TR: Exchanging to a Rock in the Ocean

[AnnaS]

I love your writing style - you are too funny - great pictures. The resort looks amazing and seems like it's definitely worth the DVC points you used to trade. You said your villa was considered a studio? Looks mighty big.

I'm not liking the short airport landing - were you in a 6/8 seater plane, lol.

Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us.

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

sounds like a wonderful vacation. Can't wait to see what you do next.

 

[Podgieree]

I look forward to reading your reports everyday! Thank you for sharing.

 

[4Pluto]

Friday September 2

I couldn't fly across the ocean and spend a week on an island without sticking my feet in the water. Madeira is sheer rock diving straight down into the ocean. There are no beach chairs.

A few hours away from Madeira is the island of Porto Santo. Porto Santo is 7 km of beach hanging onto a flat top mountain covered with cactus. Perfect for a day trip.

Normally, the "cruise" ship leaves around 9 in the morning and returns around 5 at night. But since it just turned September, apparently the ship had to make two runs, so we had to be on board at 7 am and back into port at 1 am. That's a long "day trip".

I was picked up at my hotel around 6 am, joining a family from Scotland (because I sat in front, they first thought I was just part of the transportation staff, but realized when we exited to board the ship that I would be spending the better part of the day with them.

The ship had four passenger floors above a car deck. Some of the passenger areas were depressing rows of 8 semi reclining seats in each row facing a TV screen (like a wide body plane but with no aisles). The lounge area, however, had nice comfortable seats and easy access to drinks and food. My guess is that on crowded days, lots of people have to use the airline seats, but there weren't that many of us tourists signed up for this marathon tour schedule.

The first photo in this TR was taken from the ship as we sailed past the eastern end of the island (where I had seen dolphins the day before). Once we hit the open ocean, I went back to the lounge area. The trip took about 3 hours.

Since we had LOADS of time on the island, I had signed up for the island tour. On arrival in Porto Santo, we were met by a bus with both a driver and a guide who spoke in dozens of languages. Helpful since we needed the tour in english, spanish, french, german and portuguese.

There is not a lot to see on Porto Santo. There are a few view points to look down on the island:

There is an airport with the 2d longest runway in Portugal as a contrast to Madeira (it is heavily used by NATO), and there are places to stop and buy a drink to pass the time because really how long can you tour an island that is only 3 miles from end to end?

Proof I exist:

At the north end of the island, the water is warmest (it is a shallow area sheltered from the ocean). When we stopped to look out at the beach, a nice Spanish couple offered to take my picture.

We were dropped off at a local hotel fronting the long public beach. I had a quick (and really good) pizza at the hotel's beach front cafe and then headed for the sand.

With the beach was a public bath facility, where you could pay to rent umbrellas and chairs, and pay to use toilets and showers (although they let us use the toilets and showers for free).

Normally I burn from the intense rays of a refrigerator light, so the prospect of sitting on the sand, at 1pm, in the near tropics was not very inviting. I rented an umbrella and spread my towel out on the sand (I bought a nice deep green Portugal towel back on the west island tour and stuffed it into my backpack for this trip). I had shorts on over my swimsuit, which made for a quick change. And then I lay down on the sand.

It's nice sand, I mean, its soft. Pretty hot. Apparently its all crushed rock/fossil. There are no shells or coral, so its not a shell or coral beach. But it is a little lumpy and after an hour of lying under the 3 foot tall beach umbrella (and scooting a couple inches every so often to keep up with the moving shadow), I got board and gave up.

One of drawbacks of being a single independent traveler is that you can't afford to just leave your passport, cash and plastic on the beach and run off into the surf.

Here's where the Scottish family came to the rescue. I screwed up my courage and asked if they might look after my back pack while I ran into the water, and not only were they happy to babysit my life's documentation, but Andy (who was roughly my age) and his "mum" both joined me in the water.

A quick look at the beach:

The water is a little cool and completely empty--no fish, no plants, no life at all. A few rocks among the sand. No crabs. It is a desert with water. I've never seen such an empty ocean.

After swimming, I was invited to join the family for dinner, which was all the more gracious considering that Andy was celebrating his birthday. Turns out he sings in a barbershop chorus in Scotland, something I used to do stateside, so we had lots to talk about.

About 9, we hobbled onto the bus to be shuttled back to the ship. On board, the lounge was filled with sunburned passengers, draped across chairs and tables, most fast asleep just 10 minutes out of port. We were a pretty ugly crew when we disembarked at 1am in Funchal!

Next: Festival Time

 

[4Pluto]

The resort looks amazing and seems like it's definitely worth the DVC points you used to trade. You said your villa was considered a studio? Looks mighty big.

I was surprised how big it was. The separate kitchen and the walled off living room made it feel larger than the DVC studios. You could easily serve a family of four at either the inside or the outside tables.

sounds like a wonderful vacation. Can't wait to see what you do next.

I look forward to reading your reports everyday! Thank you for sharing.

Thanks all for following along. Its a ton of fun to relive my trip.

 

[Sammie]

It's always fun when you meet someone new on a trip and it turns out to be a fun outing.

Thanks for sharing and the photos are great.

 

[KatMark]

Great update, Jim (and a great picture of you!).

I think what you described about not being able to just go into the ocean, etc., because of your belongings being left unattended, etc., is part of the reason I've never had a desire to do a solo trip.

The pictures are wonderful; sounds like a great, but long day.

 

[AnnaS]

Great to "see" you Jim

Very nice that you were able to spend part of your day with a great family.

There are so many places in the world to see and explore - It's amazing. Thank you again for the wonderful pictures.

 

[disnewbie108]

Great TR! I am eagerly awaiting next installment! Love your writing style.

You really make me want to visit all those wonderful places!

 

[4Pluto]

I realized this evening that I have neglected a very important topic--food.

The Miramar shares a buffet restaurant with the Village Resort. For breakfast there are meats and cheeses, fruit and cereals, and something like a thin pancake. Adequate but not too memorable.

That same restaurant serves themed buffet dinners. Tuesday night is Madeira night with paella. Again, it was adequate.

With my meal plan I could have three dinners at any of the Pestana resorts.

Wednesday I chose to eat at the Miramar restaurant. It is a very charming set of rooms in the white mansion at the front of the resort. Inside are fountains and tiled walls and heavy furniture.

The plan allows for wine, water, appetizer, entree and, most importantly, dessert. After one of those fancy tasters (a bite of salmon), I had asparagus with a thick wine sauce and melted cheese, followed by veal cutlet in a pastry shell. For dessert I had what looked like a small brownie that was indescribably chocolate (and filled with hazelnuts) with a caramel sauce and gelato. That was awesome.

Thursday I got lazy and decided to eat at the same restaurant. This time, the taste was a mousse of some sort, followed by a spinach salad in a Parmesan nest, followed by a cut of prime rib with gratin potatoes. Dessert was a crepe of fruit in wine sauce--not as spectacular as the brownie but definitely edible.

Saturday was my last night and I should have gone to the casino for a show and dinner or to one of the fancy sit down restaurants in the other resorts, but I was dog tired. The Miramar dinners were wonderful but awfully long especially when you are eating alone (I can only pretend to study the wall art for so long).

So I went with the buffet dinner. Not the best use of the meal plan from a dollar standpoint but it was quick, the salad choices were great, the entree was fine and the dessert table was filled with puddings and flan and pastries so a definite score for the sweet tooth.

Overall I had nice meals at the resort and lots of opportunities for variety in atmosphere and menus. But no pictures. I just couldn't bring myself to snap photos in these restaurants.

 

[drysdaleo]

Great TR and Pics!! Really enjoying it!!

 

[lilpooh108]

Great TR, and how adventurous! DH and I were commenting that this is the type of trip we would have taken years ago before our toddler came along...we love the pics and are living vicariously through you. Do you have any food pics? Curious to see what the Madeira food looks like.

 

[4Pluto]

I bought my nieces dolls wearing the traditional striped skirts/lace tops and with a pointy cap. As a tourist, you really only get to see humans wearing those outfits at tour bus dinners.

Unless you happen to visit Madeira during the wine harvest festival.

I would love to say that I booked this vacation knowing that the first weekend in September was the annual wine festival; but I didn't know it until I was meeting with the Owner's Representative to sign up for excursions. they offered a very modest cost, transportation to the wine festival.

I figured they would drop us off at main street in Funchal to see the capital city's version of a wine festival. Instead, to my surprise, we were taken to a small village (near Camara de Lobos--which Churchill did his painting) to see an authentic wine festival.

Our bus driver's grandfather had a vineyard in this town, and he described picking grapes at the end of the summer, and all of the varieties of brandy he would make and offer to guests. We wound up the narrow streets that climb the side of the mountain until we reached the local church, where we were dropped off for about 4 hours. The parade, which officially kicked off festivities, didn't start for several hours, so we had some time to kill watching people get ready. We watched as various groups made their way to the parade's starting point:

I perched on the church patio, next to a fund raising tent with a roulette wheel; the prizes were bottles of wine and home made cakes.

Yes, there were plenty of tourists, but there were also plenty of locals, dressed up in suits and dresses for the occassion. It is really nice to share something that has been a tradition for hundreds of years.

First, grapes are brought to a temporary mash, where locals (and visitors) stomped the grapes (as in "I love Lucy" stomping grapes). I don't think this juice is actually used; it's just symbolic of the harvest. This is followed by a parade, where different groups representing planting vines, harvesting the grapes, and making the wine, through dance, costumes and old grape baskets and goat skins for storing the wine. There were also wooden sleighs (near Funchal, there is a hill famous for having guests slide down the hill on old wooden sleds, and if you took a look at my picture, you know dang well I skipped that accident in waiting).

I knew the parade would pass by the church (kind of obvious, since it was the center of town), but I didn't realize that they would snake around the north side, then go up and down a dozen small hills before finally trudging up the side of the church that I was on. The guys pulling wooden sleds were exhausted and the dancers were beginning to show fatigue. Although there were no headless horsemen, it was neat to watch the various groups pass by the church:

Carrying baskets of grapes:

Dancing in traditional dress:

Carrying the goat skins:

We finished up around one. The festival continued all day and night, with street vendors, a large barbecue courtyard and a stage with dancers and singers. (Back in Lisbon, I saw similar scenes on TV from all over the country).

This was a pretty good way to finish my last day on the island (for those counting, I cut the week's rental short by a day because of my air travel dates).

Next: A Disney Mystery.

 

[4Pluto]

One of those pictures is not like the others. One of those pictures does not belong . . .

Let's try it again:

Thanks

 

[4Pluto]

Great to "see" you Jim

Very nice that you were able to spend part of your day with a great family.

I don't meet fellow travelers that often. I think that because I took tours rather than just explored on my own, that I had more chances to meet other travelers.

Great TR! I am eagerly awaiting next installment! Love your writing style.

You really make me want to visit all those wonderful places!

Great TR and Pics!! Really enjoying it!!

Thank you both for following along!

Great TR, and how adventurous! DH and I were commenting that this is the type of trip we would have taken years ago before our toddler came along...we love the pics and are living vicariously through you. Do you have any food pics? Curious to see what the Madeira food looks like.

I didn't take any food pictures (other than the first breakfast); I felt a little self conscious when the dinners are somewhat formal, and I'm alone, taking pictures of the food. The food at Miramar was very elegantly presented (the entrees were brought under cover; the waiters would remove all of the covers at the same time for each table with a flourish--a little over the top, but the food was beautiful on the plate, but not necessarily "Madeira" looking. I'm guessing it would look exactly the same in a high end Chicago restaurant.

The typical Madeira dinner was fish, rice or potatoes and greens. About the only twists I could see were that they added bananas (a local banana that is not very sweet) and passion fruit juice to lots of their sauces.

 

[Judique]

One of those pictures is not like the others. One of those pictures does not belong . . .

Let's try it again:

Thanks

Thank you! before scrolling down I tried in vain to get an 'x' to open up for this picture!

Your trip sounds so relaxing yet filled with interesting sights. Your picture of the island from your first post is now my background for the present. I really love the colors.

I fear this report is coming to an end. Where are you going next and can you take us along? Would love to know if you write other reports on other forums?

Again thank you for sharing.

 

[4Pluto]

My trip of course. This TR will peter out as well.

Sunday 9/4:

My flight out of Madeira left at 7 am. That means I was up and getting dressed well before many people had gotten to bed. The resort was very nice and sent up a breakfast basket the night before with fruit (2 oranges and 2 pears), rolls with meat and cheese, yogurt, milk and juice. I took it out of the fridge, grazed on the parts I like (yogurt, cheese and oranges) and took off for the airport.

The flight was easy and I was back in Lisbon by 9:30 in the morning. I am pretty conservative about flights and this segment was purchased through TAP not Delta, so I wanted a whole day before my flight back to the US to be sure that I didn't get delayed in Madeira and then stranded in Portugal. No worries, my flight was early landing in Lisbon.

I checked back into the Internacional (this time on the Zen floor, and the word on my door was "Green"), in a lovely room with a balcony overlooking the Rossio. So I was pretty much spoiled.

Today I decided to see modern Lisbon, so I took the subway to the grounds of the 1999 (or so) World's Fair. Most of the fair is gone, leaving behind shopping malls, glass towers of condos and lots of public spaces with fountains and landscaping and funky stiped cement benches (did I mention that I sit alot while I tour).

My destination was the aquarium, heavily advertised at the airport.

Maybe the advertising was a little over the top. It is a nice aquarium, but you have to sit alot (and I did) to stretch a visit to more than 90 minutes.

The aquarium is located in a small box tower in the middle of a lake alongside the river, with two ramps leading to a large building with shops and restaurants on the main floor. I thought maybe the aquarium was on the upper floors of this building, but that was just more restaurants and a 3D movie theater. The aquarium was entirely contained in the box in the middle of the lake.

Each corner of the aquarium housed a small open area with birds and fish from the arctic, antartic, south pacific and north pacific (not sure why pacific and not atlantic). In the middle was a large shark/tuna/ray tank. The bottom floor had smaller exhibits of jellies, seahorses, anemones etc. It was a fun way to spend the day, but definitely not the Shedd (Chicago).

I returned to the hotel, packed, had dinner in the room, and then they brought me another box breakfast as my morning flight was at 7:30. I escaped the hotel with a little sleep, some juice and fruit and a lot of photos.

The flight to Amsterdam was uneventful. I felt like a pro at the Amsterdam airport (I grabbed a few more souvenirs and then headed for the departure lounge). The flight home was quick (we were 30 minutes early) and even the coach seats were nice (plenty of food offerings from meals to snacks to sweets). Best of all, KLM docked right across from passport control (on our flight back from Costa Rica, we docked somewhere in Iowa and had a death march back to customs and immigration--no kidding, it took Mom and I 40 minutes just to reach passport control).

Overall, I thought this was a great exchange and the resort was every bit as nice and fun as my "home" resorts in Orlando. Yes, it was just a bit out of the way, but I got lots of Portuguese culture and food and lots of sun and history and nature, so it met my travel needs.

And I promised one last mystery. Here it is, a tile from the hallway in the Miramar Resort

I have no idea what the Disney Room was (and never found it) and suspect that the tile was never changed when the room disappeared, but I had to smile, since I would never have been there but for Disney.

Thanks all for following along. Best wishes for your adventures.

 

[AJA]

By far the best trip report ever!!

 

[Sammie]

Loved the guy in the Yankees ball cap carrying the grapes.

The mystery of the Disney room is very interesting.

 

[sandieb]

Loved the guy in the Yankees ball cap carrying the grapes.

The mystery of the Disney room is very interesting.

I smiled when I saw the Yankee hat too. What a wonderful trip report and a first person look at another culture. Thank you for the lovely picture and snapshot of your trip.