grow up! Cindy suggests I do the latter all the time. Fine, I'll just go hide in my blanket fort with Higgins. She has a point, though, as the following photos will show. What can I say? 

Statue of Julio Dinis

photo courtesy of Cindy Newman

This statue honors Julio Dinis, a pseudonym of Joaquim Guilherme Gomes Coelho, a Portuguese medical doctor and poet of some renown. I think I was telling him my best "dad joke" when he didn't seem to be paying much attention to me. How rude!

Poke!

photo courtesy of Cindy Newman

There she goes again, telling me to "grow up." Then why are you laughing, Cindy? Huh? Gotcha there, didn't I? Oops, we'd better catch up with C&J. They weren't aware that I wanted to stop for some photos, and they kept walking. I looked at Cindy and said, "Run, you fools!" 

"What?"

"Never mind, let's catch up with them before they get too far ahead."

They weren't walking that fast, and as we were trying to catch up, Jeff happened to turn around to look for us. He and Connie stopped to wait for us. 

Which was right next to a souvenir shop. "Hang on, lemme get a photo of these tiles for my blog."

Azulejos tiles

See what I mean about those tiles, and how the game Azul captures the theme so well?

To their credit, C&J were enormously patient with us, pausing frequently for photos and even encouraging us to stop whenever we wanted to. "It's your first time here, make the most of it." They turned a corner to guide us to Rua de Santa Maria, a street famous for the wide variety of painted doors. Please take a moment and follow that link. It'll be worth your time, I promise.

"This way, over here"

A quick note about the dark stones paving the streets. With Madeira being volcanic in origin, I asked a tour guide later in the trip if these were basalt. He affirmed that the vast majority of streets, especially the older streets in Funchal and across Madeira as a whole, were made from basalt. I'm glad to know I remembered some of my high school geography.

Here are just a few of the many painted doors we saw and that I photographed. Each told a unique story, but most didn't have any indication of the context of the story as it related to the door.

That last photo captures exactly how Higgins looks at me when I'm cooking dinner. He's a master at convincing the unsuspecting person to give him a treat. Neither Cindy nor I fall for it, though, as he always has kibble available to him. Faced with the same choice of kibble or hot bread, fresh out of the oven, I'd beg for some bread, too.

On the way to our next destination, we passed by this fountain adorned with those iconic, beautiful blue tiles. We would continue to see examples of this everywhere we went during our stay on Madeira.

Thirsty?

Our next stop was Forte de Sao Tiago, built in the 17th century to protect the city from pirates. From a distance, it reminded me of Castillo San Felipe del Morro in San Juan Puerto Rico that we toured in 2013. I'm sure it was the sentry boxes on the corners of the fort, as both had very similar designs. Please note that even the spelling is similar: "Guarita" in Portuguese and "Garita" in Spanish.

I realize that it is most likely due to the contemporary design philosophy of the times, both having been built in the same time period. One was built by the Portuguese and the other by the Spanish, geographic neighbors. I did a little digging and found these similarities that I thought you might find as interesting as I did. I will add the Portuguese fort first, then a similar structure from the fort in Puerto Rico right under it.

"Guarita" (Portuguese)

"Garita" (Spanish)

Funchal

Puerto Rico

In both forts, but moreso in Funchal, the stairs were steep with a low ceiling. We attributed this to the fact that, back then, people were naturally smaller. If that's the case, though, the steep stairs had large individual steps. Any historians reading this are very welcome to add their knowledge in the comments section below. I would be thrilled to read your thoughts. Here are a few more views taken from the topmost area of the fort.

New world meets old

Magnificent view!

Looking east

Climbing all those stairs and sections of steep up-and-down walking left us with an appetite for a mid-afternoon snack. We had dinner reservations in a few hours, so a light snack and a drink would hold us over nicely until then. I was starting to appreciate the rhythm of walking somewhere, stopping for a drink and/or snack, walking somewhere else, stopping for a drink, and so forth. It made a lot of sense to me, and I could see why C&J spent so much of their day doing just this. So many places to see, so many things to do, and so many interesting foods and drinks to enjoy.

Our next stop was Banana's Pub, just down the street from the fort. From our conversation with C&J, this is a popular spot with both tourists and locals. Their menu had many tempting food and drink choices, so I opted for a local brown ale and a flame-grilled chorizo link, accompanied by that delicious bolo do caco bread. Cindy and Connie chose a frozen drink, and Jeff stayed with the Coral Lager.

Beer me!

Mmmm, tasty beer. The menu described it as an "American Brown Ale," and from the first taste, it had all the hallmarks of that style. While the Coral Lager is good, given a choice, I would prefer this to be my "regular" beer in Madeira. 

Our waiter then delivered the flame-grilled chorizo I had ordered and, after placing it on the table, removed a lighter from his pocket. Ahhhh, I see, there's some liquid at the bottom of the serving plate. He ignited the liquid at one end, and we all watched in fascination as a flame gently spread across the surface from one end to the other.

"Please let this finish cooking for about five minutes. It's best to rotate the chorizo while it cooks for even heating."

Anticipation

While not easy to see in the above photo, the flames are slowly heating the chorizo.

Ready to eat

Notice the nice bubbling of the chorizo casing? Too bad there's no "scratch and sniff" available for this photo, as it smelled tantalizing while heating. This crispiness of the casing added another layer of flavor to the chorizo and provided a nice finishing touch.

Out of habit, I looked around the table for some tortillas to wrap up the chorizo slices. Wrong place, dude, you're not gonna find those here. The bolo do caco made a good substitute, though, so I made mini-sandwiches with the bread and sausage.

Substitute tortilla

And just like I do with my tortillas at home, I took one portion of that still-warm bread and slathered some butter on it. Ohhhhh, myyyy, this is some good stuff! All of this walking that we're doing is a good trade-off for all the good food we've been enjoying. And remember, this is just our first full day in Funchal! We've been here less than 24 hours.

Stumpy was actually minding his manners, so I allowed him to finish the last sip of my beer. I tried to warn him that the bottle was too heavy for him, but he insisted on doing it his way. 

Sure enough....

I told you so

Lesson learned, I guess, because when Cindy allowed him the last few sips of her drink, he used a straw. 

Slurrrrp

Refreshment complete, we walked back towards the downtown/old town area, taking in the sights. Even a brief look around Funchal would show just how tourist-friendly it is. While the predominant tourist demographics are British and German, more and more Americans are discovering Madeira in general and Funchal in particular as a preferred destination.

Smile!

This is one of those classic "do I zoom in on the people or get a wide-angle shot of the whole sign?" moments. We have lots of selfies and other closeups, so my priority was to capture the whole Madeira sign in one frame. At least with contemporary digital photos, you can always zoom in to see more detail. 

I've never been a sardine fan, given their inherent "fishy" taste. I like fish that has a cleaner taste, like catfish or cod. Salmon walks a tightrope with me, as a properly prepared salmon fillet won't have that fishy taste that's so off-putting to me. Imagine my surprise when I learned that sardines are a huge part of Portuguese culture. This article sums it up nicely and is a short read. While we were walking off our afternoon snack, we passed this one small shop that had nothing but tinned sardines and other fish to sell. Three of the four walls were completely taken up with canned fish ("canned sardines" or just "sardines" as I heard it growing up).

You want it, we got it

Even a rotating display

While many of these cans were different flavors of sardines, not all of the cans were limited to that particular fish. Other cans had octopus, cod, mackeral and several others. You can see the wide variety of fish by zooming in on the labels. Multiple flavors of multiple fish. No wonder the sardine is so closely tied to Portugal. I'll stay with the catfish po' boy or English-style fried cod (fish and chips).

Aside from my series on our Italy trip, Madeira provided an endless opportunity for "photo ops." Cindy teases me all the time about how many photos I take when exploring new places. Who am I kidding? I took a dozen photos of Higgins in one day as he rolled on the grass. My preference is to shoot scenes of what I'm looking at, generally being behind the camera. Jeff, on the other hand, was the undisputed "Selfie King" in our group. I don't take many selfies as a rule, and I attribute that to my short arms. Trying to find that perfect angle can be a challenge for me. Great photo of Cindy and an interesting shot of my nose. Let's try that one again. Jeff makes it seem effortless.

Selfieeese!

photo courtesy of Jeff Homes

What seemed like half an hour was much longer in reality. In and out of different shops, stopping for photos, and even just people watching consumed a large chunk of our time. Our foursome started heading back to the restaurant for dinner at a nice, leisurely pace. We'd be a little early for our reservations, but C&J are regulars there, and neither saw an issue with arriving early.

One of the biggest surprises for me in Funchal was the sheer number of restaurants. Some streets had an unbroken chain of restaurants. With outdoor dining so popular here, one restaurant's tables sat mere feet from another restaurant's tables. Not just one street, either, but many streets. I never heard of Funchal being a foodie's paradise, but from what I saw, I can attest that it is, at least to me. The biggest wonder for me, though, is how all of them manage to stay open. I get the whole supply-and-demand thing, but with such a large supply, there would have to be huge demand. Usually, only a few of the outside tables at any given place were occupied, so maybe most of the diners chose to dine inside.

Even though I knew this ahead of time, I still had to laugh when we arrived at the restaurant. It was right across the street from Banana's Pub, where we had our afternoon snack earlier. Absolutely no problem getting seated earlier than our reservations, either. As "the sun fell from the sky" (thank you for that lyric, Jimmy Buffett), it started getting cooler. The hostess sat us next to one of the heaters, with the bonus of having a good view. 

Dinner time

photo courtesy of Jeff Homes

The group of young ladies in the background was fundraising for their organization, so they played music, sang songs, and even danced a little. One girl went around the square, selling CDs of their music. Connie gave them a nice tip for their entertaining performance. I was impressed with their talent and enthusiasm.

OK, this should be interesting. I ordered the pasta arrabbiata to compare it with what I had in Venice a couple of years ago. Keeping an open mind was paramount here, as I didn't want to prejudice myself. If the tiramisu on our flight from PHL - LIS was as good as what I've had at home, then this dish had the potential to do the same, right?

Pasta arrabbiata

Pepper, anyone?

That's not an imagery trick, by the way. That pepper grinder was the size of a small baseball bat. 

So, how was the pasta? It was good, but still not at the same level as what I had in Venice. In all fairness, though, that is an extremely high bar to reach. It's the same as comparing diving in the Caribbean to diving in a local lake. Cindy and I learned to dive in local lakes and were perfectly happy doing so. Once we experienced Caribbean diving, though, local lake diving just wasn't the same anymore.

We had the luxury of taking our time, enjoying good conversation, and discussing the next day's events without having to rush our way through our meal. Another post-dinner "ritual" C&J is having a de-caf cappuccino. Good idea, y'all! I'll have one, too. "Make that four, Cindy chimed in.

With their walking lifestyle on Madeira, I was surprised when Jeff suggested we take an Uber back to base camp. Inwardly, I was happy to hear that, because there was no way I'd admit to being tired. "Y'all have done a lot of walking today, and it's only your first full day. We're going to have a lot more walking to do."

I agree, Jeff, that's a good idea!

This worked out perfectly for me, since I still needed to get online with Verizon to figure out how to fix my boat anchor. I knew that at base camp, with Wi-Fi connected, I could get online. At least I hoped that was still the case.

First priority, a shower, then I'll grapple with my connection issues. Shower done, I contacted Verizon through their app and initiated a chat session with their support team. It took almost half an hour, but we were able to solve the problem. Apparently, there was a setting two sub-menus down that had changed. I don't ever change settings like that on my own, and the Verizon representative said it most likely got changed during a security or firmware update. Fair enough. 

If I save even one person from frustration, then this extra bit of writing will be totally worth it. Note that this applies to Verizon, so it may or may not work on other carriers. In a nutshell: Settings> Connections> Mobile Networks> Network Operators, there's a switch to enable or disable "Select Automatically. In my case, I had to disable that setting.

So, "Thus endeth the first full day." 

Minimum steps: 18738

8.03 miles

I wrote "minimum steps" because sometimes Cindy and I were holding hands (the one with my watch on it) and other times I was carrying something in my left hand, so I know I did at least that many. From now on, I'll include my step totals and mileage.

Coming up next, the big Carnaval parade with lots of photos.

For your convenience, here's the link to the first blog in this series:

Fun in Funchal, Y'all

And you can jump directly to the third blog here.

Until next time...

carpe cerevisi