Madeira Views for Days

 

Since I simply refuse to learn the bus system, when moving day came, I took my chances at finding a cab.  Surprisingly, it didn’t take long to flag one down.  But, once again, it took way too long to get to my destination.  The cabbie had to call dispatch twice to figure out how to get there.  Even then, I had to guide the dude the final few feet to the actual apartment … since I’d already been there.

It took weeks for our schedules to line up.  Some part of me didn’t want to see the place again.  Would I still consider it the best place I’ve stayed since starting this journey?  Or had my time away just covered the place in a haze of nostalgia?

Nope.  It’s still the king, baby!

There’s some work on the façade that obstructs the view a bit.  I knew about this beforehand as the host had put a note on the listing on the Airbnb website.  The microwave has mysteriously disappeared (although I did find a couple of the glass plates that go inside the oven to let me know that I hadn’t imagined the appliance being there last time).  Other than that, though, the place is just as awesome as I remember.

Why do I feel so comfortable in this apartment?  Even if I am fortunate enough to move to this gorgeous island, there is no way in hell I can afford anything like this.  The place is massive!  And to be able to own a three bedroom/two bath apartment with killer views like this and not live in it, the owners must be loaded.

God, I need a job.

That part of my day still sucks.  Not only is it dealing with rejection, but it’s also wading through links to jobs that don’t exist anymore, trying to avoid scammers, and reading listing after listing for positions that just don’t fit. 

On the search for any kind of income, I’ve even considered starting my own business.  Again.  I had an Etsy store for about a minute 10 years ago that went nowhere.  Now, I’m looking at the possibility of being an American living in Portugal trying to run a print on demand business while having to pay taxes to my former and current country and dealing with the tax issues of any other state or country that wants to charge them. It’s a bit daunting.

Madeira remained as lovely as ever.  Over the last couple of weeks, I watched the Halloween decorations morph into ones for Christmas (no Thanksgiving here to interrupt the money flow).  My last weekend on the island, there was a crafts fair featuring live entertainment. 

As far as I can tell, tourist season is a year-round thing here.  Every day, there are at least two cruise ships in port, disgorging their guests onto the city streets.  Mostly Brits and Germans, though I have heard some other accents/languages.

The location of the apartment made it, once again, too easy to visit the many cafes and restaurants nearby.  Once you get down that hill, of course. 

               (Seriously, screw that hill.)

I was having a lovely sangria with my pasta one day and enjoying the beautiful weather.  Then a bear showed up with a bouquet of flowers because … of course it did.  Ah, there’s some of the weirdness I haven’t seen in a while.  Wouldn’t want my life to get back to ‘normal’ any time soon.

Another bit of weirdness I discovered about the windows in the kitchen of this awesome apartment. When viewing the cable cars from right next to the window, they appear quite small.  I was lying on the couch in the living room one night with a clear view of the kitchen and from there the cable cars looked huge.  I thought I was just tired until I took pictures of the windows from different parts of the apartment the next day.  I wasn’t just imagining things.

This was taken right next to the window.  You can barely see the car.

This was from the entrance to the kitchen.

And in this one, I was standing in front of the sliding glass door in the living room.

Freaky, right?!

Unfortunately, it wasn’t all fun and games while I was in the place.  With the job search going nowhere and my Schengen days running out, I had to start thinking about moving again.  And the thought of that ruined my last week in Madeira. 

I’m not in vacation/tourist mode anymore.  I came back to Portugal with a purpose.  I was all set to face the scary Portuguese bureaucracy, ready to search for an apartment and go through the nightmare of getting all my stuff out of the U.S.  I was ready to set up my new home.  Instead, I had to plan my next move and flee the country.  Again.

Winter is coming.  And though it’s lush and beautiful on the island (75 degrees F and sunny most days), everywhere else is preparing for the big freeze. Too cold in the British Isles.  Schengen laws meant that most of Western Europe was out.  And there was no way I was heading back to America.  I REALLY just wanted to stay in Portugal.

But … sigh … it’s onto the next town.