New photos from road trips…Annoying flight changes….Why?… A year ago…Sport cars driving up the hills…

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We stopped along a beach to enjoy the views.

So far we’ve booked 12 round trip flights from Minneapolis to Hawaii for our family members while waiting for dates that work for eldest son Richard in Las Vegas/Henderson, Nevada. He’s a successful real estate agent experiencing the busiest time in his 20+ year career. Getting away is not so easy for him. We’re confident, he’ll figure it out soon.

Close up of flower in the above beach photo.

After booking the remaining 12 tickets, we sat back comfortably knowing that the booking aspect of our upcoming family vacation in December was almost complete. How foolish we were to make such assumptions when dealing with the airlines!

Most beaches are rocky in Madeira. Wooden planks are provided for sunbathers to avoid sitting on the rocks. On many beaches, these thatched umbrellas are also provided. 

Speaking of airlines, a week ago, we mentioned the possibility of going to Malaysia in between our two stays in Bali in 2016.  After the tragic downing of yet another Malaysian Airline plane, we’ve rethought our decision to visit Malaysia and will find another country in the South Pacific to visit for the 60 days we’ve yet to fill.

This morning, as I sat down at my computer to begin writing today’s post, I noticed an email from Expedia.com informing us that there have been changes from our flight from Boston to Vancouver on September 17th. Not huge changes, but changes nonetheless. In this case, there was nothing required of us.

There were many roads along the steep cliffs that were wet from water running down the mountains.

Over the past few there have been no less than four notifications of flight changes for son TJ and his family of four with changes on departure times, layovers, and arrival times. In their most recent notification, it required selecting new seats when the actual plane was changed. 

When the airline toll-free number was blocked to Skype, we were unable to speak to a rep to make the new seating arrangement. (This was the first time that we experienced the blocking of a toll-free number via Skype). At the airline website, it stated that one couldn’t change the seats online and would be required to call. 

From what we could determine, this small one-lane rock tunnel was very old.

We contacted TJ explaining that they’d have to book their seats for that leg of the flight, especially important when traveling with two grandsons, Jayden and Nik.

Also, in the past few months, we received another two flight changes for daughter-in-law Camille and granddaughter Madighan who are flying on different dates than son Greg, granddaughter Maisie, and grandson Miles. As in the past, we forward these notifications to our kids, reminding them of the importance of noting these changes.

A bridge over a ravine.

Fortunately, the airlines haven’t changed any departure and arrival dates, only the times. In most cases, the time changes aren’t substantial. What’s the deal? We have to book early to ensure we secure the flights and yet, they keep changing the times.

With many flights in our future travel plans, this is annoying. However, once we fly to Paris in 10 days, and then fly from Boston to Vancouver in September our only flights will be from island to island in Hawaii when we’ll be living on four different islands over a period of months.

A fast-running small creek in the ravine.

Travel days?  We don’t like them. It’s the only part of our travels that give us a sense of angst and uncertainty.  Will we be charged for overweight baggage? Will our flights change or be canceled at the last minute? Will our bags get lost or the contents stolen? Will we have problems with immigration? And most importantly, will we arrive safely?

As for long layovers, we’ve learned to accept this as a reality of our world travels. If the airport has WiFi and a recharging center, we’re at ease. More and more airports are providing these services, which we surprisingly found available in some airports in Africa. 

A natural rock formation.

We’re content to read books during layovers on our phones as we do each day. Our older smartphones don’t have the extended battery life as some of the newer phones. If no recharging stations are available we may be out of luck during a long layover. Why not read a hard copy book? Simple answer. We can’t carry any extra weight reading hard copies of books.

Corn grows wild in many areas of Madeira.

With the new rules in the US that all digital equipment be charged enough to turn on when going through security, this presents a whole new problem for travelers. When we depart on a flight, all of our equipment is fully charged. But, in the case of a layover, we may run out of juice. We’ll worry about this later, definitely keeping it in mind. 

A fountain in the center of a round-about.

Oh, enough whining about flying. I’m sure our regular readers have heard all of this many times in past posts.  I apologize for the redundancy. Please comment if you’ve had similar experiences. We love hearing from our readers.

Photo from one year ago today, July 21, 2013:

We stood outside of the 300-year-old stone house in Boveglio, Tuscany, Italy while a parade of old sports cars drove past perhaps on their way to a car show. For more car photos, please click here for the link from that day.

A second booking in Fiji…Keeping it all straight…A year ago, puffy clouds in the mountains…

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Photo of beach at our second Fiji house.

After booking the house on the island of Savusavu, Fiji for 89 days ending on December 6, 2015, as described in this previous post (click here), we had a month “to kill” before our upcoming cruise as described in our posts of a few days ago, leaving Sydney, Australia on January 5, 2016.

Originally, we thought that the easiest thing to do was to stay in Sydney for the month over the holidays. After considerable checking for one-month vacation rentals near Sydney, we had little luck. With the holiday season in full force, the rentals were either already booked or too expensive.

Veranda overlooking the pool.  The average year-round temperature in Fiji is in the 80F, 30C range with little variances from month to month.

Staying in a hotel in Sydney for a month was another option but proved to be prohibitive when hotel rates were high and we’d have no choice but to dine out for every meal.  (Although, next month we’ll be in hotels for a month split between Paris and London, in both cities we were able to get excellent rates and, most importantly, we’d budgeted for these expenses). 

However, we hadn’t planned for an expensive month in Sydney, no doubt a beautiful city. Most likely, we’ll have an opportunity to see the sights of Sydney when we are on any of our three cruises in Australia.

The kitchen appears to have everything we’ll need. Many of these photos were taken at night. We’ll be taking plenty of photos during daylight.

At this point, we discussed our options. We had to get back to Sydney by January 4th for the upcoming cruise the next day.

With Fiji’s 120 day visas for US citizens, we had the option of staying another month in our booking in Savusavu, a separate island in Fiji with challenging transportation, or, as Tom suggested, fly to the main island of Fiji to ease the flying back to Sydney on January 4th. We both agreed this was a better plan.

Most likely we’ll find a table somewhere in the house to use as a coffee table.

While I was busy logging all the data for our recent multiple bookings, Tom went to work to find something suitable on the main island of Fiji. Much to our surprise, in only one day, he found the house which we’re sharing today.

We booked this house from December 6, 2015 to January 4, 2016 when we’ll fly to Sydney, spend one night in a hotel and board the cruise the next day. Whew! Lots of monkeying around!

We love having a pool!

After contacting the owner, we worked out an equitable rental amount, paid the deposit, and took a deep breath, knowing this leg of our journey was handled. 

Here’s the link to our second house in Fiji, on the main island:
http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p3665385

When the January 5th cruise ends in Auckland, New Zealand on January 19, 2016, we’ll rent a car and make our way to the Alpaca Farm as posted here. 

Side yard.  The ocean is beyond the bushes.

With our comprehensive record-keeping, it’s easy to keep track of the “holes” in our itinerary. At this point in time, we have only a few one-night hotel bookings and a few flights yet to book, all the way to the last booking ending on June 26, 2016, almost two years away. It’s too soon to book anything beyond that date.

Knowing that we’ve booked two years out with deposits paid and rental agreements, in hand we can now sit back and enjoy ourselves knowing that we don’t have to think about future bookings for another year. 

Yesterday, Tom and I were giggling over how much we both enjoyed this process over the past month. The anticipation and the hope of working out equitable rental amounts and deposits left us flush with excitement as we waited to hear back from owners of the various bookings. 

Over the past month, I was often so excited that I awoke early in the morning to see if we’d heard back from an owner overnight. In many cases, there was as much as an 11 hour time difference making communicating online tricky. We’d jump for joy when we’d see that our proposal, or a workable alternative to our proposal, was accepted by the owner.

Settled down and content with the outcome of our hard work, we can’t stop smiling. Yes, we know that there will be mosquitoes, no screens (we have no screens now), creepy-crawly, and flying things but we’re tougher now. 

On both islands in Fiji we’ll have several hours of driving on scary bumpy roads from the airport to our homes, one as long as the four-hour drive in Belize. Here again, we’re tougher now and give it nary a thought.

We continue on, dear readers, fine-tuning our skills and our psyches as we grow and learn more each day as we live as nomads exploring the many treasures our world has to offer.

Tomorrow we’ll share our most exciting booking since we began our travels. Please check back!

Photo from one year ago today, July 9, 2013:

It’s ironic that here we are in Madeira, Portugal one year later and we have similar puffy clouds as we watched in the mountains in Boveglio, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy. Although close to the ocean in Madeira, the clouds are much denser. A year ago, we wrote the story of living life without cell phone service when no SIM cards were available. For details, please click here.

Cost of fuel at US $8.68 a gallon, EU $2.29 a liter! An exquisite vegetation find…A year ago, arrival at our booked 300 year old stone house in Tuscany…

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Yesterday, we climbed high into the mountain on this drive.

When we rented the medium blue car over a month ago at the airport in Funchal, the gas/petrol tank was full.  We were told to return the car with an empty tank at the end of the rental period.

Overlooking rooftops to the ocean is always a special view.

Once we arrived in Campanario, we hadn’t gone out much with my illness. Once I returned to health, we’ve been going out every few days to explore, shop, and occasionally dine out. We didn’t need to refill the tank until yesterday. 

The view is always a complex mix of homes, gardens, and farms of varying shapes and sizes.

Luckily, the medium blue car is a fuel miser, using very little petrol on these hills. Although we were stunned by the cost of filling the tank, the relief of using so little to get around softened the blow. At most, we’ll refill, once or twice until we eventually return the car at the end of our time here

What a wonderful time of year to be in Madeira as we see the terraced hills planted for the season.

When we recall our transportation costs when living in the US with insurance, fuel, maintenance, and repairs, the cost of a rental car and fuel in other countries is less than half the former monthly expenses. It is this reality that keeps us from fussing over these prices. Everything is relative

Once we arrived at the top of a mountain, we spotted these cattails like plants.

Yesterday around noon, when the produce guy never showed, we decided to go out to fill the tank, visit the little market and go for a drive higher up the mountain to a park where we took these photos. 

Of course, I had to get out of the car to inspect these as Tom managed to find a safe spot to park on the steep narrow road.

It’s amazing how our perspective of the island changes from each vantage point as we take off on one maze-like road after another, never knowing where we’ll come out or if we’ll come out, requiring we find a place to turn around. 

This was the highlight of our outing. It’s a close up of the cattail like plants as shown above in the two photos. Who knew these would be so beautiful up close?

As I’ve mentioned, the winding mountain roads on this island don’t make it easy to find one’s way around unless the destination is an easy exit off the freeway.

The locals, familiar with their complex road system, take the difficulty of finding one’s way around in their stride when they’re off the main highway. They tend to point in the direction we should go rather than suggest step by step directions. 

The vegetation changed dramatically the higher we climbed.

Most tourists visiting Madeira stay in hotels where English is spoken, tour guides are available and taxis are a chosen mode of transportation. If we’d had easy access to taxis and the language barrier wasn’t as profound, it may have been wise to use taxis for all of our transportation.

But, this isn’t Kenya or South Africa (we miss Okee Dokee!) where we can easily build a relationship with a driver to take us everywhere we’d like to go with no concern as to how to find our destination. 

Another beautiful view of a village below.

Oh. don’t get me wrong! We’re not complaining. The complexity of the roads in these hills is enchanting, let alone the majestic views! And, most assuredly, we’ll continue to explore each time we go out finding wonders we’ve never seen in the past, as shown in today’s photos.

No, there’s not much wildlife in Madeira other than the goats next door and a few birds we’ve seen on occasion.  But, we recall our original and continuing interests as we travel the world in addition to wildlife; that of exquisite scenery and vegetation of which Madeira has in abundance.

As always, a breathtaking view awaits us as we drive higher into the mountains.

If we find only one new-to-us plant, flower, or special scene on an outing, we’re fulfilled. Mother Nature continues to offer her brilliant treasures almost every time we’re out as we continue on a search of our surroundings of her beauty and riches.

In essence, one doesn’t need to travel to do this. A simple walk in one’s neighborhood or a local park can provide wonders we may never have noticed in the past.

Partway down the mountain after our drive, spotted the back view of our house which we hadn’t seen from this perspective.

For us, our acuity for finding these special sightings has become more intense now than ever in the past, a fact we never anticipated as we planned to travel the world.  When we began the planning process, we thought the renowned locations, historical buildings, and familiar tourist points of interest would highlight our travels. Little did we know how wrong our expectations would be.

When in fact, its been the simple things that have truly brought us the most joy; the kindness of a stranger, the song of a bird, an exquisite flower, or even the blaring music of the produce guy when he makes his way up the hills toward us. Where the heck is he?
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Photo from one year ago today, June 18, 2013:

Up the steep winding road with numerous hairpin turns we made it to our new home in Boveglio, Tuscany, Italy, a 300-year-old stone house. For details of our arrival in Boveglio, please click here.

Peacefulness and tranquility…A small price to pay for inconsistencies…One year ago…Traffic jam on the canals of Venice

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Another gorgeous day.

Not everyone needs peace and tranquility. As we’ve traveled we’ve discovered how important it really is for us.  Soon, when we’ll spend two weeks in Paris and two more weeks in London, we realize that for those four weeks we’ll relinquish the peace and tranquility that we usually desire for the experience of visiting these two big cities.

Vegetables growing in our yard.

How could we possibly have traveled the world and not seen Paris and London? As for London, our cruise on August 31st sails out of Harwich, a two and a half-hour drive to the pier. It was necessary to travel to London anyway with no airport in Harwich.

Not much of a gardener, I believe this is cabbage. That will work!

If one does visit London, Paris offers a great starting point with relatively easy access via the Eurostar (formerly known as the Chunnel), another interesting experience. How exciting it will be to take a train in a tunnel under the English Channel from Paris to London!  How could we not?

The hills of Madeira produce a wide array of colors.

Throwing peace and tranquility out the window, we brace ourselves for the hustle and bustle of the upcoming two months from the time we leave Madeira on July 31st until we arrive in Hawaii on October 5th, where again in Oahu and Maui we’ll be among crowds when out and about, less so when we live on the Big Island and Kauai.

Cabbage, up close?

But here, in Madeira, we find ourselves entrenched in the peace and tranquility of a low-stress life in a sleepy little village, mostly occupied by homeowners, generations deep. It’s easy to lose oneself in the easy pace of tranquil living, caught up in the “small things” that bring us a sense of belonging, coupled with a profound sense of comfort.

Wildflowers growing in our side yard.

This morning, both of us up and dressed early, we’ve left the sliding glass door ajar letting in the chilly morning air, again waiting to hear the loud music of the vegetable guy whom we very much desire to see this morning, on Tuesday, his occasional day in our neighborhood.  His arrival is not consistent.

Every time I walk, I find something new.

This life of tranquility is not always consistent. That’s part of the magic of tranquility. No rush. No urgency. No stress. The local markets have a particular product one week but not the next, or the next. One doesn’t complain to the manager.

At dusk, the look of the ocean changes.

I recall in my old life that the local Cub Foods usually carried a favorite organic butter that I used. One week, they were out of stock. Rousting up the dairy manager, I kindly asked when it would be in. Nervously, he said, “Oh, I’ll get it here for you tomorrow.” The next day, I returned and it was there. 

Lots of steps with no handrail, common throughout these steep hills.

I remember thinking to myself that the poor guy was stressed when he was out of a product that a regular customer such as I, was unable to purchase. For those of us who have worked with the public, we recall the angst we’ve felt when we couldn’t quickly fulfill the expectations of a customer. I don’t miss those days…on either end.

When I was growing up in California, we called these “shrimp” trees.

The little market here in Campanario and the bigger supermarket in Ribeira Brava have unsweetened full-fat Greek yogurt one week but not the next. I don’t mention it. It’s all a part of life here. Peacefulness breeds inconsistency. It’s a small price to pay.

Overlooking the road while on my walk.

The produce guy may not show today. And when he does on another day, we may have already gone to the little market to buy the farm-fresh produce we needed. But, neither he nor us gives it a second thought when he drives by on another day and we aren’t waiting for him on the side of the road.

In Minnesota, these were called begonias, a flower that grew well in shady areas.

One thing we do know for sure. We’ll love Paris and London. We’ll see the sites, take endless photos, and dine in fabulous restaurants. Perhaps, at times, we’ll even be in awe of the crowds, their passion, and enthusiasm for these big cities and their treasures.

The temperate climate is ideal for flowers.

In our hearts, wherever we may travel, we’ll always recall the tranquility of Campanario, Madeira; Marloth Park, South Africa; the Maasai Mara, Kenya; Boveglo, Italy and Placencia, Belize where the simplicity of daily life and its curious inconsistencies, ultimately have brought us the most joy.
                                              ______________________________________

Photo from one year ago today, June 17, 2013:

We’d hoped to ride in a gondola but when there were lined up like this, bumper to bumper hardly moving in the canals, we opted against getting into this “traffic jam.” Instead, we walked for several hours. For details from that date, please click here.

Happy Father’s Day to all!…Trip to Funchal to renew auto rental…Seamless day…A year ago today…last night aboard ship in Venice..

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What a site along the highway on the way to the Funchal Aeroporto!

Happy Father’s Day to our sons, my husband and to all of the Dad’s and Grandpa’s all over the world!

Picking up a rental car is  usually a trying experience. The long lines, the language barrier, the shock of the total costs going on our credit card and the process of finding the car to finally get on the road is a painstaking process.

Taking photos while driving on the freeway has a tendency to prevent clear shots. Please bear with us if any of these photos aren’t clear. There wasn’t a safe spot to stop along the highway.

Having to rent a car for 30-day increments to avoid higher daily rates, makes it necessary for us to go “re-rent” twice during a two and a half month stay. Yesterday, was the first of the two occasions in Madeira to drive back to the airport in order to extend the car rental.

After seeing this view we’ve since decided that soon we’ll be taking a drive around the entire island. Stay tuned for our story and photos next week.

Since the great guy that helped us when we arrived by upgraded us to a bigger vehicle at no extra charge, we were worried that if he wasn’t in to help us, we wouldn’t be able to keep the same larger car at the best price.

The ocean always draws our attention.

Holding my breath when Tom dropped me off at the terminal so I could get in line while he dropped off the car, I was disappointed when our guy wasn’t in. However, the lovely agent at the desk agreed that we could keep the same car at the same price as the other agent had offered the night we arrived.

Double steeples on one of many churches we’ve seen on the island.

Tom was already at the Europcar lot as the agent sent over the paperwork for the new 31-day rental period.  She directed me to the lot where I’d find Tom, up one flight on an elevator, down a long corridor, and then down four flights on another elevator. I’d better not get lost, I thought. I didn’t.

Few hills are left untouched in the busy city.

As soon as I exited from the elevator building into the outdoors in the bright sunlight, I saw Tom waving his arms from afar. Walking across the long lot toward the little green office, I was relieved to discover that our paperwork was almost complete and we could be on our way in the midsized blue car.

On the opposite side of the road, homes in Funchal are tightly packed, built into the hills, to provide the best ocean views for its residents.

This easy, friendly experience couldn’t have been more pleasant. It was one more reason we’ve found Madeira to be a dream location, the people are so helpful and kind. 

Farming and gardening are prevalent in all areas of Madeira.

Happily on our way on the hottest day we’ve experienced thus far in Madeira with a high of 88F, 31C, a rarity for the island, we made our way along the highway back to Campanario feeling excited to get back to our home and the veranda on this gorgeous day. 

There’s hardly a hill without gardens, farms, or homes.

By 4:30 pm we arrived at the local market near our home where we asked the expert female butcher to cut meat for us from big slabs; tenderloin steaks and pot roast.  She spoke no English. In advance, I’d translated “steak” and “pot roast” into Portuguese leaving the translations on my phone so I could show her.

We went through many tunnels on the way to the airport.

When we asked for boneless chicken breasts (which I hadn’t translated), I used hand signals to explain what we wanted. She got it as she grabbed two whole fresh free-range chickens from the case, deftly cutting away the other meat until she had two perfectly cut boneless skinless breasts which she cut in half, leaving the remainder to be sold in pieces. It was fascinating watching her skilled hands at work.

The freeway wasn’t too busy on a Saturday afternoon.

After the market, we walked next door to the bakery where we purchased two chocolate-covered doughnuts for Tom for Father’s Day morning at a total cost of US $2.44, EU $1.80.  He was thrilled.  Back on the road, we soon arrived at the “pharmacia” where I purchased insect repellent and anti-itch cream. Yes, I have fly bites again. 

Another more modern church in Funchal.

As the weather has warmed and, with no AC and no screens, once again, I have been getting bites on my hands by what appears to be horseflies. With both hands swollen, I’m determined to avoid more fly biting nightmares as I experienced last summer in Italy and this spring in Morocco.

Madeira’s concept of a farmhouse.

The often English speaking pharmacists are often comparable to a doctor in many countries (not so much in Morocco). He suggested a low 20% dose DEET roll-on to be used only on pressure points every eight hours and an antihistamine cream for the bites I already had on my hands

She cut the steaks, which we’ll grill tonight, from huge slabs of meat she had in another case.  This is the case containing all the pork which is a popular meat item in Madeira.

Both products worked well with the swelling greatly reduced within hours and not another bite since using the roll-on. Ah, relief.  I didn’t want to have to wear hot BugAway clothing over the next six weeks.

The adept butcher cut the breasts from two whole chickens carefully trimming the fat and bone, leaving us with four good-sized portions for two night’s dinners.

Last night after dinner the fog rolled in for some amazing photos we’ll share tomorrow. Again, Happy Father’s Day to our sons and Dads and Grandpas all over the world.
                                                         _________________________

Photo from one year ago today, June 15, 2013:

There were no photos posted on June 15th but, here’s a photo of the pier as our ship was preparing to dock for the night as we neared the end of the Mediterranean cruise. We’d sleep aboard the ship one more night and disembark the next morning, pick up a rental car and drive to Boveglio, Tuscany to our home for the summer. 

As we neared the pier we wondered where and how our ship would fit.  Space was awaiting our ship and we slipped right in. Within an hour, we disembarked to tour Venice for the evening. For details of the 15th as we prepared to head to Tuscany for the summer, please click here.

The progression of a moonlit night over Madeira…Scroll down to listen to a humorous Minnesota podcast where Tom’s is mentioned…A year ago trip to Ephesus, Turkey and a fashion show…

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Last night’s view of the moon and the lights from our veranda over Campanario, Madeira. 

I often walk up the steep hill that begins outside our door, snapping photos along the way, puffing and panting less and less each time. The lack of activity in Morocco greatly reduced my level of fitness, now returning with painstaking effort. 

The moon making an appearance on Wednesday which ended up clouded over after dark.

I needed to do this hard work. With no health club nearby once again I’m left to my own resources in an effort to stay fit which is easier now that we do our own day-to-day housework, laundry, and cooking. Tom, prefers not to exercise at all, except for necessary walks.

Last night, the moon began its ascent over the top of the mountain.

His exercise (besides household tasks) consists of standing up several times a day, walking to the kitchen to get two more Oreo cookies, walking back to the sofa, sitting down, and eating them. Oh, how happy I’d be if he’d give up the gluten and sugar. 

It rose so quickly, we could hardly look away for a moment.

I only want him to be healthy in order to continue this journey for years to come. He’s betting on his good genes. Recently, I read that good genes only attribute to 10% of one’s health and longevity. The rest is based on lifestyle choices. Our meals are healthy but, I can’t control what he puts in his mouth in between. We don’t argue about this nor do I nag him. He knows.

Only a minute later, we had a full view.

Yesterday, after posting here, we busied ourselves checking airfares from Funchal, Madeira to Paris, France on July 31st, a mere 48 days from today. The quickest flight left us with only a 45 minutes layover between Funchal and Lisbon, not enough time to go through customs. 

Tom insisted I point the camera in the opposite direction over the sea to capture the colors in the sky as the sun set and the moon arose.

Instead, we booked the safer bet, the flight with a two-hour layover in Lisbon, arriving in Paris at 5:15. By the time we’ll get to our hotel, it may be 7:30 pm or later, after another long day of travel. Then, we’ll quickly shower and change, heading out for our first dinner in Paris. How exciting!

The sky began to darken as a puff of clouds swept into the moon’s view.

Many travel days are ahead of us over several months after we leave Madeira on July 31st, not settling into another “home” until October 5th when we disembark the cruise from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to Oahu, Hawaii.

Again, Tom remembered to catch one last shot of the sunset on the opposite side of the island.

Again, we won’t be cooking our meals for a combined total of 66 days while dining in restaurants during a month of cruising and several weeks in hotels in Paris, London, Boston, and Vancouver.  

As the sky cleared we knew that soon the moon would too high to get any good shots.

In the interim, we’re loving life in Madeira, especially after last night’s full moon which will be reaching its peak tonight when we’ll be dining out at a higher elevation. Hopefully, another relatively cloudless sky will bring the moon into its full glory into our sight once again.

Our last shot of the evening as it made it way to the heavens.

A full moon on Friday the 13th may bring out the superstition in some. But, for us, it’s another opportunity to revel in the beauty of the world surrounding us as we remain grateful for each and every day.

Here’s the link to the humorous podcast from Minnesota from June 12, 2014, where Tom is mentioned. 

His mention comes up in the first five minutes of the first hour in the podcast, making it unnecessary to listen to the entire podcast.

Very funny!  
                                                         __________________________

Photo from one year ago today, June 13, 2013:

Spending part of the day in Ephesus, Turkey was not as interesting as we’d hoped. Seeing ruins after ruins had finally begun to wear thin. After we left Ephesus, we were taken to a runway fashion show. What???? For details of that story, photos of Ephesus, and the fashion show, please click here.

Tom’s evening photos…Fine tuning future bookings…One year ago today….Multiple photos from Mykonos, Greece…Wow!

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Tom’s getting good at taking these sunset photos.

Shopping for food is more productive when by myself than with Tom pushing the cart. No offense intended for my DH who’s intentions are always thoughtful and supportive.

Sun and shadows, typical of the island of Madeira.

I prefer to push the cart myself in my less than a methodical pattern of flitting from one spot in the store to another in a somewhat haphazard pattern only I can understand. Yesterday, I asked Tom to bring his phone in order to read his Kindle book while waiting in the car for 40 minutes while I shopped. He made no objection. He hates to shop. 

A distant view of our house which is to the left of the white house next door to us, both of which are owned by Gina’s brother Carlos.

I slipped the half Euro coin into the slot to release the red plastic shopping cart and off I went. Having learned where most items are in the medium-sized grocery store, my cart was full by the time Tom found me 40 minutes later. With only a few items left to add as shown in the grocery shopping app on my phone, we were done in no time.

White hydrangeas.

Two hours from the time we’d left the house, the groceries were put away, the vegetables were washed (in bottled water) and drying on paper towels. I had put a dent in the chopping and dicing for dinner and finally, we could get to work on the future bookings that had been nagging at us these past few weeks.

The following items were on the “to do” list:
1.  Book tickets on the Eurostar, formerly known as the Chunnel, the under-the-English-Channel-train from France to the UK. (Apparently, it’s tacky to continue to call the train, the Chunnel). On August 16th we’ll be leaving Paris after a two-week stay to then make our way via the Eurostar to London for yet another two weeks. Are we really going to be in Paris in a little over two months?
2.  Arrange a driver from London on August 31st for a two and a half-hour drive to the pier in Harwich, UK for our next cruise, UK to Boston, USA. It’s hard to believe that we’ll be cruising again in a little over two and a half months.
3.  Rent another car online for our upcoming next 30 days in Madeira. On Saturday, we’ll return the current car and if possible, extend this particular car’s rental once we arrive at the airport in Funchal, which is easy to find.  (I apologize if this sounds confusing but, we must book the next 30-day car rental online first for the better rates). If we do it this way, we save 25 to 30% as opposed to extending the booking online or phoning. This is as a result of the long term booking.

It changes so quickly, it’s easy to take several photos.

Simultaneously, we went to work researching online in the above order, booking one after the other. With Tom’s experience in reading reviews on Cruise Critic, he found a suggestion on how to save on the price of tickets on the Eurostar at this link. We ended up paying US $210.89, EU $155.56 as opposed to US $300, EU $222, a savings of 30%.

Tom enjoys taking photos of the changing sky at sunset.

Several months ago, Tom also found a suggestion at Cruise Critic for a reputable company to drive us to Harwich, UK to the cruise pier. This was a bit pricey at US $252.21, GBP $150, EU $185.65 but was our only option unless we shared with others. We’d have gladly done that had it not been difficult to find passengers coming from the same general area in London.   

Next, we got to work on the link on our site to Expedia to book a rental from June 14 to July 15th. I handled this booking and totally screwed up the booking, making the dates from June 14th to August 15th, when we’ll be long gone from Madeira. 

At the end of the day, the ever-changing sky.

Good thing I caught my error (after the fact) and was able to cancel it in order to rebook it for the correct dates. Luckily, we weren’t charged in advance for the car rental making the cancellation seamless. I clearly knew the correct dates but I’d hit the wrong key.

He captured a puff of pink from the setting sun behind us.

The only other must-do booking in the next few weeks is our flight from Madeira to Paris on August 1st which is only a little over seven weeks away. It’s amazing to see how fast the time flies, especially when we’re loving Madeira.

By the time we finished these three tasks, it was time to finish making dinner, take a Skype call from my sister in Nevada, USA. 

Easter lilies growing nearby.

After dinner, I received another Skype call from my other sister living in California, a TV producer who was recently nominated for an Emmy Award (already a past winner).  Congrats, Julie!  Win or lose, you’re a winner in our book!

The evening zoomed by. By 11:00 pm, I was ready for bed while Tom stayed up until midnight as usual.

Colorful.  What are these?

Today, is another busy day with household tasks, laundry, and cooking, all of which I’m finding pleasant these days, more based on the expenditure of energy than the accomplishment of getting things done.

No complaints here. Not a one.
                                                     _________________________

Photos from one year ago today, June 10, 2013:

Mykonos was so amazing, we couldn’t resist posting multiple photos.
We walked through narrow paths like this for a few hours in a maze-like fashion, enthralled with the beauty of this island.
Mykonos was beyond our expectations. For more photos and details from that date, please click here.

Dealing with airline issues…More Madeira photos….

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This little house on the cliff created a picturesque scene in Ribeira Brava.

With all four of our grown kids and their families coming to Hawaii in December for Christmas we’ve been busy booking their flights over the past 45 days with only one ticket remaining to be booked for son in Las Vegas, Nevada, based on his upcoming work schedule. Thus far, we’ve booked three of the families with children.

Already, we’ve been notified that two of the three family’s bookings have been changed by the airlines. The first notification arrived over a month ago, but everything was rescheduled for the same dates, similar times, and layovers. That process was seamless.

The sun began to set, offering brilliant light reflecting on the sea.

Yesterday, we received an email notice that another son’s family of four’s round trip flights had been changed by the airline. However, in this case, we were responsible for calling and staying on the line while all four round trip flights were rescheduled, two flights each way including seat assignments.

This has not been as easy as one may think for a few reasons; one, the hold time was as much as two hours; two, we had to use Skype to call. If we’d had a SIM card or cellphone service, the cost for the calls from outside the US would have been outrageous when we wouldn’t have been able to use the US-only toll-free number. 

Few swimmers at the ocean side public pool when the air was cool.

Using Skype we are able to call any US toll-free numbers by selecting our point of calling is in the US. However, we’re unable to receive a return call unless we’re willing to pay US $60, EU $43.74, a year for a Skype phone number.  

In our sometimes complicated lives situations pop up requiring payments that only add to our monthly expenses. Staying frugal in these areas prevents us from having excess fixed monthly expenses which so easily add up.

The road along the beach in Ribeira Brava, the closest more populated area near where we live in Campanario.

One may ask, “Why don’t you have cellphone service?” We did the math long ago. How about monthly fees plus the cost of international calls adding to over US $4000, EU $2915.88 a year? In over 90% of situations, we encounter Skype does the trick. This isolated case is not worthy of changing our minds.

On occasion, the problem with using Skype is the difficulty of being put on hold for any length of time which may result in a disconnect. Last night, this happened three times, each after spending no less than 30 minutes explaining the entire situation over and over again.

A pretty church in Ribeira Brava.

Realizing that we were calling the US during peak daytime hours which occurred during our evening, we finally gave up hours later, heading to bed frustrated.  If we waited until morning to try again, it would be the middle of the night in the US making the wait time and a disconnect on Skype less likely to occur with reduced traffic.

My night was fitful while feeling anxious to get up and handle this situation. These types of scenarios fall under my “to do” list. Let’s face it, we’ve assigned tasks to those of us who best handles a particularly stressful situation without swearing. That’s me. I only swear when playing Gin. 

A casual restaurant across the street from the restaurant.  We’ll try this spot too.

Tom, on the other hand, does better than I, when paying for products and services when out and about including car rentals, fuel purchases, shopping, and tourist expenses. How much easier life is when one plays to their distinct skills?

Back to the story. 

Last night, when we were frequently disconnected we knew part of the dilemma revolved around the fact that we didn’t have a return phone number for the reps at Expedia.com to call us back in the event of a disconnect, adding to the stress of this situation. 

Old houses at the top of a hill.

With a phone in the house for local calls only and unaware of the number there was nothing we could do last night. I sent Gina an email requesting the house phone’s number if we again ran into disconnection problems in the morning enabling us to receive a callback. 

First thing this morning, we had the phone number in a response email from Gina and again, we attempted to call. After 45 minutes on Skype with one rep from Expedia.com with no disconnection, after all, the tickets were re-booked and we received an email confirmation including satisfactory seat assignments.

The modern roads and shopping areas are a delight to see although driving around these areas is tricky with many one way roads.

Today, we’ll forward to the new ticket confirmation to our son without him ever having to become involved or worry about this laborious process. This was a frustrating situation, to say the least.

The sidewalk along the beach in Ribeira Brava, near Monday night’s restaurant.

Today is laundry and pizza day. I’ve already baked the two large pans of grated cheese-mixed-with-egg crusts with the Portuguese sausage now in the oven. We haven’t had our homemade gluten-free, low carb, grain-free, sugar-free pizza since we lived in South Africa three months ago. 

Two tunnels entering the mountains. It’s amazing how many tunnels there are on the island. Each time we go out, even if nearby, we go through a few.

Tonight is pizza and movie night, an enjoyable event in our household. 

Happy day and evening to all!
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Photo from one year ago today, May 21, 2013:

At this time, the Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world with 161 floors plus 46 (previously we posted an additional 39 maintenance levels but new information has changed this number). With the upcoming completion of the currently under construction Kingdom Tower at 3,281 feet, 1 kilometer, the Burj Khalifa will pale in comparison at a mere 2,716 feet, or 827 meters. In the upcoming days, we’ll be posting amazing photos that Tom took when he rode the elevator to the observation tower of the Bur Khalifa at 125 stories. For the story of our date of arrival in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, one year ago today, please click here.

Car rental expense and special story of an amazing rep…More house photos…Pool shot from cruise a year ago…

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This vehicle was almost twice the size of the one we’d booked online. We found that we can fit our luggage into very tiny cars, but this upgrade was an unexpected pleasure. The driveway in front of the house is tiny and on a hill.  There’s no other practical way to park the car than as is shown here.

Arriving at the Alamo window at the Funchal airport in Madeira at approximately 1:30 am, Friday, we waited in line for 10 minutes. Exhausted, we could hardly wait to get through the annoying time-consuming process of renting a car. 

The interior of our rental car, a Renault Clio small SUV. Although there’s a navigation system, it doesn’t work on the island of Madeira.

From past experience, we knew that the language barrier and the big sales pitch for the extra insurance were only going to add to the time required to stand at the desk once it was our turn. 

The beautiful wood floors are continued throughout the house including on the stairway to the second level. The house was designed by Gina’s brother Carlos, who is an architect, the actual owner, and lives next door to us with his family.

The rep spoke broken English which I was able to understand although Tom has trouble with dialects due to his hearing loss. After the rep at Alamo, Nelo Gouveia went through his required spiel, our contract was ready for signature and we were handed the keys.

Our new home, a photo taken by Gina, for highlighting the house in HomeAway.

Suddenly, Nelo looked at our two luggage carts asking, “Is those your bags?” His question came up after we’d chatted with him when he’d asked where we were from and where we were going. 

He practically flipped when he heard we were traveling the world for possibly years to come. He thought it was the greatest adventure he’d ever heard. We giggled over his enthusiasm as tired as we were.

The long upstairs walkway from one end of the house to the other.

When we nodded “yes” that they were in fact our bags, he immediately started shaking his head, “No, no, no!” he said, “This little car,” he pointed to a photo on the wall of the car we were getting, “Will not work for these bags!”

“I give you bigger car, for you nice people. No extra charge!” 

“No extra charge?” I inquired.

“No extra charge,” he reiterated.

This is the master bedroom where we sleep and Tom keeps his clothing. In order not to awaken him when I often awake earlier than he, I use another bedroom and bath for my clothes and for bathing and dressing for the day. This bedroom has an en suite bathroom.

Having to do over all the paperwork for the larger car would take time but we were willing to wait for “no extra charge.” Ten minutes later after it was completed and signed he offered to take Tom to the awaiting car. This was far beyond our expectations. No rep had ever done this in the past. By this time it was 2:15 am. 

He helped us haul our bags to the curb telling me to wait there while he took Tom to get the car. Before he and Tom left to get the car, he approached two nearby police officers telling them to keep an eye out for my safety at 2:15 am alone on the curb of an airport. 

This is the third bedroom with the twin beds.

Five minutes later they drove up, Nelo waving his enthusiastic arms out the window. I couldn’t stop smiling when they drove up in the much larger Renault Clio SUV type vehicle with loads of room. We couldn’t have been more thrilled.

Based on the fact that we now only rent cars for 30 days at a time, later renewing online to maintain the best online price, I asked Nelo how we could get this same car again. He explained that we should again sign up online for the best price, call him and ensure he was at work when we return the car, and he’ll give us the same car for the same price. Whether or not this will all work out is not a certainty. Surely, we’ll try.

This is the another shot of the third bedroom.

The cost for the rental car for 30 days is US $1055.70, EU $758 plus, they hold the additional US $835.62, EU $600 on our credit card, an excess for possible damage. Once we return the car, the excess will be released within a few days for which I always keep checking the credit card we use to ensure it was handled.

Our luggage easily fit into the upgraded car and we were on our way with Gina’s translated directions as to how to find the house. It was tricky, very tricky. Somehow, we persevered in our exhausted state, staying calm through the long 45 minutes. At one point we got off onto the wrong exit, wasting 15 minutes. Finally, we found Campanario and the house, after going through several tunnels. We didn’t fall into bed until 3:30 am. 

Each of the bedrooms has doors opened to a small veranda as shown in the second bedroom where I store my clothes.

Too tired to bring our bags inside, we only brought in the laptop bags, my purse, and the pill bag. I slept in the tee-shirt I wore all day. I didn’t care. Finally, after the third night of sleeping in this house, we both finally feel rested after last night’s full eight hours. 

My huge soaking tub.

Last night’s dinner was fabulous; our coleslaw made with already cut up cabbage to which we added carrots chunks. For ease, we made the breadless sandwiches with nitrate-free meats we’d purchased at the deli in the market. Tonight, we’ll repeat last night’s dinner as we often do; the same dinner, freshly made each night, two nights in a row. Doing so saves time and money.

Tomorrow, we’ll head out for errands and our first dining out experience in Madeira. Gee…it feels so right here.

One of the many tunnels we drove through on the drive from the airport to our house.

By the way, I beat Tom at Gin during our two and a half months in Morocco, for the first time after playing almost every day in four countries. He’d won in Italy, Kenya, and South Africa. With only one country win under my belt, I have a lot of catching up to do. I can’t imagine why he swears at me every time I win a hand!  Otherwise, he never swears at me.
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Photo from one year ago today, May 18, 2013:
There were no photos taken on this date as we sailed through the Gulf of Aden. Instead here is a photo of Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Sea’s pool area posted on May 17, 2013:

The ship’s pool area. At this point in time, we were still using the little Samsung camera, although we had the new Sony which I had yet to learn to use. Soon, you’ll note that our photos improved in quality. We’ll let you know when that transpires as we move through the dates from one year ago. For details of the post without photos on May 18, 2013, please click here.

Flying is for the birds…Travel report…Delayed in Lisbon for hours…

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Tom and Samir wheeling our bags to the Marrakech Airport.
Today, we’re posting the story we wrote last night from the airport in Lisbon, Portugal. With Internet issues at the airport we were unable to post it before leaving on the flight to Madeira. We arrived at our amazing new home at 3:00 am, only sleeping a few hours.  Tomorrow, we’ll begin to share details of our new home, new country and the new more modern environment. 
 

Flying is for the birds.  They flap their wings and take off.  But, for us two legged wingless human types, perhaps its just not meant to be easy.

I should speak in defense of airplanes themselves.  Generally, the flying in them is tolerable although a tight squeeze.  It’s the airport procedures, configuration and systems that are sorely lacking in providing us humans with a seamless means of transportation. The Marrakech International Airport is now #1 on our list of the most intolerable transit point in all of our travels to date.  It’s almost impossible to describe.

Mind you, we knew flying was going to be our least desirable mode of transportation in our worldwide travels, preferring to cruise from location to location. At the moment, we rethinking our future plans to revert back to our original intent of using ships as our primary mode of transportation. The challenges include the financial aspect with the increased cost of cruising and the obvious geographical issues.

The 30 hours of travel time from South Africa to Morocco was less stressful than the traveling the supposed six hours of travel time from Marrakech to Madeira which should have been an easy undertaking. 

After a tearful goodbye to Madame Zahra and Oumaima, the walk in the Medina to Mohamed’s awaiting SUV out on the street was better than expected.  A deep cloud cover rolled in allowing us to avoid the scorching heat of the sun.  The drive to the airport was uneventful. 

Upon arrival at the airport, Samir dashed off to get a free cart while Tom loaded the carry on bags onto our wheeling cart.  We headed inside the airport to the TAP check in desk.  That’s when the “fun” began.  The bags.  The overweight bags.  The too many bags.

TAP’s website raved about their liberal baggage policy.  We thought based on our research that there was a two bag allowance for coach.  Both of us verified this.  Alas, not the case. Only one bag is allowed per person.  Now, if they operated as do many other airlines, they’d charge US $25 or $50 for each additional bags.  That blow wouldn’t have hurt much.  But, the MAD 1800, US $220.24, to be paid in cash only threw us for a loop. 
 
Of course, this wasn’t nearly as much as the US $1300 (approximately) we’d paid in Venice, Italy when we had more bags.  In essence, we should be grateful.  Then again, is one more grateful when one gets slugged in the face once instead of three times?  Hardly.

I would more than willingly palmed a US $100 bill into the agent’s hand had he been alone at the desk.  Alas, his cohort sitting inches away, with whom he was constantly conferring with in regard to our dilemma, made it impossible. 

All the fluff and diplomacy wasn’t getting us out of this one.  Although, I must add, he didn’t charge extra for my overweight large bag after I did somewhat of a diplomatic dance.


View of the outskirts of Marrakech.

With had no choice but to go to a special desk to pay the penalty we were told the amount and that only cash is accepted. I could see the stress on Tom’s face.  Suddenly, both of us had to run to the toilette with a bout of intestinal distress.  Gee…why weren’t we more prepared for this?  Why, after all of our travels do we not have a laissez faire attitude of experience and sophistication?  Apparently, we do not.

Returning to the original agent, we showed him the receipt, picked up our boarding passes and headed to the gate.  He told us the airport had only “one gate” for all outbound flights.  OK. We proceeded in the direction he pointed.  Where was the “one gate?”  Checking at an information desk, we received the same “one gate” answer. 

Deciding to sit down and recover from the stress, unsure of where “one gate” was located, we plopped into chairs, each of us taking turns running to the toilette.  Two chatting non-stop toilette attendants blocked the doorway in an attempt to acquire a tip each of the four times I visited the toilette, including once to dump the iced tea from our mugs.  No tip was paid.

We proceeded toward the “one gate” but first had to go through security. Of course, we’d already dumped the iced tea in our mugs but the bottled water we’d just purchased for our parched mouths had to be tossed.   

Then, they didn’t like the small bottles of shampoo and conditioner still in the duffel bag that we hadn’t check after all, due to the cost.  OK, all of this was normal so far.  They didn’t like the tiny bottle of insect repellent.  Tossed that. They didn’t like the metal designer label on the outside of my laptop bag.  Couldn’t toss that. They squawked about all of our power cords.  

Our hearts pounded with both of us easily remembering that our power cords were confiscated in Dubai and taken from our possession on a few cruises. I walked through the scanner without a beep when a female security guard literally grabbed and frisked me, even grabbing me by my Victoria’s Secret bra. 


View of a peninsula on along the coast of Portugal.

Finally, we were on our way to the “one gate.”  Entering a huge area, we quickly observed that their “one gate” theory was a fallacy.  There were no less than eight gates, each of which had two lines.  Their interpretation of “one gate” was that not one of the gates was named or numbered.  Only a small sign indicated an upcoming destination which was impossible to read unless
standing directly in front of it.

As a result, we had to maneuver through crowded lines to find the sign marked Lisbonne (Lisbon). Tom suggested we sit in chair rather than stand in the long line.  I agreed.  To lighten the electrically charged air around us, I asked Tom how many dirhams we had left. Once we’d leave Morocco, they’d be useless to us.  When he handed me the remaining 90 dirhams, chewing gum came to mind.  Surely 90 dirhams, US $11.01 would buy one or two packs of gum.

Nope, five stores later I was still in the gum-free zone.  Finally,  entering a fancy chocolate shop I purchased exactly 12 caramels for the 90 dirhams.  Tom was needing a treat.  A wide smile washed across his face when I handed him the tiny bag.  Oh, would that food soothes us in times of trouble?  I was so badly needing soothing that I could have sucked on my sock for comfort.  Alas, I did not.

As we waited in the long line, it finally began to move outdoors and we noticed passengers were being doled out from the line to walk the tarmac to an awaiting plane.  It wasn’t marked TAP airline.  It was something else.  Of course, thoughts flashed through our minds of boarding the wrong plane.  Grabbing a agent’s attention, I asked three times, “Is this the plane for flight 263 to Lisbon?”  Each time I was reassured that it was.

A short time later we board the incorrectly marked plane via the steep outdoor stairway.  Why do all these airports have the telescopic tubes which they don’t use?  We’ve noticed this at most airports outside the US.


Casablanca, Morocco as shown below Spain is not far from Portugal.

Our load was quite heavy and bulky.  I was carrying the pill bag and my oversized handbag both extremely heavy, stuffed with numerous peripheral items.  Tom had to carry the wheeling cart which he had to break down to board, two laptop bags and the duffel bag, all heavy.

Once onboard, we curiously looked for our seats.  I was 5C, Tom 5A.  They were two seats, next to each other, me on the window, him on the aisle.  What happened to 5B?  It didn’t exist.  Go figure.

The flight was short, only 90 minutes and it too, was uneventful.  We were served Subway type sandwiched and juice.  Having not eaten anything other than a handful of cashews I cared not.  I gave Tom my sandwich.  He nibbled on each one, finishing neither.  I’d have something to eat later in Lisbonne.

Arriving in Lisbonne, all paths led to immigration.  There was no less than 200 passengers in line with one immigration officer in a booth.  We had 60 minutes remaining to make our 8:40 pm flight to Madeira.  It looked hopeless.  After 20 minutes another immigration officer entered a booth and a third managed the line.  For some goofy reason we were grabbed from the line to start the new line for the opening of the second booth.

The next challenge…would we be able to get a 90 day visa for Portugal?  If not, we could easily go to an immigration office on the island after 30 days.  Luckily, as we’ve experienced in most countries so far, except Belize, we are easily given the 90 day stamp.  We’ve been told that getting a 90 day visa is somehow easier to obtain for US citizens.  Why?  We don’t know.


Lisboa as noted on this map is Lisbon.  We’re heading to Funchal on the island of Madeira, a 90 plus minute flight from Lisbon.

Visas in hand, we made our way through the beautiful modern airport where I saw one US store after another, even the above mentioned Victoria’s Secret.  With no time or desire to shop, we made our way to the food court so I could eat something. First, we checked the electronic flight and departure board.

Our flight to Madeira was listed as departing three hours late! No gate was specified. Oh, oh. Here we go!  Finding a trendy restaurant we decided to get comfortable, go online using the free 30 minutes offered by Boingo.  I ordered a delicious grilled chicken salad with little concern of getting sick from the lettuce.  I hadn’t had lettuce in 2.5 months. 

Surprisingly, the time flew by and at 10:00 pm, we headed to the “numbered” gate.  Yeah for numbers! The flight on a newer Airbus was comfortable.  Tom ate two more of the same sandwiches as on the first flight.  We arrived in Madeira at 1:00 am, waited for our luggage and headed to the Alamo counter for our car, arriving to a slow moving line around 1:15 am.

Tomorrow, we’ll share our first wonderful experience in Portugal, at the Alamo counter inside the Madeira airport.  More will follow with many new photos.

Today, after only three hours of sleep for me and four for Tom, we’re both pooped.  We’ve yet to unpack or grocery shop. But, we don’t want to miss out on cooking our first meal in two and a half months, here on the beautiful island of Madeira.
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Photo from one year ago today, May 16, 2013:

The Treasury of the Lost City of Petra discovered in the 1800’s.  Here’s our link for details of our day in Petra.