No Radinja This Year

We got back to Scotland in March 2020 , celebrated our 40th Wedding Anniversary and moved smartly into Covid lockdown. Hence no Radinja 11. Plans for a trip to Madeira in February 2021 were first postponed and then cancelled due to travel bans. We were able to get some short breaks around Scotland in our small, quite well formed caravan but the urge to escape the worst of the Scottish winter is quite insistent.

We have spent the last few weeks expecting an email from Jet2 announcing cancellation but this year it has not arrived. This morning sees us back at Edinburgh Airport for the first time in almost two years. No Business Class luxury on this trip, just the minor joy of extra legroom seats at the front of the plane. 

May as well get the bad news out of the way early. This blog will not feature any trains. Hopefully most of the other regular components will appear. 

Our flight was on time, we had an empty seat adjacent on the front row and our pre registration with the Madeira Health Authority allowed us to sail through formalities. The transfer to our hotel was painless, as was check in. We have booked a room with self catering facilities and the lady in charge (R) has given these a thumbs up. For battle hardened caravan dwellers this place is pure luxury.

The Four Views Baia prides itself on its environmental profile and we have a splendid view from our balcony that includes the kitchen garden and the cloud shrouded mountains that loom over Funchal.

The weather forecast until Wednesday is pretty miserable so we nip out to the supermarket to provision up before the rain starts. The Super-Novo is only quarter of a mile away but uphill. At least the trip back with the goods is downhill. The rain appears to be holding off so we take a walk into town to test how long it takes. Not long at all. The place that we stayed at four years ago is still in business but apparently not taking bookings via Jet2. We will live with this, particularly as the new place has a much better balcony.

It starts to drizzle as we find an even shorter route back to our hotel. R offers to buy a round so we sit to watch the lights come on and the rain sweep across the city from the splendid, but sparsely populated Woogie Boogie Cocktail Bar. Luckily for R's wallet it is Happy Hour.

We get back to our room just in time to catch the closing credits of Postman Pat dubbed in Portuguese. The rain is now bouncing off the pavements and we congratulate ourselves on our decision to self cater tonight. Our culinary discovery for the day is Lupin Bean Seeds, marinated with olive oil, chilli and basil.

On the two rings in the galley R produces a culinary masterpiece. Pan fried chicken with chorizo, new potatoes and tomato and onion salad. The weather might be a bit disappointing but the food certainly isn't.

 Did we mention that even when it was raining it was 18°C?