Part one

This December holiday, we decided to leave the country to a sunny destination. My Partner is Portuguese, so among the list of possible destinations was the beautiful island of Madeira, a territory of Portugal.

While examining what specific areas and towns to visit in this exuberant country, we had considered two places: Funchal and Machico. These locations are very popular for tourists, as well as being locations where my Partner has family living. When possible, it is enjoyable to see a foreign country as the locals do. I know that this is not always possible, but it offers a nice change of pace, scenery, and general attitude toward life for Western born people.

We decided to chose our top option and stayed in Funchal, Madeira. This capital city is home to a comfortable condominium apartment in the neighbourhood of Sao Joao, which served us well as our accommodation for our trip.

Our rental car from Madeira Rentals was a sporty car equipped with GPS.

We wisely chose to spend a little extra money on a European Roaming Package for my mobile phone. It cost an extra 90$ on top of my monthly fee, but the amount of headaches that were alleviated by having access to Google Maps was well worth the cost.

NEXT: OUR VISIT TO DA PONTA DE SÃO LOURENÇO