5th of July

Last day in London,however I wasn’t sad. I knew what was coming. Going home,my other home. How did I get to Madeira in the first place?
Last year I saw a picture in a brochure. It was of a hotel sitting high on top of a cliff, surrounded by the amazing blue ocean. Jokingly I said:” This is where I am going to be in October!”

Later on as we were relaxing by the pool at Lake Velence having just returned from a family trip from Bulgaria I stumbled upon that picture again.
It was in a Neckermann brochure, promising an unforgettable trip to the pearl of the Atlantic, Madeira.

Till then I did know that Madeira existed,but didn’t have a clue where. Sad is it? But that’s the honest truth.
I booked it right there and then. The funny thing is in less then a minute my ex husband, who was with us at that time, showed the screen on his iPhone with a grin on his face,he booked it for himself as well.
So this is how we got to Madeira in October 2014 for the first time. It was love at first sight,the minute we landed on it,I was smitten. The smells,the sights,weather, the people, everything.
Knew we will be back. And oh boy,was I right? This is our fifth time. Lot of things happened in between,but I will tell you later.
So who would be sad , leaving London,even though it is a very lively fun place to be at,when you are going to paradise.
We hired a private car to take us to the airport.An elegantly dressed guy was waiting for us at the lobby,Abdullatif(ex husband of mine) took him for the manager of the hotel.
On the way to Gatwick we started to talk,business,work etc. Ex has a tendency of looking down at people with certain professions and he was talking to him accordingly. This must have irritated this man and basically they had a battle of words. He won. Turned out that he owns the company that provides private cars .He used to work at the London Stock Exchange . In 2008 he quit his job just in time. Was it pure luck? He said:”No,I just received a phone call telling me that all my family has died,3 generations in an instant. In that second I walked out and never returned. There was no point in working any more,no use of the money I had. For 5 years I did nothing. In 2013 I started this company. It’s not about the money anymore,only work when I want to,and yes,sometimes I drive the people myself to the airport. It is a Sunday after all and my employees need to rest.”
Ex didn’t believe a word he said. But no one could talk like this,with so much sadness in his voice,so quietly,gently. I was still thinking about it on the plane.
Gatwick isn’t one of the great airports,but as long as I could get some gardening mags and books I am fine with it.
Plane to Funchal was a bit late,had to put some more extra fuel and check the total weight later the pilot told us.
Did you know that the airport in Madeira is one of the most dangerous airports in the world?
It was real difficult to land here because of the short runway,surrounded by the ocean on one side,and high mountains on the other. Also the strong winds that occur quite often make it even more difficult to land.
The runway in the seventies was only 5250 feet long.
Sadly in 1977 after their local airline,TAP Flight 425 crashed had it extended. In 2003 they had it extended by 655 ft again. Nevertheless it is still dangerous.
In October 2014, the first time we came,actually had to turn back to Lisbon because they were not willing to take the risk of landing due to high winds.
Luckily this time we had no problem,but quite a few passengers got really worried. My ex did his best to calm them down,though not sure he succeeded.
Finally in Funchal. When you arrive here you will know what I am talking about. Madeira got a certain scent. Humidity mixed with the scents of the so many flowers growing on the island,and something more. Can’t seem to put my finger on it…something so unique.
I tend to go by smells,each scent will evoke a different memory of mine,somehow this is how I remember events,people,places.
The scent of Madeira equals joy,happiness,sunshine,all the flowers,trees,nature one can ask for and the endless blue of the ocean around me.

It was the first time he opened the door of his new house,( he did buy a house here but why I will tell you later ),sadly didn’t see the excitement in his eyes or maybe just didn’t show it? Who knows? Our beds were ready made with the bedlinen we bought from ZaraHome last time. All was clean and organized. Had a brief argument with Mish about who has the room with the blue wall,Mum won. 😊
Quickly unpacked and off we went to the supermarket for food shopping. Fridge was empty,didn’task for a welcome pack,we know better what we want.
Supposed to be the biggest chain here,Continente,but not much variety when it comes to organic or just healthy stuff. Luckily had the taxi driver wait for us,so we were back before it got dark. Had the chance to watch the amazing sunset sipping our favourite Quinta do Carmo.
Tired but happy to be here. But why is it that something (somebody) is always missing?