Blogs from Madeira, Portugal, Europe - page 3

Saturday October 15– Tried to sleep in a little, but of course not. Was out the door by 7:20, still dark out. I headed over to the fruit and vegetable and adjoining fish market before my bus at 8:45. I’m not sure what I was thinking – I definitely did not need that much time. I’d already seen the fruit and veg but you have to get there early to see the fish market. I don’t usually like to visit them, but fish is an important aspect of the culture, and I teach fishing techniques and sustainability in my environmental class, so it's always good to have a look. I decided to just view from above rather than move around in the market itself. There was a lot of espada, a long eel-like fish with crazy ... read more

Thursday October 13– Another lazy start to the day. Slept until 7:30 and then did a little organizing and who knows what else in the morning. Where does the time go? At one point I heard my Airbnb host leave the apartment next door (cleaning, I think), so I opened up and asked him for a new garbage bag. Mine was not full, but it did have a rotting orange that was stinking up the place every time I opened the garbage can. He showed me where they were – I thought I had looked everywhere but had overlooked them. He had left me some fruit when I arrived, but on my first or second day, I realized that the orange was all moldy underneath, threw it in the bin, and have been regretting it ever ... read more

Tuesday October 11– I was up at 6am but already awake for a while by then. Not a great sleeper at the best of times, and definitely not when I know I have plans. I took the bus from in front of the cable car station to Ribeiro Frio, then realized I could have caught the bus much closer to the apartment! I’ve tried to plan around the weather, but the weather in Madeira is somewhat unpredictable. It was raining/misting when I arrived, and I really thought this hike might turn out to be a mistake, even though I really wanted to hike a levada. I’m just not good with fussing with things like when I had to stop and put on fleece, a poncho, and a rain cover for my backpack. Then I started to ... read more

Monday October 10– Up at 5:45, the first of many early starts. I decided that today I would do a hike. There are not so many buses…wait, that’s not right. There are a million buses, but not so many of the regional kind, so I wanted to make sure I was on the first bus that left so I could do the hike and make it back to town again. I left early to find the right bus stop for the 113 bus that would bring me to the start (and end) of the Sao Lourenco peninsula hike. There are SO many bus stops and three different bus companies that run the different routes around the island and I was worried I might not find the right stop. I needn’t have worried – I found it ... read more

Es geht wieder los… eine unserer liebsten Urlaubsbeschäftigungen steht auf dem Plan: Canyoning! Wir sind ehrlich gesagt ein wenig aufgeregt, denn ich habe uns für die Intermediate Tour angemeldet und somit nicht für eine harmlose Anfänger-Tour. Und das bei den Schluchten, die wir hier schon haben sehen dürfen. Adrenalin von Sekunde 1! Der Pickup ist überpünktlich und wir starten im vollen Van. Augusto hat gute Laune und beste Guide Qualitäten. Auch das Sicherheits-Briefing überzeugt uns – es ist tiefergehend als wir es bisher bekommen haben und das ist gut so. Auch die Ausrüstung ist sehr gut und damit steigt unsere Aufregung noch einmal: werden wir so viel mehr an „Ausbildung“ brauchen als zuvor? Es geht in den Canyon und schon der Marsch dahin hat es in sich: die Schluchten sind grandios und man ist froh einen ... read more