Madeira, Portugal - Day 4

Monday, February 19, 2024

Today was another slow morning for us as Andi continues to recover from stomach and colon inflammation. He was awake for much of last night complaining that he was cold. He slept in pants, socks, a long-sleeve shirt, and his coat. It must’ve been his body fighting the infection because it was at least 75 degrees in our bedroom. I slept in a t-shirt and a light blanket.

Without the rush to be somewhere first thing in the morning, we’ve all been sleeping in until 7:00 or 8:00am, and then lounging around in the mornings. It’s usually 10:00am before Tory emerges from her bedroom unless one of us braves the wrath of waking her earlier.

At Noon, we drove to a restaurant called Lavrador for lunch. We drove past the restaurant twice trying to find a place to park & finally realized we were suppose to park on the front lawn! There was definitely no parking spots behind the restaurant as the backside of the building was a sheer cliff and an expansive view of the valley.

We were the first customers of the day to visit the restaurant, so we had our choice for a table. We picked to sit outside on the patio overlooking the valley with its gorgeous view of the mountains and ocean. It was a little chilly outside sitting in the shade, but the view was breathtaking.

There are so many flavors of Fanta in Europe that we don’t have available in the USA. Aden has been enjoying trying all the different ones he can find. Today, he ordered ananas (pineapple) flavored Fanta with his lunch. I’m a sucker for trying the local favorite, too, so I’ve been ordering a Madeira-based soda called Brisa. Today I tried the maçã (apple) flavor which tasted very similar to apple juice.

Another local specialty — bolo do caco is a Madeira flatbread cooked on a hot basalt stone. The bread is slathered in butter and garlic, and wildly popular with tourists and locals alike. It is very tasty, but super garlicky! Eating a piece is a commitment to having garlic breath the rest of the afternoon.

A menu item that we’ve seen a lot of people eating in Madeira is called espetada which are meat skewers cooked over hot coals. The meat skewers are served table side hanging from a hook — quite an impressive presentation! Most restaurants serve a choice of beef or chicken skewers, accompanied with boiled vegetables, rice, or French fries. We ordered two chicken skewers to share for our family which was the perfect amount of food with the extra sides. Unfortunately, just as we ordered our meal Andi started to feel sick again. He left to go sit in the car while Tory, Aden, and I finished eating in the restaurant. Andi said he caught a chill sitting outside in the shade and just couldn’t warm up. He was visibly shaking.

We had the best service, best view, and the best-tasting food from Lavrador Restaurant, but I clearly annoyed our waitress when I got up and approached the bar requesting a to-go box and our check. It must not be socially acceptable in Portugal to approach the server and ask for the check as meals here are usually relaxing, hours-long experiences ending with coffee and conversation. Yesterday and today when I approached the counter and asked to pay our bill I received less than favorable responses. Today I simply told our waitress, “I’m sorry, my husband isn’t feeling very well and we need to leave” so she knew I wasn’t trying to be rude. I also tried to smooth things over by complimenting her table service (which was very good!). The kids and I very much enjoyed our experience at the restaurant, but Andi needed to go.

After lunch, we returned to our rental house. Andi laid down in bed, and the kids and I did school work at the kitchen table. Afterwards, I went outside to sit on the back patio. As I sat there and admired the gorgeous view before me, I couldn’t help but feel conflicted. We’re in a beautiful place in the world and I feel lucky to be here, but is it worth being here if we can’t really experience it? We’re going on two weeks now of Andi being sicker than a dog (half our trip so far!). He only has the stamina to do one small activity a day, and even so I can tell Andi’s fighting through stomach pains, emergency trips to the bathroom, and fatigue. I wondered if we should cut our losses and just go home?

Later that afternoon, Andi and I talked about it and I think we’re both in the same boat. At the risk of sounding spoiled and ungrateful, the past two weeks of our travels have not been enjoyable. We’re worried about Andi’s health and frustrated with a lack of answers. For now, we’re going to ride out our week in Madeira and continue our plans of meeting Andi’s sister and nephew in Lisbon this weekend. From there, who knows what we’ll do.

I think Andi felt the need to salvage our evening and suggested we take the kids out for ice cream. We were all in a funk, and spread out in different spaces of the rental house. Not exactly the family together time we’d hoped for when we embarked on this winter trip. Tory and Aden were all about ice cream, of course, so they jumped at the opportunity to go for an adventure.

The four of us hopped into our rental car and drove 10 minutes away to the town of Sao Vicente. During the day, this popular downtown area is full of tourists dining at restaurants and shopping in the many gift shops. By 7:00pm, the main street was nearly deserted. The four of us popped our heads into a couple of the restaurants looking at their dessert options, finally settling on Braseiro Grill. Tory and Aden each picked out a gelato flavor, and Andi ordered a plate of French fries and mini empanadas. Together, we sat at a table and enjoyed our evening snacks. Should Andi (or me, frankly) been eating fried foods given his recent health? No, probably not. But, I think he also felt the need to salvage the day by lifting our moods. It worked, and we returned to our rental house will bigger smiles than when we’d left an hour before.

Tomorrow, we’re checking out of our current rental house on the north side of the island, and moving to another spot in the southwest community of Ponto do Sol. It’ll be nice to change locations and get another fresh start.