Growing up in South Texas, we always anticipated the arrival of "snowbirds," or residents of colder states, starting in late Fall or early Winter. These snowbirds would spend extended times wintering in the warmer climes of our area and even further south, such as the Rio Grande Valley. We'd see license plates from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and so forth. Most of these were either huge RVs or trucks hauling the larger camping trailers. Our winters in South Texas usually lasted a month or so, and we rarely got freezing weather, much less snow. After spending a few years in the Colorado mountains, I can understand why our northern friends cough*Yankees* want to spend their winters in a warmer climate.
Late last summer, Cindy's sister, Connie, and her husband, Jeff, told us how much they enjoyed wintering in Madeira. They live in Cleveland, and the harsh winters are challenging, both physically and mentally. We visited them in Cleveland several years ago, in late October. Compared to where we live now, late October in Cleveland was already getting cold. You can read about our trip and the fun we had by clicking here. Since they had a guest room in the apartment they were renting, we had a place to stay if we wanted to go visit them and experience Madeira for ourselves. All we really had to pay for was airfare and some meals. Done! We immediately started planning dates, travel arrangements, and what we wanted to see and do. Yes, this included a multi-tabbed Excel spreadsheet that I prepare for every major trip we take. Mid-February of 2026 seemed to work best for all of us, so we finalized our airline reservations and started planning in earnest. A big reason for selecting mid-February was that we'd get to experience Madeira's version of Carnaval. Note: while both "Carnival" and "Carnaval" are used interchangeably in Madeira, I will use the more local, Portuguese-based "Carnaval" as the preferred spelling.
As a reminder to all my faithful readers and my new readers (thank you!), any links in blue will open in a new window. You won't lose your place here. Clicking on any photo opens a larger version for better viewing in a new window.
Funchal, Madeira
I will split this trip into several parts because of the number of photos and activities I want to share. This part will cover our trip from home to Funchal, with the other parts covering the rest of our journey. In all honesty, neither Cindy nor I knew very much about Madeira, other than it's the source for the famous Madeira wine. I'll cover that in more detail later. I also remember reading about Madeira, and its largest city, Funchal, in a couple of books from the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. Once again, historical novels have drawn me even further into their world by referencing real-life places. Our Italy itinerary was chosen specifically because it included Pompeii, which was heavily influenced by a historical novel I read of the same name. Really? Absolutely! I describe our visit to Pompeii and the impact the novel had on our visit here. Go ahead and give it a look. I'll wait here for you.
It's quite difficult to find direct flights from the US to Madeira. Most of these are seasonal, and well, our timeline wasn't in season. No worries, we did the same thing when flying from Houston to Venice: booked a trip with several segments, or "legs," to get to our final destination. My regular readers know what's coming next, an "aviation nerd's novana" of flight details that will thrill those of like mind and bore others who only wish to get from here to there without slogging through all the minutia. For those who don't want to read all the aviation stuff, please feel free to scroll past. I promise it won't bother me.
As much as we wanted to, we just couldn't find any reasonably-priced flights departing from Houston Hobby (HOU), just a short drive from us. We'd have to depart from George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). Our preference for HOU is an inexpensive Uber ride compared to IAH. We weighed the option of long-term parking at IAH versus a slightly more expensive round-trip Uber fare. Ultimately, we chose to use Uber, since the added convenience of not having to wait for a parking shuttle outweighed the extra cost. We would be getting back pretty late on our return, and that extra thirty-plus minutes waiting for the parking shuttle and then another hour's drive home convinced us Uber was the way to go. Book it, Dano!
Thankfully, our regular pet sitter, Jill, was available to look after Higgins while we'd be gone. She's a wonderful pet sitter, and Higgins enjoys being around her. Cindy took some prank photos of us with much more luggage than we'd actually be taking, and took another photo of Higgins with his travel bag. While I know I'm anthropomorphizing here, this photo really broke my heart. I could see the pleading look in his eyes to take him with us. Yes, I'm sure he knew we were going somewhere, but not where or for how long.
I wanna go, too!
While Higgy didn't get to go with us, somehow, Stumpy Curlyshoe managed to find his way into my bag. How he did this, I still don't know. He managed to keep himself reasonably under control, but not by much, as you'll see later. If nothing else, that smug expression on his face was enough to make me want to flush him down the toilet.
Ya better behave, Stumpy!
Cindy's zeal in finding the optimal flights yielded good results. We decided on American Airlines from IAH to Philadelphia (PHL), with a connection to Lisbon, Portugal (LIS). At this point, things became a little tricky because AA doesn't have any code-share agreements with airlines servicing LIS to Funchal (FNC). We'd have to self-connect in LIS, booking a round-trip flight with TAP Air Portugal from LIS to FNC and back. Generally, I avoid self-connecting flights, as there's no safety net if they get delayed. You're on your own at this point. That's what trip insurance is for, though. Like our Italy trip, once we booked our flights, we purchased trip insurance to cover any problems that might rear their ugly head.
Our Uber picked us up a few minutes early, and off we went. Just as we started our drive, it began to drizzle, turning into heavier rain. We had rain for pretty much the entire drive to IAH, and then it began to clear. I'm glad we got some rain at the house, though, as the yard was getting dry. By the time we got dropped off at Terminal A, the sun was shining. We built in plenty of time for a light lunch and a visit to a virtual geocache in Terminal C. Obviously, I wanted to find this cache to "log another smiley," but I also wanted to use it as a good spot to "dip" a couple of travel bugs (TB) to mark their location in their journeys. Our friends had a travel bug that wanted to go to Madeira and Portugal, so it was a no-brainer that we'd take it with us and drop it off in a cache once we got to Funchal. We took many photos of this TB before dropping it off. You'll see some later.
Cindy with the TB at the virtual cache
It has been a long time since either of us has traveled out of IAH. One BIG improvement is a "sky train" that will take you from terminal to terminal without leaving the secure area. Yay! After finding and logging the cache and having a light lunch in Terminal C, we made our way back to Terminal A to await our flight. Timing was almost perfect, as we only had a twenty-minute wait until boarding began. We'd have free Wi-Fi on all legs of our AA flights, which I really appreciated. Our boarding group just got called, so let's go!
IAH - PHL
AA678
N831AW (A319-132)
dep IAH rwy 15L, arv PHL rwy 27R
Yeah, I know, seriously nerdy stuff here, but that's me. I make no apologies for it, nor will I ever not do this when I travel. It's something that's always fascinated me since I was a little kid.
When I first noticed that we'd be flying on an A319, and an older one at that, I figured it would be just another cramped cabin, much like the B737 700 series. No self-respecting "aviation nerd" would forego a website as cool as Flightradar24. I'll refer to that site as "FR24" throughout my blog. You can track any commercial flight anywhere in the world in near real time. I visit this site daily, and even subscribed to one of their premium levels to access specific aircraft information and previous flights. That's how I knew how old our aircraft was. If you have even a passing interest in aviation, I urge you to check this site out. You can access a lot of info for free, without subscribing.
Obligatory boarding selfie (OBS)
Imagine my surprise when we boarded and I found our seats to be quite....roomy. Apparently, this is one of their modernized aircraft. Cool! There are no IFE seatback screens, but each seat has a power port for your personal device. Since Wi-Fi is free, you can access AA's IFE over your own device. Just make sure to bring your headphones, earbuds, or something to listen to your device without disturbing others. Of course, it was an early afternoon flight in good weather, so I kept my nose pressed to the window for much of the flight. I would occasionally glance at my phone to compare what I was seeing outside to our track.
Climbing to cruise altitude
Sunset during cruise
West of PHL
On approach to PHL, looking north
We wouldn't have much time in PHL before boarding our flight to LIS, but we still managed to check out the Chase Sapphire Lounge. The lounge was located two terminals over from where we arrived, and the brisk walk helped us stretch our legs. While I'm glad we didn't have too long a layover, it would've been nice to have another half hour or so to fully enjoy the lounge. We enjoyed the complimentary drinks and snacks during our time there and will happily plan for a bit longer layover whenever we pass through airports with these lounges.
Sapphire selfie!
Five-spice honey soy chicken
Pastries galore!
Queen Bee cocktail
With a light lunch at IAH and dinner on our next flight, we wanted to save our appetites, so we limited ourselves to just a couple of plates of the chicken and pastries. To quote Jethro Bodine, "Hot dog! Them was some fancy vittles. Can I have more?" Jethro who? Dude, what are you talking about? If you don't know who Jethro Bodine is, you've been missing out. Click here and see what you've been missing.
Another brisk walk back to our terminal, and we were ready to get leg number two underway. We passed an intriguing restaurant on the way back, and I had to get a photo of it. Had we not snacked at the lounge, I totally would've stopped here.
The perfect combination!
I'm glad we had those long walks between terminals. With a six-hour flight coming up, we'd be doing a lot of sitting. We booked seats in premium economy, with a 2-3-2 configuration. Our seats were in the first row of premium economy, by the window, so we had plenty of leg room.
PHL - LIS
AA258
N806AA (B787-8)
dep PHL rwy 27L, arv LIS rwy 21
Seats 6A/C
OBS
Remember when I mentioned that I prepare a multi-tabbed spreadsheet for each major trip we take? That's just the kind of traveler I am: lots of preparation and planning. Since we were self-connecting in LIS, with just over a three-hour layover, I knew we'd need every minute of that time to clear immigration, claim our bags, and re-check for the domestic portion of our flight. I monitored FR24 to determine the departure trend for AA258. This flight had many departures more than 30 minutes late. A bit concerning, but by the same token, this flight still tended to arrive somewhat earlier than scheduled. Thankfully, our flight pushed right on time. The weather in PHL was well above freezing, so we wouldn't need to de-ice.
As we started our takeoff roll, I was astounded at how quiet the cabin was. Compared to the A330 we flew from ATL - AMS, this 787-8 was very quiet. Even the wind noise was less noticeable. Once inflight service started, the cabin crew began dinner service. AA allows pre-selection of the meal before the flight, so both Cindy and I knew we'd get our choice. I chose the pot roast, and for the most part, it was good. The carrots still had a bit of crunch, and the natural sweetness balanced the savory pot roast. For "mass-produced airline food," I rather enjoyed it. The tiramisu dessert was near restaurant quality.
Dinner is served
Our IFE selection included movies, TV shows and music. Given that we departed late in the evening, I opted to just listen to some music and try to get some sleep. I picked a channel with instrumental music and made myself as comfortable as possible. Even in these larger seats, it was still difficult to get completely comfortable, but I was able to get in a good nap.
I actually slept a lot more than I thought, because as I started to rouse from sleep, I removed my sleeping mask to look outside to see.....sunrise! About that time, the wonderful smell of warm cinnamon caught my attention. I can describe that sensation as "It grabbed me by the nose and said 'Wakey, Wakey!'" Black coffee and breakfast? Yes, please!
Breakfast
Those grilled tomatoes and ham complemented the eggs perfectly. The cinnamon roll in the top left corner was warm and flaky. Sooooo good! I traded my yogurt to Cindy for her cinnamon roll. Both of agree that it was the perfect trade. We were just over an hour from arrival, so once breakfast was done, we started getting ready for landing.
Our flight arrived about 15 minutes early, so we had to wait for our gate to be available. We waited for ten minutes, when the Captain announced that the jet bridge was broken, and we'd have to taxi to the other terminal to deplane via air stairs. Air stairs? From a 787? How quaint. I glanced at my watch and started seeing our connection time getting shorter and shorter. We still had plenty of time for now.
Another advantage of Premium Economy is that we got to deplane just after first class. Down the airstairs to a waiting bus to take us to the terminal and immigration. This put us close to the front of the line, and with no other international flights arriving, I felt good that we'd make our connecting flight. Now that we were in the Schengen Area, the immigration line split into the EU passports and all others. Our line moved slowly but steadily, and in just over 15 minutes, it was our turn to go through passport control. I don't know if this is sad or funny, but while standing in this line, we heard another American couple behind us remark, "We have Global Entry, where's the line for that?" Seriously?? Another traveler informed them of the obvious. <sigh>
By the time we cleared immigration, we claimed our bags and headed to the TAP check-in counter to check our bags for our final leg to FNC. Our time cushion was steadily eroding, but our bags were in the system before the cutoff time. At least our bags would make it even if we didn't. There was still at least one more TAP flight to FNC if we missed this one. Cindy timed our passage through security, and it was just 20 minutes.
I realize each country and each airport does things differently, but this was a new one for us. Once through security, we started to look for our gate. A huge departure board listed our flight as leaving from gate "S." OK, fine, but several other flights were departing from gate "S." This is a head scratcher. I know, more coffee, that'll help. No, not really. Lots of "S" and "N" gates. A few of the gates on the departure board indicated S21 or N15. Our flight still had just the "S" indicated.
Then the lightbulb came on in my head.
Ding!
After looking at the actual destinations, the "N" gates were all to non-Schengen destinations, and the "S" gates were for Schengen destinations. As our departure time came closer, specific gate assignments started appearing on the departure board. OK, I get it now. It took me long enough to figure out. Now our specific gate assignment appeared, and off we went to the gate area. Once again, we boarded a bus that took us to an outlying stand to board our aircraft via air stairs. Two legs down, one to go.
LIS - FNC
TP1689
CS-TJL (A321-251N)
dep LIS rwy 21, arv FNC rwy 23
OBS
Pretty winglet
The airport in Madeira is known for its challenging approach, given the terrain and weather. Special training is required for crews flying into FNC, and many airlines require the captain to make the approach and landing. From what I've determined, the preferred approach is for rwy 05, which requires a 180-degree turn onto final. Click here to see a YouTube video of a pilot's view of landing on 05. Pretty cool, huh? FNC is a planespotters' paradise, much like SXM. From the outside, approaches into FNC are just as exciting (at least to me) to watch. Check out this YouTube video here to see what I'm referring to. Cool.....very cool! In fact, part of our planning for this trip included a few hours for me to do some planespotting. I booked our seats on this segment on the right side of the aircraft, hoping for a 05 approach and landing. Alas, we landed in the other direction, on 23. Not only that, but the flight crew made a silky smooth landing. Hey, that's a good thing, but I was hoping to get some good shots of our landing.
Since Connie and Jeff don't have a car in Madeira, they suggested pre-booking a transfer from the airport to their apartment. It would be about the same price as a taxi or Uber, with the advantage that the driver would be waiting for us in the terminal, with our name on a sign. Oh, hell yeah! I knew exactly what I had to do next! Let's take a trip down memory lane to the 90s, when Bud Light had these ingenious commercials. This specific commercial remains one of my absolute favorites, and I laugh at it every time I watch it. Every.time!
Please click here to watch the video, otherwise you won't really get the next part. Trust me, and just watch it. It's worth the 30 seconds of your time.
See what I mean? Hilarious!
Most of y'all can probably tell what's coming next, especially if you know me personally.
After claiming our bags, we found our driver, holding our "P. Newman" sign. I opened my backpack to find what I needed, and our driver said, "Oh, sir, I don't need any paperwork from you." "It's not paperwork," I replied, handing him my own sign along with a 5 Euro note. I explained what I wanted, and he was all too happy to help.
Is that our driver?
With credit to the Bud Light people, here's my homage to such a funny commercial.
Well, that was fun. Let's get in the car and head to the apartment. Our drive took about half an hour, and we saw Jeff and Connie waiting for us outside. A cool breeze was blowing, and sunny skies promised a full afternoon. We dropped our bags and freshened up a bit before heading out with our hosts to explore Funchal.
Let the walkies commence!
So there you have, my wonderful readers. Part one of our Madeira trip blog is now in the proverbial books. Part two is coming up shortly, and I'll add a link at the bottom of this page for easier navigation once I post it.
What did you think? I hope y'all enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. The next blog will be very picture-heavy, especially of the Carnaval parade.
Have any of y'all been to Madeira before? I'd love to read about it in the comments section below. Any comments, positive or negative, are always appreciated, and I make it a point to reply to each one as I see it.
Until next time....
carpe cerevisi
