The second day after arrival we went to the beach. A few meters away from us, a couple from Poland, let’s say people in their late 50s, were camping. The lady was very excited about the trip, smearing herself with sunscreen, planning to enter the water. My husband stood on the shore, facing the ocean, with a clear grimace:
– They’ve locked us in the middle of the island…
– Don’t exaggerate. You can sunbathe.
– I can also sunbathe in the yard, I don’t have to go anywhere!
Despite everything, it’s really worth flying to Madeira and this lockdown isn’t so bad, neither in the town on the coast nor in the middle of the island.
Landing in Funchal, transfer to the town with accommodation. The first walk around the area and we already felt at home. The inscription “Fuck PiS” on a nearby wall. And here I will start with a small complaint: the Portuguese would not win the competition organized by Marta Steward. The island is, let’s put it mildly: not very clean. We arrived about a week after the storm and some of the beaches still looked miserable. The crews that cleaned them were funny, as if someone paid them not by the effect but by the hour. A lot of the yards and houses are sloppy. In general, it doesn’t look like the postcards and that’s a drawback. The second is the so-so food. Of course, we didn’t die of hunger, but let’s put it this way: they don’t employ the best chefs west of Paris.
On the other hand, the list of advantages is much longer. Diverse beaches, beautiful waterfalls, charming greenery and really positive people. Of course, most of the attractions can be ticked off from the first tourist group that comes to mind, but I’ll focus on three topics that intrigued us or that I think are worth sharing.
1. Cows in the fog. I’ve read everywhere that it’s worth going to the mountains because there are cows walking around the streets. Ok, it sounds good but in real life it looks… extraordinary. We are driving along an asphalt road, the fog is thickening, I slow down… and out of the fog, cows are actually walking. Some of them let us “pet” them, most of them were rather suspiciously glancing at us. And not one, two or three… in fact, we saw about 20 of them, sometimes they appeared out of nowhere and walked towards a pasture we did not know.
2. Night walks. One day, late in the evening, we went for a walk. Not in the city, not on the promenade, but on… well, what should I call it? On unmarked paths in the hills surrounding the town. You are walking along some street, you turn into a smaller street, it leads uphill with steps to a gravel path and 15 minutes later you see that you are already walking along strange paths that climb up and surround the town. We walked like this until 3:00 in the morning, looking at houses, sheds, farmyards, walking through forests, thickets and thickets. You can feel the real Madeira, the rhythm of life of people living a little further away from tourism and the smell of trees that literally surrounds us at every step. And sometimes strange sounds from the bushes when you don’t know if it’s a lizard or something bigger.
3. Trust. We rented a car from a local rental company. 5 minutes for formalities, we have the keys and off we go. When I returned the car, there were no spaces directly next to them and I had to park a little further away. I carry the keys and explain to the guy where the car is so he can look at it. He thanks me for the keys, says there’s no need to look and that he’ll have a nice day. For someone who has rented a car before, among others in Poland, where they look at it like CSI: Miami agents when returning it, such lightness, frivolity, trust are downright shocking.
Is it worth it? Definitely! Will we come back? Probably yes. Of course, there is only one recommendation: look at the list of attractions, but wherever you can go off the trail 🙂