We had our usual breakfast outside on the patio before checking out of the hotel and driving our car back to Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport. There was a large truck blocking us from driving the car into the rental car area, so I parked it around the corner and attempted to turn in the keys and leave. This process took over thirty minutes and turned us away from renting from Centauro again due to their disorganization and poor staffing.
Then we checked in, where they made us check our bags. There was a lot of back and forth with us being (I think understandably) concerned that our bags were about to go to the Azores and we wouldn’t. Their response to our concern was to talk about weight limits and things that were irrelevant. Obviously we would have to check our bags at some point, but it seemed to make more sense to deal with this at the gate if we actually got seats. They were adamant that we had to check them now and assured us they would be returned to us if we didn’t get on.
We didn’t get on. We were told to wait at carousel number two for our bags to be returned. They never came. Eventually by chance, we found them in Lost-and-Found sitting off by themselves. Then we rearranged some hotels, and shuffled some rental car reservations including reserving a new one for Madeira. I booked it just as I walked up to the Europcar desk. The lady working there said that because I had booked it for 2pm and it was 1pm, I would have to wait an hour. I said I could go online and change it to 1pm. This didn’t seem to matter. Her story kind of changed, but we surrendered to this absurd demand and went to get lunch at a cafe in the terminal.
30 minutes later, we approached a different employee at Europcar who gave us our keys and we were off. Nope. I lied. There was supposed to be someone greeting us in the parking lot to go over any damage and show us the car, but there wasn’t. We needed a parking pass to get out of the car park as well. After doing a lap around the parking lot, we found someone who showed us the way out.
We checked back in to 1905 Zino’s Palace as they agreed to honor our previous lower rate even though the current rate would have been well over $300. That was something at least. We got our same room as well. Discovering that the hike we did yesterday may have been labeled in the wrong spot, we attempted another hike up in the hills that paralleled another levada (irrigation canal).
This also didn’t reach a waterfall within any reasonable time, so we turned back. Hikes are not marked very well on this island it would seem. Then we attempted to drive to some other areas along the southwest coast, but the roads were inexplicably closed to everyone except residents, whereas they were completely open the other day. It was impossible to get anywhere, further complicated by the fact that our new rental is absolutely terrible. There is something wrong with the gearbox, and reverse, and fifth gear, and first gear catching properly. But other than that, it’s ok.
Because we couldn’t get anywhere, we ended up settling on a “hike” that went through a banana plantation. It was really just some weird concrete sidewalk going through a residential area that for some reason was labeled as a trail, though it didn’t seem very official. Fun fact: Madeira bananas cannot be exported to EU countries outside of Portugal because they tend to grow quite a bit smaller and do not meet the criteria for “bananas.” And now you know.
After our crazy adventures to look at bananas, we tried to find a place to get food. The hotel’s recommendations were all down the closed roads, so we tried to just get some pizza to go. As it was easier, I turned into an open parking lot to make a U-turn. When I turned around to exit, a gate had been lowered out of nowhere and it was immovable. Nicole had to track someone down to open it up. Everything that was happening to us today didn’t seem to make any sense. After considerably more effort than was necessary, we got our pizzas and headed back to 1905 Zino’s Palace.
We ate our pizzas on the patio, defeated from a day of disappointments, inexplicable gates appearing out of nowhere, and pizza that was masquerading as margherita, but was really just a thick layer of cheese in the end. Tomorrow we try it all over again. But whereas today SATA was flying a DHC-8, a small turboprop, tomorrow they are flying an Airbus A321. Those with some airplane knowledge will notice that there is a rather substantial difference in size of those two aircraft. We should not have as many issues tomorrow, but I am sure they will still make us check our bags.
passports & pepto bismol 