Tuesday December 30, 2014
Today we were up and at ’em at are usual 11am departure time. Today we headed to the North side of Madeira to go to one of the highest points on the island. We drove around the base of the island towards Santana (queue lots of Santa Ana jokes from me). It didn’t take that long and I kept dozing along the way. When we were driving up the hills, we got a bit turned around managed to do a circle route in the foothills before finding the right path. I had to make a pee stop at a little bar where when I went in there was no one and when I came out there was a scary lady behind the bar staring at me who didn’t understand English. Back on the road we finally found the road up to Pico do Areeiro and a Miradouro aka look out point that gave us some great views above the clouds. We couldn’t see the bottom of the island, but it was a nice surreal experience. It started to rain while we were up there which cut short our photo ops, and we quickly retreated back to the car and headed back down the trail.
We ended up back in Funchal at the marina downtown and found a local restaurant for a quick lunch. I chose a steak, which in hindsight wasn’t the best choice. We then ended walking around the shops and area for a bit, and then took one of the Marks back to the airport. My steak had had its way with me and I was thankful for the airport restroom! We then headed back to the villa and stopped at the grocery store to pick up stuff to make dinner for the night.
Back at the villa, Mark made an excellent pasta with meat sauce that had a bit of a kick but was good. We ended the night watching some TV on the laptop and then time for bed. Tomorrow is New Years Eve so we need to get plenty of sleep!
