Shoe Shopping

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The second thing on our "must see" list is a sailing trip the the Desertas. These are the three uninhabited islands you can see from Funchal. They´ve been declared nature preserves and you have to have permission to go out there. A charter company here sails out three or four times a week with paying customers for a couple of hours. However, last Saturday the wind shifted and has been coming in from the east. Apparently this happens a couple of times a year and lasts for several days. During this time the seas are quite rough and the sailing ship doesn´t go out. So, no trip to the Desertas for us this year.

We´ve slowed down in our wanderings and are spending more time in the apartment to catch up on little "living" details, like banking, writing post cards, etc. I decided to buy a new pair of shoes as all the walking we did last week raised havoc with the little toe on my left foot. We´d observed over time how well dressed most people are in Lisbon and Funchal. We´ve passed a number of tailors catering to both men and women. The women wear lots of big jewelry and carry large handbags. Most wear boots, which surprises the heck out of us dwellers of northern climes. Why would anyone wear boots when it´s not cold, not raining, not snowing, and never under sixty degrees??? The boots are usually high-heeled, as are the vast majority of shoes women wear.

Anyway, we set off looking for shoes for me one day this week. We entered all kinds of stores from the big ones to little holes in the wall. All had signs for "Salados" - 40%, 50%, 60% even 70% discount! And all carried far more boots than any other kind of shoe. There were few comfortable flats, the type shoe I was looking for.

I always started out by picking up a shoe on display that was close to what I wanted and asking if they had it in a size 9, which drew blank stares. Finally, one clerk offered the information that they only went up to size 38. Aha!, we need a conversion table. Fortunately, we found one in Don´s electronic translater. Now we knew we were looking for size 41. Many stores said they didn´t carry that size (excuse me!). Some stores did, but I couldn´t find a comfortable shoe. Some clerks were really grumpy when I´d tried on a few pairs, then left saying no. After two hours, I hit the jackpot! What a relief. And I did get a discount, though I can´t remember how much it was, now.

In celebration, we went to a cafe lining the "pedestrian precinct" which the guidebooks say is the best place to "see and be seen". There wasn´t anybody we wanted to see, but thought someone might appreciate seeing a brand new pair of shoes on some pretty weary feet! It turned out to be a pretty expensive lunch for some pretty mediocre food. Oh, well.

Yesterday we took a taxi out to Camara do Lobos, a tiny, picturesque fishing village where we had lunch in the cafe Winston Churchill used to frequent when he came to Madeira to paint. It was by far the best lunch we´ve had. Though expensive, it was worth every euro. As soon as we sat down, the waiter wheeled over a four-foor long metal tray on wheels, filled with ice. Carefully placed on the ice were a collection of about 14 fresh fish of varying size, color and price. The waiter was really pushing a large fish, corvinha, that was big enough for two people. Hoping he knew what he was talking about, we ordered it. Best fish we´ve ever eaten! We were even served cordials at the end of the meal, at no cost. Life is good--in comfortable shoes.

More later............................

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Photos

Cafe Row
This is the place to see and be seen.

Funchal Street
Christmas decorations are still up!

Pavement Pictures
This is an outline of the caravel that the discovers of Madeira sailed in.