The old stone tunnel in our area used until the newer long tunnel was built in recent years.

It’s cool in Madeira, cooler than we expected. Other than the fact that we have no warm clothing, we don’t mind a bit.  For the past several days, I’ve been wearing the only hoodie in the house, Tom’s lightweight XL cotton fleece.

Please click here for today’s weather in Madeira

The nutrient rich hills of Madeira are readied for summer produce.

Today, I’m wearing the warmest of my BugsAway shirts in order to stay warm, although there doesn’t seem to be many insects here. This house has no heating or AC system which is most likely the same for all of the homes on the island.

Driving around Madeira is challenging, although the roads are newer and well maintained.

The hottest it ever gets here is in the 80F’s, 27F’s, but that’s not until August and September. We’ll be long gone by then. Over the next few months, we can expect highs in the low 70F’s, 21C’s and lows in the 50F’s, 10F’s.  Sleeping is pleasant under a fluffy comforter.

Many of the tunnels on the island are one way reducing the risks of accidents.

Our plans to get a bit of a tan from short stints in the sun is impractical in this month’s cool weather although the comfortable lawn chairs are awaiting us. It’s simply too cool to sit outside unless bundled up.

What story could this abandoned house tell?

To our surprise we don’t mind. After the hot summer in Italy, spring in Kenya, summer in South Africa and the heat of spring in Morocco, the coolness if a welcomed relief.

Campanario, where we live, is not nearly the highest elevation in Madeira. In other areas which we’ll visit, the mountains are at an elevation of over 6000 feet, 1828 meters.

Perhaps soon, it will warm up enough to get some Vitamin D spending 15 minutes a day with bare skin showing sitting on the veranda in the sun.

Please click here for benefits of getting Vitamin D from sensible sun exposure.

More one way double lane tunnels in our area.

In reality, we haven’t had any regular sun exposure in over a year when we lived in Belize. It dawned on me that failing to do so may have impacted our ability to stave off infections and viruses. Once it warms up a little, we’ll be sitting outside 20 minutes a day.

We’re surprised by the excellent roads in Madeira.

Every location we travel has its pluses and minuses which become easily apparent within the first few weeks.  We’ve discovered that if we have a good house with views, are able to sleep comfortably at night, have access to reasonable food options for dining out and grocery shopping and feel reasonably safe, we are content. 

This hill is considerably steeper than it appears. When sitting at the top, one can’t see the upcoming road due to the steep drop off.

All of these are definitely in order in Madeira. The difficulties of finding our way around on these confusing roads, the cool weather and the language barrier are easily managed with careful thought and planning. 

We are looking forward to getting out to take care of our yet undone errands in Funchal, dining out again, and beginning to explore our surroundings. Soon, we hope.

At the moment we hear the rooster crowing, the church bells ringing, the goats baaing, and dogs barking, all pleasant and familiar sounds. It’s beginning to feel like “home.”
________________________________________________

Photo from one year ago today, May 23, 2013:

On a walk in Dubai, we headed toward the marina where we captured this photo of the Atlantis Hotel at Palm Jumeriah, the palm tree shaped island extending into the ocean. For details of our story and photos on that date, please click here.