After a little over a week, it was time to move onto my next lodging in Funchal. When I looked on AirBNB for my next place after Ponta do Sol, I couldn’t find a single place with availability for the remainder of my time on the island. So the website suggested booking two places at once whose dates jibed with mine. I caught a cab after lunch and we headed from West Funchal to the east.
When we pulled onto the ‘freeway’ I swear I thought I was
being kidnapped. I mean, Funchal is not
that big. I had accidently walked all
the way to the docks from my first apartment and my second place (I’d find out
later) is in view of those same docks. It’s
not that far by car if you’re on Avenida do Mar. Then I figured I was just being taken the
long way so he could overcharge me. But
when we reached the street, I saw that it was another narrow, one-way jobby
that couldn’t be approached any other way.
And, once again, my cab driver wasn’t quite sure where the place
was. The numbering of houses here is too
chaotic to follow even for the natives.
That’s a serious problem.
I contacted the host and we managed to find each other after
the cabbie dropped me off in front of someone’s house. He helped me carry my bags down the hill (we
were so close) and showed me how to use the two keys to get into the gate, into
the building, up the elevator and to the apartment. Then he showed me around my new home for the week.
This place has automatically reset the bar for rentals on
this island. The apartment I just left could fit inside the living/dining room
of this place. And there’s a balcony
just off that room with a view of the pool below (to which I have access). It’s a three-bedroom place, though one of the
rooms is closed off (not that I care).
Two bathrooms, a separate laundry room, buttery yellow walls, and the
same balcony off the living room can be accessed from the main bedroom.
As for the kitchen … well. Not only is it bigger than the kitchen I had in my house and has a door (how many kitchens have actual physical doors these days?) the view is … um …
Once I picked my jaw up off the floor, I thanked the host and he left me to continue gawking. I booked this place and all my accommodations in Portugal on AirBNB. This trip was my first time using the site and I gotta say, the results have been wildly varied. I never searched a place based on wow factor or number of bedrooms. Price, location, and availability are my main criteria. So to go from my modern little place in Lisbon, to the room in the boonies of the farol, to the homey place in Ponta do Sol, to the 8th floor studio, to this place (which has to be a million dollar property for the view alone) has been a wild adventure. And I think this has been one of the cheaper places particularly since I only booked it a couple of weeks ago. It’s nuts.
I set my computer up in the kitchen because … why wouldn’t
I? It would get a little toasty in the morning
with the sun being directly in the window, so I’d move to the dining room. But only briefly. The view from the balcony just wasn’t good enough
for me anymore.
There are only three drawbacks to the place; with all that space in the kitchen, there’s no oven. Even the shoebox I just left had an oven, awkwardly placed though it was. Secondly, the upstairs neighbors are noisy. I think they had a party on Monday night with loud voices, lots of chairs scraping against the hardwood floors, banging and crashing well into the night. In addition to that, the apartment is located on one of the nastiest hills I have ever encountered in Portugal. That thing just goes on and on. And while there are steps located on the side of the hill, they are typical Portuguese steps; made of stone, shallow and uneven, and only get you up the worst part of the hill. You still have a way to go after that. The final part at least has a handrail/barrier between you and oncoming traffic.
The weather here has been amazing. After a month on the island, there were a total of 4 days where the sky was overcast and I felt droplets of rain. The rest of the time, sunny and gorgeous. The temp is usually high 60’s, low 70’s every day after being a little cool and windy in the morning then cooling off again in the evening.
I noticed that there are stop lights on the main road of
Avenida do Mar. This road goes past the
docks and the main tourist strip for anyone getting off the cruise ships. They arrive everyday, sometimes with two or
three of them docking at one time.
The Mercado dos Lavradores is a huge indoor farmers market that’s just down the street from the apartment. It is chock full of vendors selling fruits, vegetables, spices, wine, souvenirs, you name it. It’s three stories of sensory overload as the vendors are trying to offer you samples and you’re bobbing and weaving around other customers and watch that step (what is it with Portugal and all the surprise steps?). The fishermen, whose boats can be seen from the docks, set up in a separate room. You can’t get fresher seafood unless you catch it yourself. It goes straight from the water to the salesroom and you can have the vendors cut it right in front of you.
As great as the market is, I can’t help but think it’s kind of redundant. I’ve already mentioned how fresh the produce is in the grocery stores. That was the case in Lisbon, but even more so on Madeira as much of the produce is grown right here. I’ve watched the fisherman in the mornings. If they’re not fishing for themselves, they’ve got plenty of places to sell their catch. I would call the market more of a touristy thing since the folks staying in hotels wouldn’t be frequenting the grocers. Except there are cafes inside that are full of locals as well as shops that sell plants and seeds, so I don’t know. It’s still a nice place to visit at least once.
After a rocky start, I’ve grown to love the island. Funchal has everything you could need to live
within close proximity, it’s gorgeous and warm, and travel is still possible
with the mainland being only 1 ½ hours away.
I didn’t do any of the tourist activities, but there are plenty to
partake in like jeep tours around the island, scuba lessons, whale watches and
the like to keep you as busy as you want.
Plenty of shops, clinics, grocers – as well as cars, tourists,
construction, smokers in public – not a perfect place, as there is no such
thing, but still ... So far, my hunch about
the place was correct. This is definitely
the front runner for my new home. We’ll
see how that goes.
Though not a plan, I’m glad I got to experience both sides of Funchal. Despite my great apartment (which I could never afford in a million years), I think I prefer the west side of the city. It’s a bit more modern and I could probably afford to rent for a year while I scope out a property. East Funchal has more of a Lisbon feel with the long rows of houses and the number of abandoned buildings. Charming, maybe, but a little less to my liking.
Because of all my moving around, Portugal has been far more
expensive than I planned. I’ve also had
a few too many nice lunches out including booze and my quest to find the best cappuccino
on the island. My next location is
booked for the whole month and, barring any issues with the place, should make
it a lot more affordable.
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