back from Porto Santo :-)

The Porto Santo trip was fun. The ferry boat was pretty nice and took about 2 hours and 15 minutes to get to Porto Santo. Asnida got sea sick though so she went to sit down after a while and felt ill for the remainder of the boat trip. While I was happily walking around on the ship rocking in the waves out on open sea ;-)

It was raining on Friday night when we arrived but we just wanted to check in anyway and relax a bit. The Hotel Torre Praia is located right at the beach and in the city center so very convenient. We tried to book an island tour for Saturday morning but apparently the tour operator didn't have a driver or whatever so we booked it for Sunday morning.
Upon waking up on Saturday the weather seemed decent, cloudy but not too cold or too warm. So we decided to explore the city on foot. Since it's a small town we found ourselves walking to the airport soon. We went up a staircase outside the airport and noticed several photographers and a TV camera crew waiting for a plane to arrive. Five minutes after we got there the plane actually arrived and the passengers were welcomed by a group of people in traditional attire and dancing. We initially thought someone famous was on board but a colleague told me today that it was the first direct flight from Poland. Hence the special welcoming committee :-)

We walked back to the hotel to get some rest and after a while the sun came out so we decided to go for a walk on the 9 km long sandy beach. I should've eaten something prior to this but I didn't so I was starving and grumpy for a few hours. There weren't any places to get food along the beach once we got about 1 km from our hotel so we just kept walking and walking. Enjoying the scenery and walking into the waves with our feet.
Eventually after 1,5 or 2 hours we reached the end of the beach at Ponta da Calheta which is a beautiful end point and it also had a restaurant! So after some decent food and some rest we slowly started walking back to our hotel. In total we probably walked about 14 km (7 km x 2) from our hotel to Ponta da Calheta and back. In addition to the walk earlier in the day I estimate we walked around 20 km on Saturday!
We didn't go anywhere that night, we stayed in and watched the Champions' League final between Barcelona and Manchester United.

Sunday morning started out cloudy and a bit colder. While we were waiting for the tour guide to come pick us up it started to rain but fortunately it didn't last long. The island tour was quite nice and we visited several good high points with good views of the Porto Santo island. The tour ended at Ponta da Calheta from which we could actually see Madeira! The distance between the two island is about 50 km so on a good clear day you can see Madeira :-)

After the tour we went for a nice lunch at a place called restaurant Forno which also served rice with our meal so Asnida was happy. Afterwards we went shopping and bought some souvenirs, amongst others a bracelet for Asnida. Fortunately the hotel gave us another room to shower and get changed into other clothes even though we had already checked out in the morning. (Tour started at 10am, check out time was 12pm.)

Asnida made sure to take a pill to avoid getting sea sick again and she didn't move at all on the ferry boat trip back to Funchal haha. We arrived in Funchal around 9:15pm and it was slightly raining. The walk back home covered a short distance but was all uphill.
I think we watched "Mission impossible III" before falling asleep quickly.

Good times! (yes this is a hyperlink to the pics!!!)

Next thing we might do here is go dolphin/whale watching. If my thumb heals soon we can also drive around the island again and visit the aquarium and outdoor pools in Porto Moniz.

thumbelina

The swelling in my right hand is almost gone, and I'm starting to get some more agility in my fingers, besides the thumb obviously. Let's see how it feels after the weekend.
Speaking of the weekend, we're hopping on a ferry boat (Porto Santo Line) later today and spending the weekend on Porto Santo. The weather forecast is not so good but we'll see what it's like when we get there. We'll come back with the same ferry boat on Sunday night so we're spending 2 nights and 2 days on Porto Santo.
We could've considered diving if I hadn't been so stupid but we'll make up for it by doing other fun stuff :-)

pics from my love glove

scuba diving & a dumb tough man

The scuba diving was fun and Asnida and Barbara enjoyed their first scuba experience.
To check the pics click HERE.

Unfortunately I pulled another dumb act due to stupidity, impatience and over-excitement. When I got to the pool with my scuba gear on I still needed to put on the boots (error 1). Once I had put them on I was too impatient for someone to help me get up (error 2). So I over pushed my entire weight off with my right hand (error 3). Resulting in a dislocated right thumb!
Like some tough Hollywood action star I immediately pushed it back into place but obviously the muscles and ligaments were shot. During the subsequent pool and sea dives I was annoyed and battled the pain/discomfort. Afterwards the swollen thumb was my tough man trophy haha.
Didn't go to the hospital yesterday but there was more swelling this morning so we decided to have it checked out. After spending a few hours in the hospital the X-rays showed no fracture and no dislocation so it's "just" ligaments that need time to recover. The doctor prescribed me an immobility glove which I need to wear for 2 weeks. I've already been using lots of ice so when the doctor recommended ice I told him I was way ahead of him ;-)

As a consequence of my dumb act I can't drive the car so will have to take the bus again for a while.
Asnida took a few pics of my glove and we'll post them asap too.

PS: typing this with one hand...

laptop trouble

About a week after my own laptop died my work laptop has also started to have serious problems.
Good times :-S

Fortunately football this afternoon and scuba diving tomorrow. Physical exercise > hanging behind the laptop!

Madeira scuba diving

Finally getting back underwater. Been 5 long years without scuba diving. This video is by the company where we'll do a review/discover scuba program on Saturday.
Getting goosebumps just watching all the beautiful footage! :-)

Entombed cross

Came across these 3 pics taken back in 2007 when we visiting the famous cross that featured on the back cover of Entombed's "Left hand path" album.

laptop died

It seems my personal laptop died, only about a month after my work laptop arrived haha. There were no warning signs really, the laptop can be turned on but the screen remains black. Nasty surprise but what can you do?
Asnida won't be online as much anymore due to this mishap.

busy bees

Pretty active weekend. Played football on Friday evening with my new indoor shoes, scored 4 times so they're approved :-)
We went swimming for an hour on Saturday, then went shopping in Madeira Shopping and Forum Madeira malls. Also caught "Fast five" which was pretty entertaining popcorn galore.
Yesterday we walked around downtown Funchal to check out the flower festival and subsequently watched the flower parade. I'll transfer and process the vids and post them on my youtube channel asap.

The weather is rather nice these days. Around 22 Celsius with a little wind, only a few clouds. We're planning to go to Santana on Saturday so hopefully the weather stays this good.

back from short NL trip

Last Thursday Asnida and I went to the Netherlands for a few days to attend the Neurotic Death Fest in Tilburg. The weather was pretty good, the music loud and the atmosphere relaxed and fun. On Sunday we went to the amusement/theme park Efteling with my sister. Always fun to trick people into rollercoasters and sickening attractions ;-)
We flew back yesterday without a glitch in the itinerary. Got home after 1am and briefly celebrated Asnida's 37's birthday before we went to sleep.
I got up at 7am since I had to teach class at 9am, can't wait to go home and go for dinner tonight. We're going to a different Indian restaurant than the Taj Mahal place I've been to several times already.
This one is called Sabor da India and their menu can be found at http://sabordaindia.webs.com/menu_en.html

Can't wait to feast on some yummy Indian food again!