Nearly 600 miles off the coast of Morocco lies the island of Madeira. Visiting here last September was part of our travel-without-crossing-borders program brought on by the virus. Like Valença and the Algarve, we were just visiting. No way did we expect to be so artfully seduced!
Coming from Porto to Madeira is swapping climates: New York for San Diego. Porto winters can be tough on us California weather-wimps. All around the calendar, temps are usually a dozen or more degrees friendlier.
What is it that’s so very cool about living on an island? Maybe it’s feeling you can sense the curvature of the earth from your veranda. Our new place is on a hillside, a tad west of the capital, Funchal, maybe 1/4 mile from the water. Ocean view is about 110º of horizon from due west to south east. Frame-worthy sunsets most evenings so far.
Boxes emptied and gone, our furnishings are sorting themselves into let’s-see-if-we-like-it-there places. Shipping company lost nothing and broke nothing. Wow! Not the cheapest but pretty damn good!!
Fresh seafood fan? If you’re very, very good maybe you’ll come here when you die. New arrivals in the fish market still look surprised from recently being hooked. You can get pretty much anything, caught the evening before, and cooked to perfection. No mussels this big and fresh on Venice beach! Monday’s not your day because the fishermen don’t work Sundays.
On the northwest coast of the island is the ancient fishing village of Ribera de Janela. For hundreds of years the fishermen have asked the Madonna’s blessing on their evenings’ endeavors, by setting rounded stones in the vocanic rock 30 or 40 feet beneath a small shrine dedicated to her. Practical above most things, they find this works as well as paying the padres 50¢ a whack lighting candles in the church every night.
Madeira, it turns out is one of the safer places to wait out the virus. Just a few hundred local cases with only 2 fatalities so far. Before anyone accuses us of smart or careful planning, I’d like to plead dumb luck.
Stay safe!
– Mike + Cookie Durnerin
Um Feliz Natal a todos, e a todos uma boa noite!