Madeira: first impressions

I arrived feeling quite tired, suffering from a bad cold and a cough - so not at my best to appreciate a new place. The flight was full. The landing in Funchal Airport was perfect fine, even though it’s said to be a really difficult one and pilots have to be specially trained to do it.

My hotel (the Allegro, which is part of the Barcelo chain) is also full. The breakfast room had a capacity crowd at 9.00 am. My table was right next to a group of 8 very attractive girls, who turned out to be from Ukraine. Of course, I couldn’t resist asking them!

It seems that all tourist hotels over here in Spain and Portugal have to serve champagne at breakfast, for those who want to make Bucks Fizz:

Another part of the breakfast offerings:

My room is up on the 10th floor, with a panoramic view of the Atlantic Ocean. There is a fresh sea breeze which whistled around my balcony when it rained in the middle of the night.

Last night I had a meal just along the road at the Chalet Vicente. This is a traditional Madeiran restaurant and a far cry from the typical fast food joints of these package holiday resorts:

I had scallop risotto: