Following my big trip to South America at the beginning of the year, I decided to reduce my carbon footprint and travel less. Specifically, I'm wanting to take fewer long-haul flights visiting new countries, and instead spend more time in places that I already love, with Madeira (where my family is from) at the very top of the list. Therefore, after several summers of travelling elsewhere, I decided to spend a week in the motherland in September.
Friday
I made the mistake of booking a 7am flight from Gatwick, without realising that the tube wouldn't be running that early, meaning that I had to get a bus to the train station and then a train to Gatwick. Luckily, my boyfriend kept me company and despite a very early wake-up, he even ran to the bus stop ahead of me to hail down the bus. The airport lounge was decent and despite a slight delay in the departure time, we landed early.
I arrived at Madeira's airport very excited to see my family, however as I exited the baggage claim area, it was a ghost town, leaving me very confused. Until this point, any time I'd landed, as soon as I walked through the doors, there were crowds waiting, however they had changed the design of the airport so you now have to turn the corner before being reunited with loved ones. As I hurried along, I embraced my dad and cousin, and then we picked up my mum and aunt, headed for home.
My parents have a house on the north of the island, and the first thing I did when we arrived was go to the fig tree and eat some figs with my cousin as they were in season. We went for lunch in a local restaurant called Casa de Chá, which is popular with tourists and offers great views, and I enjoyed some Madeiran specialties, including black scabbardfish (espada com banana) and garlic bread (bolo do caco). We then commenced our family tour: we headed to Santana, famed for its traditional triangular houses, to visit my paternal grandma, before heading to the capital, Funchal, to visit one of my mum's many sisters for a coffee and two cousins before they flew to Venezuela for a month. We then met one of my mum's brothers in his restaurant and enjoyed a local drink, 'brisa', which is passionfruit-flavoured and delicious, before heading to another of my mum's sister's house for dinner. I used to spend every summer with this last sister growing up, so we are very close, and she had made my favourite Portuguese dish, a delicious pasta with beef and vegetables (macarrão com carne guisada), alongside limpets to start (lapas). We then played a traditional card game (bisca) for a few hours as we were six players, then headed home around midnight, where my cousin joined me for a sleepover like in the good old days.
Saturday
One of my favourite things about Madeira is the consistently good weather, and we made the most of this by spending the morning soaking up the sun on the beach with the family. We then had lunch at my parents house, where my cousin and I ate al fresco in front of my favourite view in the world, and then we passed an aunt's farm, where wine -making was in full swing, allowing us to try my uncle's wine.
We spent the afternoon in one of Madeira's biggest town parties, festa da Ponta Delgada, which was all fun and games until it started to pour and we had to cram onto a covered stage and into the church. That said, I did manage to have a local snack comprising bread with chorizo (pão com chouriço), which was delicious and is a must in Madeira. Eventually, we left the party and headed back to my parents' house, where once again we all played cards until the early hours (this time there were nine of us so we split into three teams where the losing team swapped out).
Sunday
I woke up exhausted after our long night of cards, however the sun was shining so straight after breakfast, we headed back to the beach, where I could swim in the sea (my favourite thing in the world) and practice my diving with my cousin. We then headed to my uncles' restaurant for lunch, where we saw an uncle and a cousin, before heading back to Faial for a coffee in our local coffee shop/bar.
It was very sunny and we had no plans for the afternoon, so decided to go on a spontaneous walk along one of Madeiras many 'levadas', which are trails in the mountains alongside small streams of water. We chose the 'Queimadas' trail as it's fairly quick and flat, although it was very muddy, and met an aunt and uncle on our return. I drove us back home, as I wanted to get some left-hand driving practice in, and my aunt (who has the farm) provided us with fresh grapes, figs, and cucumbers, while my mum had gotten a fresh loaf of bread from our neighbour. It was all delicious and very wholesome.
We had dinner at another aunt's house, and while we waited we all peeled some broadbeans, which really brought me back to my Madeiran summer holidays growing up, as we used to spend every weekend at my maternal grandma's house, tending to the farmland. Dinner was delicious, and once again we played cards until late (can you tell we love playing cards in my family?).
Monday
This Monday was the first day back for many workers, meaning that finding a spot on the beach was easier than ever. We spent the entire morning reading and swimming, then had a small doughnut each, before getting picked up at 2pm for lunch. We had a pizza from one of my favourite pizzarias, 'Pizza Café', and then headed back to Faial.
Something to know about the north of the island, which is where Faial and Santana are, is that it is often rainier and cloudier than the South. Therefore, we weren't too shocked when we arrived to a downpour despite it being 26°C a mere 20-minute drive away. This also meant that doing a walking trail or playing tennis were off the cards, so instead we just chilled and got ready for dinner.
We had a coffee and custard tart (pastel de nata) at around 7pm, then arrived at my aunt's house for dinner, which was an old favourite of mine, courtesy of her cleaning lady. We played cards for a couple of hours and then I drove us home, where I narrowly avoided an accident (my fault), which definitely spiked my adrenaline levels.
Tuesday
I had initially planned to go on a trail with my dad's sister and her kids on this day, but some roadworks prevented this from happening, so I spent another morning on the beach with my parents and aunt. My cousin was flying back to the mainland at lunchtime, so we weren't expecting to see her, but we left the beach slightly earlier in order to pick her up and drop her off at the airport. We had lunch in a restaurant called 'O Pescador', which was delicious and I tucked into another black scabbardfish.
We spent the afternoon with my dad's side of the family, which included a great aunt whom I hadn't seen in a couple of years and it was great to spend some time with everyone. My mum felt queasy so headed home with my dad, but I stayed on with my aunts, grandma, and little cousins, which was absolutely lovely.
After getting dropped off to my parents house, we headed to Machico for a supermarket trip, and then met with my aunt in Caniço for a walk along the promenade. My parents and I then headed back home for dinner, and it felt very weird being just the three of us eating together as usually every meal in Madeira is surrounded by family. I then videocalled my boyfriend for a few hours in the evening before bed.
Wednesday
On the Wednesday morning, we managed to do a walking trail (os Balcōes) with my dad's sister and her kids, and despite the rain it was very fun. The trail is an easy one but at the end you can feed some birds and have an incredible view (which on this day was obscured by clouds).
We had an early lunch nearby, specifically a 'prego', which is essentially a steak sandwich with all the toppings, and then I drove us back home to shower. The sun emerged and I spent the whole afternoon driving around the coast of the island with my parents, starting in the north and heading towards the west coast. We stopped in São Vicente, an area I like a lot, for an ice cream and I realised that despite having spent many months in Madeira, the vast majority of that time has been on the east of the island, between Funchal and Santana. That said, the island is beautiful and has breathtaking views throughout.
We had dinner with my aunt in a restaurant called 'O Lagar', which is located in Câmara de Lobos. The specialty is a typical Madeiran dish of beef skewers (espetada), and it was divine. Unfortunately, we left 10 minutes before the traditional dancers were to perform the 'bailinho de Madeira', however it was very enjoyable nonetheless. I slept over at my aunt's house, which brought back an abundance of childhood memories, and tried a Surinam cherry (pitanga) for the first time, which I wasn't a huge fan of but had a unique flavour.
Thursday
I spent the morning at the beach with various family members, then headed back to my uncles' resturant for my final black scabbardfish, before heading to my uncle's house to see my cousin and harvest and sort some bananas to distribute between each of my mum's siblings.
My parents and I then headed to Caniçal, which offers the most easternly point of the island. That said, tourism has absolutely boomed here since the pandemic so parking was an absolute nightmare, which never used to be the case, but nonetheless we were able to enjoy the views. We headed home for a quick refresh, before heading to my dad's sister's house for dinner. This house was renovated over the years and is absolutely gorgeous, with a pool and trampoline for the kids to enjoy, and since there were twelve of us, we were kept very entertained throughout.
Friday
Despite this being my final day in Madeira, my flight was only in the afternoon, so after a quick stop in Caniço to say goodbye to an aunt, we spent the morning on the beach in Funchal. I had another mini doughtnut in the morning, and then we headed to my aunt's house for lunch (and so that I could shower), which was dreamy. I said my goodbyes to everyone, and then my parents dropped me off at the airport with various snacks in hand. The flight was delayed by an hour but my boyfriend surprised me on the other side at the airport with more snacks and flowers, so overall it was the perfect flight day and I could not have wished for a better trip! I am, of course, very bias but I would strongly recommend visiting Madeira as it's one of my favourite places in the world!
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