Portugal Episode 5: Quails above the Clouds

Pico Do Arieiro Hike: https://www.journeyera.com/pico-do-arieiro/https://visitmadeira.com/en/what-to-do/nature-seekers/activities/hiking/pr-1-vereda-do-areeiro/

Snack Bar Boutique Areeiro: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g189166-d17353359-Reviews-Snack_bar_boutique_Areeiro-Madeira_Madeira_Islands.html

Cabo Girao Glass Floor: https://visitmadeira.com/en/where-to-go/madeira/south-coast/camara-de-lobos/cabo-girao/

Pico Do Areeiro Hike Closure Information: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/portugal/madeira--2/pico-do-areeiro-pico-do-ruivov

Hiking Fees and Information: https://simplifica.madeira.gov.pt/services/78

Doca Do Cavacas: https://visitmadeira.com/pt/o-que-fazer/viver-a-cidade-do-funchal/aproveitar-o-mar/doca-do-cavacas/

Camara de Lobos: https://visitmadeira.com/en/where-to-go/madeira/south-coast/camara-de-lobos/

Liter of the Sea Art: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bordalo-ii-plastic-mero

Gaviao do Liheu: https://gaviaodoilheu.shop/menu

Bartes - Beer and Cocktail Bar: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g189167-d32826507-Reviews-Bartes-Funchal_Madeira_Madeira_Islands.html

Olivia Restaurant: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g189167-d23513043-Reviews-Olivia-Funchal_Madeira_Madeira_Islands.html

Travel Trauma and the creators are not affiliated with any country, company, or travel group mentioned in the podcast. All information provided is on an information only basis. Travel Trauma and the creators do not condone/responsible for any actions of the listens from the information gained from this podcast. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi, I'm Brandon.

SPEAKER_01 0:02

And I'm Abby.

SPEAKER_00 0:03

And this is Travel Trauma, a podcast dedicated to sharing traumatic travel experiences we've encountered during our trips.

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Short disclaimer: our opinions and experiences are our own. This podcast is not meant to throw shade on any travel tour or location we have visited. So take everything with a grain of salt.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Oh Lord.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

And we're and we're the issue primarily.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

So Lord, especially in Portugal. What has been going on?

SPEAKER_01 0:26

We've been really chill.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Remember how we thought there was gonna be no content?

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Yeah, we thought we were really chill, and then we started talking about it, and we're like, maybe we weren't. Maybe it was chaotic.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

And if you guys have been following us, this is the fifth episode, and you probably have heard that it was not very chill. On this episode, we're gonna discuss the sunrise hike, the quails and plants on this hike, the hike, payment debacle, the sky bridge in parking fiasco, camara de lobos. I think I did really good on that pronunciation. Good job. Thank you. Natural pools, and the bar that we went to this evening and the chaos that ensued there. So got a little got a little bit of a day for you guys.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Yeah, so we had to wake up really early because it was a sunrise hike.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

So going back to how we actually got sleep the previous night, that was we needed it.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

We were like, we are going to be getting up early tomorrow, and we cannot miss the sunrise. It will not wait for us. It will not.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

Time will continue to move forward. So this particular sunrise hike, it's actually called Pico de Ero. And it's one of the more famous hikes of Madeira. It's I think the largest peak or one of the largest peaks. And it's really high in the sky. So we did obviously because it's the largest peak. But when we woke up, like it was so dark outside. And like it was my second day driving, you guys. And thank God there was no other cars on the road because it was straight.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

It was like straight up in the dark. It was foggy.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

And then we did actually find uh we did hit some switchbacks going up this mountain.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

And not only were it switchbacks, but it was narrow. And then it started getting foggy and it was creepy as shit.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

Well, I think I remember watching videos of like driving in Madeira before going to Madeira and how there was like no railings or anything. And like you would just like fly off a cliff, and I was like messaging you. I was like, we are not allowed to drive like at night because we will like eat ourselves off the mountain. So it was dark. I was like, we're gonna die.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

We are going to miss a turn and just go right off the edge. It was very scary, and I was I was having issues, especially because it wasn't like a light fog, it was dead. It was like a full-on cloud just descended upon us, and like we there's also like wildlife. So I'm like, we're either gonna hit something or fly off of the mountain. There's nowhere we're gonna see the sunrise. Well, we probably would have if we flown off the mountain, like on the way down.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

We would have died before we hit sunrise. Not a bad way to go. Oh, because we would have to see it to see it.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

That would have been depressing. Anyway, we did make it up the mountain alive, clearly, because we're here today to tell you the story.

SPEAKER_01 3:38

And we made we made it up there in good time.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

We did, but here's some pro tips for you guys on this. One, definitely, definitely wake up early to get up there. The parking lot fills up quickly, and it's not that big. It's it's not that big.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

I think there are multiple parking lots, but I don't think any of them are like that big. And this one was at least the closest that we could have parked, besides like the top, the top.

SPEAKER_00 4:02

So what it is is like those people got up there real, real early. So when the top fills up, like the what are they called? Like rangers, or they may have just been police, but they essentially stop cars from going up to the top to prevent people from getting essentially ran over because if it gets it gets full at the top, the people have to park at the bottom and walk up there. So that's the second tip. Give yourself plenty of time to walk from the bottom park bottom parking lot to the top because it's pretty much straight uphill and it's about a mile.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

It hits, yeah, it's not like an easy, leisurely walk.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

No, we were huffing in a puffing.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

And I think so we realized on the way down later that there is a trail that's like not in the middle of the road that you can take up. Um, but it was dark and we didn't see that trail. So we were walking in the middle of the road. But on the way back, cars were getting mad at us for walking on the road because we didn't realize it was a trail.

SPEAKER_00 4:57

Which we probably shouldn't have been anyway, because those were still narrow roads and they were just zooming around us too. Yeah. Oh no. It's fine. Yeah, it's okay. But get up there, claim your spot too, because you have to go find a spot without people in it and just make sure you have enough time, make sure you have water, make sure you have snacks, and then just prepare yourself for a small hike.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

And make sure you have like a jacket or something for the morning because it's pretty chilly in the morning.

SPEAKER_00 5:25

But if you do all those, you get up there and you sit in your eating snack, and I don't even know how to describe the sunrise.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

It was just a great, beautiful sunrise.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

Yeah, I I don't, I've never seen anything like it.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

The like this one, uh the sun rises above like the clouds, so it's cool because all the clouds, yeah. Like I also don't know how to explain it. It was just so beautiful, and it kept getting better and better, like as it kept going. Like it started, like sunrise started, and I was like, Oh my god, this is so pretty. And that just kept going and kept getting better. So I like had to keep taking videos and pictures because I was like, it's just amazing.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

It was it was crazy because like you could see the stars faintly before the sunrise started, and then when the sun started coming up, all you saw was like the peaks of the mountains, and then like a blanket of clouds, and then off to the left and to the right, where there were larger peaks, you can see the clouds just rolling over it like waves in the water, and like with the sun, excellent.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

I feel like some of the pictures that we have, like when it first started, like it looks like we're in outer space, yes, like with that little like circle around, like yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

A plus, do not miss this. If you're going to Madeira, this is honestly what drew me to the island in the first place.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

I think this was one of my favorite activity. It's definitely my favorite pictures that I have from like this 100%.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

100%. But that's not technically the hike.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

Oh, yeah. This is like, so you get there, we're watching sunrise, and then after is when we actually started the hike. Because this is like the beginning of the the trail.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

Correct. And I had planned for this hike to pretty much be like until like 12 or 1 o'clock in the afternoon because it's it's not necessarily a long hike, it's about four to five uh four to six miles, I think, round trip because you go from one peak to another peak. And it's yeah, I think it's about four to six miles round trip.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

It's just very hilly, like up and down and yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

And the stairs, a lot of stairs, a lot of stairs, and here we go again. What must what goes up must come down, and we have our good old sky with us. We don't know how she did it because like the stairs they're narrow with barely anything to hold on to, and it was it was kind of scary.

SPEAKER_01 7:45

The whole trail was like pretty narrow, and you're like right on the edge of the cliff.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

So and there's like a million people, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

There was definitely a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

But here's the thing, you guys like we were doing this thinking that we're gonna spend most of the day there, and we get to I think about one-third of like the first part of the hike, and it's closed, it's closed, so another prototype. Make sure that you check before you get onto the trail that it's open. I think the time that we had gone through, it wasn't open because there was some major fire back in I think 2024 or 2024.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

I think it's open now. Like, I don't think it's generally closed, I think they just had like that large fire recently. Yes, and they had it barricaded off. Like, there were people trying to go around and you could not go around. It wasn't like you know how like sometimes trails are closed, but they just have like a rope that people are like, it's fine. Like this one had a full-on, like metal, like blot.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

Like you were not getting around, you were not, which it was disappointing because I really did want to do that hike. So you would have gone under the rope. I would have, I would have definitely gone under that rope because it was just beautiful, it was beautiful. The only thing I could compare it to is maybe like the Hawaii. I've never been to Hawaii, but I've seen like the green like peaks in Hawaii, it kind of looked like that to me.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

I feel like it was more, it wasn't as green, at least at the morning time in the beginning, because the mountains were pretty like grayish colored.

SPEAKER_00 9:11

There was a lot of rock, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

Yeah, um, but even though we didn't get to do like the full hike, like it was still really beautiful. And I think we got to see, like, from the pictures that I had seen from other people doing that hike, I think we still got to see a lot of the same things. We just didn't get all the way up to that other peak.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

Honestly, it probably worked in our favor.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

Yeah, I don't think Sky would have made the rest of the no, no, I don't think so either.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

And like the little stopping area was really neat too because it had a little bit of an overlook, which was not very rubbed off. Like, I was afraid to stand near the like edges because I was like, We're about to fall off this mountain.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Yeah, it's fine, it's all right, I guess, whatever.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

But there was quail.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

There was, yeah, because everybody was stopping here because this was the end of the trail that nobody, I guess, really knew about. So everybody's just kind of congregated, and there was just yeah, there were so many quails. Which I've never seen a quail. Baby quails, it was the cutest thing, and there was a lot of lizards.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

I know they've been going all over the place in in in and out of their little nest in areas, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

So everybody's just kind of like sitting around watching the quails, honestly. It was great for like 20 minutes, just like watching them run around.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

I've never seen them in real life, and I was like, I want to take one home, just put it in my backpack, and we'll keep them.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Um, I don't think you would get through customs.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

No, probably not.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

Um, anyway, you guys, but and that was also a really good picture, please.

SPEAKER_00 10:34

It was it was great, it's a great hike, great place to do the sunrise. Just do it. Take some time out of your day, like a morning, half of a morning, and you'll be fine.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

And I feel like so. When we were doing the hike, I think was the busiest time because everyone goes like sunrise and stuff. I think by the time we were leaving, I feel like it would definitely die down. So like if you did the sunrise like a different day and like came back and did the hike, if you went a little bit later in the day, I think it would be less crowded.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Yeah, it would have been fine. Anyway, so here's where it went a little sideways, though. Okay, so we're coming back, and granted, we started this hike in the morning and it was like still dark outside, so keep that in mind, keep that in mind when we say what we're about to say. So we're getting back to the trailhead, and we're about to like go to the little cafe that's on top of this mountain as well. We're like, okay, we're gonna just go chill.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

So, like, lots of people are flowing into the this is the most crowded area of the hike because there's people leaving, there's people coming in, like, and we're just like, oh my gosh, there's so many people.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

So we start walking off the trailhead, and then all of a sudden, like, I I don't know what it was. Um, but I just heard, sir. Sir.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

Well, this guy, he was yelling at like everyone. So I thought that he was like selling people stuff or or something, like yeah, I did too. That's what I thought was happening because he was just like, you know, like heckling people and my.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

He was uh we thought it was a scam, and I was not about to be like in another situation, like we were in Vietnam with that napkin lady. Yeah, I was like, I'm not gonna even acknowledge because I'm just no, yeah. And like he just I was like, who is he talking to? And he was talking to me, he was just like, sir, did you just do that hike? And I was just like, he obviously is not talking to me because there's 20 other people, but he kept on yelling and I it just kept on getting ladder. I was just like, Okay, I guess I'm gonna look behind me, and that was the first mistake. I should have never made eye contact. But he's just like, Did you just do that hike?

SPEAKER_01 12:35

And I was like, Yeah, like what obviously there's so many other people leaving the hike too.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

And he was just like, You have to pay for that. I was just like, What are you talking about?

SPEAKER_01 12:47

And then he points to the smallest sign I've ever seen.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

It was like a four by four sign, like four inches, four inches wide.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

Man, when we started the hike, it was dark outside. So, one, no one could see the sign because it was dark, and two, it was the smallest sign ever.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

And then three, there wasn't even anybody there to like uh tell you that there was ticket prices for it.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

And you're telling me um all of the people that were leaving the hike at the same time as us also paid.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

There's no way there's no way, and it was just him with like one of those little things that you see at like restaurants where he's just like holding like the payment tablet. It's just like the smallest thing, and he's tried to like corral 300 people coming in and out of this trail, and he chose four of us four to like start yelling at.

SPEAKER_01 13:32

And the thing is, it's like I have no issues like paying. Like if we had known, like, yeah, like yes, we'll pay to help you upkeep the trail and 100%. It's just the way that it happened, I think it because it was him just like screaming at us.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

It was screaming, he was aggressively coming over.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

Yeah, and like not really telling us like what he he needed. If he would just like come up and be like, hey, like, did you know that you have to actually pay to do this hike? Blah blah blah, be like, Oh, okay, yeah, like that's fine. But the way he was just screaming, like we were trying to get like around him, like we didn't want to pay the like five euro to do the hike. Like, calm down, man.

SPEAKER_00 14:09

Yeah, it was like he was about to like take us to a holding cell.

SPEAKER_01 14:12

Yeah, like what was he gonna do if we kept walking? Were you gonna chase after us? Like, we were more fit than him, we could outrun him.

SPEAKER_00 14:20

Easy work, but listen, listen, listen. We're not uh like Abby said, we're not trying to get out of like paying for like where we were supposed to pay, but like, come on, man.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

Well, there was also a ton of other people that also didn't pay that were just walking away. We were the only ones getting yelled at.

SPEAKER_00 14:36

We were the stupid ones to make icon.

SPEAKER_01 14:38

And I feel like they know that people are starting this hike after sunrise. If they want to enforce the payment, why did he not? Why wasn't he there earlier in the day when people were starting the hike? But it's fine. We paid we we paid five euros, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:56

I think it was each, yeah, like$4.50 each. Yeah, but like it's not a big deal. It was just we did not like this man. But that being said, if you're doing hikes in Madeira, and I've dropped the link, but some of the hypes now are charging, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

And I think it was very recent change. It was very it was like it had come up like within the last like couple weeks, I think, is when that little tiny sign came up. So it wasn't like we didn't do research, it was just very, very new. And when we had planned, this wasn't a thing.

SPEAKER_00 15:28

Not even remotely, but anyway, we paid and then we went to the cafe.

SPEAKER_01 15:33

Then we went to the only cafe available.

SPEAKER_00 15:36

Okay, so it was really funny. I was looking up this cafe online to like give you guys a link. Yeah, it has like a two-star rating.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

It was not the best, but it was the only thing there.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

It was the only thing there, and there were good views, true, there were good views, but like it was the the workers, they did not seem happy.

SPEAKER_01 16:00

Well, I mean, it was a really crowded area too, because like everybody's doing the hike. Like, we had trouble finding a table at first, so there was just like a lot going on in this one cafe.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

And I bet everybody was pissed off because that man was yelling at you.

SPEAKER_01 16:12

Yeah, everyone's in a bad mood now.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

But if you're up there, you might as well just stop and get at least a coffee and look at the views while sitting down. Yeah, it was pleasant once we got our stuff.

SPEAKER_01 16:22

Yeah, it was definitely because we sat outside too and we just like kind of chilled for a little while. Um, I had another pastel danada. How was that one? I mean, it was fine, but it wasn't that it wasn't, it wasn't like it wasn't the best one I've ever had, but it was still good.

SPEAKER_00 16:38

Still good. Okay, so because in the back of my head I thought this was gonna take a long period of time, I was like, we're probably not gonna be able to do the second thing that was an alternative on my itinerary, and it was also recommended on our yacht, our luxury yacht.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

Our luxury yacht people uh recommended the sky bridge.

SPEAKER_00 17:00

But it was actually an alternative as well. But since we weren't able to do the whole entire height, I was like, hey, how about we go and do this on our way back down because it's just you know 30 minutes out of the way, and it was like, why not?

SPEAKER_01 17:13

And it's just like it's a little like 15-20 minute stop, really. Yeah, like it's not anything crazy.

SPEAKER_00 17:18

It's not well, that's what we thought. That's what we thought, but the sky bridge is called a cabo, uh caba, cob cabo giarro. Nice. I got the ghiaro part, yeah. I don't think that's right, but it sounds right in my head. But yes, it is a sky bridge, it has like a glass floor, so you can see down. It's like one of the higher portions of the island, too. It's kind of crazy, actually. It's pretty cool, it was pretty cool. Actually, do you remember looking over the edge at the Sky Bridge and seeing our little yachts down in the water?

SPEAKER_01 17:50

We did see them. We waved.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

We did. I hope they saw us. They definitely didn't. They didn't, they definitely did not, but oh well. I was like, that's really funny. There's where we were a second ago.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

Parking for this.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

Oh my gosh, you guys. Oh my gosh. Which I think it was uh worse parking because it was midday, yeah, like probably peak time to go to the sky bridge, but I don't know what is going on because there was tour buses, there was like cars, galore, one-way roads. We were we turned up to go up this little hill to park because everybody was parking up this hill, and that was the biggest mistake ever. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 18:32

I think it was a one-way. I think it was a room. There's no way it was a two-way road, but I think I don't know who was going the wrong way, if it was everybody going up and parking on that road or the people coming down. It was so stressful. I don't know which way was the right way.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

So we turn up this hill, you guys, and we're like trying to get up there to like turn back around because there was no parking spots, and we were like, Well, I guess we're stuck now because it was a one-way. But this guy at the top of the hill started to come down, and then he just refused to move. He refused to move, and then people were honking and yelling out their window at him.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

I think he was he trying to get a spot. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 19:11

He had the entire road blocked, and it was like 15 cars behind me at this point, and I pressed, we're stressed. We got a we got a spot though. We did because uh people were getting so annoyed by waiting. Like the cars were still trying to like leave their parking spots, but because of him, nobody could actually get out, and then somebody did like a little U-turn in the ditch, yeah, and turned around, and then we got their spot. Well, and they did that, and then the guy that was actually trying to pull out of his bot pulled out because he made space for him, and then I guess the guy coming down the hill who was stopping everything probably got angry at me because I just zipped in and stole blocked the road and didn't even get the spot, but we get down the hill and we're like escalated, like we were parked going, we're walking down the hill now, and it was just chaos up there.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

Like there was so much honking and yelling. I think some people got out of their cars and was like I remember hearing people like screaming at each other, like they're we were just like we stood at the bottom of the hill just watching for a little while. We're like, wow, I'm glad we got that spot and got out of there.

SPEAKER_00 20:20

I was so concerned about leaving. I was so stressed out.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

Yeah, I was like, we might be here for a long time, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:29

And like we got done with the sky bridge and we came out and we had like a very thin window, like five minutes. We sprinted.

SPEAKER_01 20:35

There was nobody else coming down the hill or anything. So yeah, we ran to the car and got in, and then you turned around really fast and got off the hill before that could happen again.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

How did I not crash this car in this island? Like, I did not understand how I did not destroy that car in some capacity.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

Fine. It's it wasn't very big. It was like a smaller car, kind of, right?

SPEAKER_00 20:57

I mean, I think so. Kind of probably like the size of Fiat. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:01

Well, maybe it feels bigger, but it was like on the smaller side of what are they called? Like the sports, no uh midtown. Midtown mid-range, town and country.

SPEAKER_00 21:17

That's that's a furniture brand.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

I don't even know what you're trying to say anymore.

SPEAKER_00 21:21

I don't know what I'm saying anymore.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

We got off the fucking hill, you guys. We made it. We got off the hill, everything was fine.

SPEAKER_00 21:29

So what this was actually on my itinerary because I wanted to go to this area. It's uh Camara de Lopos. Wow. Oh my gosh, my pronunciations. Watch somebody come for me who's actually from Madeira be like, you definitely fucked this up. You suck at this so much. So, like, this was a little town, I think to the northwest of Fun Shaw. So if you were like looking at a map, it'd be northwest. And we were like, Well, we're already on the road, might as well go over there. Yeah. It was really really cool.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

It was really cute. Like they just had a lot of decorations, like the Rubik's cubes in the sky.

SPEAKER_00 22:08

Okay, so background on this little town. And then we'll get into a little bit of the chaos. Yeah. Um Churchill, I don't know if he had a house here or if it was like a I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 22:20

I just wanted to vacation here.

SPEAKER_00 22:24

Yeah, he would pretty much come to this island all the time and like they have a little statue of him, but that's uh like the namesake for this little town. Like he would he was the like the draw because this is where he would go die their vacation or live in his later years of his life. Okay, yeah, and then the other portion, like she said, the Rubik's Cubes put all the other art there. This is an art town, and the guy that does the art, I think his name was Bordalo. Artur Bordalo the second. But it was really neat this art that's all over this town because you're just like, wow, it's just everywhere. And it's like miscellaneous pieces of garbage, yeah, but made into something, made into art. But the background with it it was was like there was they took all these pieces of plastic and waste from the ocean, and this artist turned it into art as a representation of like I guess trash can become beauty, and like let's not pretty trash, let's not pollute the ocean, let's do something with this and make it actually worthwhile and something like as a statement. But it was really cool, like there were like the Rubik's cubes, there was also like a lot of different murals, yeah, and statues too that he made out of like pieces of metal from the ocean. It was really cool. You should definitely go there. That's the background of it, but okay, now we're trying to get into this town.

SPEAKER_01 23:55

And we're again looking for parking.

SPEAKER_00 23:58

Bless America, and it's one ways again, so we had to circle around a couple of times, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 24:04

This one parking lot, and I think we had already circled, and there was other cars in the parking lot, and this like hobo man like he's like, we knew a spot, and we were like, Yeah, so somebody pulled out like on the other side of the parking lot, he ran sprinted to the other side of the parking lot and stood in that spot and wouldn't let anybody else park in it until we got over there parking.

SPEAKER_00 24:26

I was like, What service?

SPEAKER_01 24:27

I was like, What at first I thought that he worked there, he did not work there.

SPEAKER_00 24:30

There was no work, there was no other chance because it was like pay to park like stations on the side.

SPEAKER_01 24:35

So, but then like obviously he wanted money and we didn't have like a lot of cash or anything on us. So we were like, we gave him all of the like lower dollar like cash coins.

SPEAKER_00 24:45

I think it wound up being like three euros, yeah, two to three euro.

SPEAKER_01 24:49

Uh and we were like, if you're still here and we come back, like we'll give you more because we just didn't have anything. Uh, but I mean, he was still okay with the three euros that he got for sprinkling across the parking lot for us. But but like honestly, like it was worth it. Out of all of the scams, I'm for that one.

SPEAKER_00 25:08

That one was because here's the thing like he didn't like harass us after he like yeah, like he asked, he was like, Do you want me to like get a spot for you?

SPEAKER_01 25:17

And we were like, Yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_00 25:18

And like he was like, he just asked, and then he got us a spot, and then after he was just like, Do you have a couple euro or something like that? And if we didn't, I don't think he would have harassed us anymore. He would just walk away. It wasn't rental anyway, so it's okay. But he was not like the hobos here in the United States who follow you to different destinations, yeah. He'll like harass you.

SPEAKER_01 25:43

He was like, I'm a working man, he was still he was working that parking lot when we got back. He was still working the parking lot, he was so wetty, dude. I wonder, I want to know like how much money he would make in a day doing that. He probably made a good amount of money, like because it was busy, obviously. Like that parking lot was always full. Uh he it was just like a self-made job.

SPEAKER_00 26:04

I I support that man. I support it.

SPEAKER_01 26:08

He was making it happen. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 26:10

Okay, so the restaurant in this area, we have to tell you about this restaurant. Okay, because last night, like or the episode prior, we got introduced to muscles. Oh my gosh. The restaurant, we followed our rules. No pictures and no waving in. Yeah, and it treated us so good. And I believe the restaurant's name was you're gonna have to say that. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

Uh Gaviot Lehi. That's not that's uh not right at all. But there will be a link in the caption.

SPEAKER_00 26:47

Uh let me try it. Let me try it. Gavio de Lehu.

SPEAKER_01 26:51

Lehu? I think it's dough.

SPEAKER_00 26:54

Gaviot do lehu.

SPEAKER_01 26:57

Either way, I think this was my favorite meal of the trip.

SPEAKER_00 27:00

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_01 27:01

Maybe.

SPEAKER_00 27:02

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 27:03

I had steak and mussels.

unknown 27:06

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 27:07

They had steak with like a cracked scrambled egg on top, or not scrambled, over easy egg, and this gravy that was just so I don't even know how to like describe it. It was so savory, but like not overly salty, and it just oh, and the meat was per uh cooked to perfection. But the muscles, the muscles, you guys.

SPEAKER_01 27:31

It was so good. Didn't we get two orders of them?

SPEAKER_00 27:33

I got my own.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

Oh, yeah, like okay, so we shared, and you had your own.

SPEAKER_00 27:37

I had my own, and and it had that garlic butter on it again, and but it was like lighter, like salted on these, and it was like grilled to perfection, and it was just melting your mouth. I was like, oh my gosh. They were very, very good. This will be a theme.

SPEAKER_01 27:56

They I got steak that was like cooked on a skewer or something, and he came to the table. Was it steak and shrimp? I think so. And he like came to the table and unskewered it like right for me on the plate. It was great, great service. It was amazing.

SPEAKER_00 28:10

And it was also just amazing. Go there if you're there. A plus. Oh my gosh, so delicious.

SPEAKER_01 28:18

But that was the end of our little time. Yeah. In this little area. Yeah, we just walked around, looked at the art. There were some boats.

SPEAKER_00 28:25

It was casual.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

It was nice.

SPEAKER_00 28:27

Now, granted, we have been uh up doing the sunset. We've been on a hike, we got yelled at, we did a glass bridge. Now we're in this small town, we ate in here, so we are doing a lot today, but it was a chill place. Definitely go over there.

SPEAKER_01 28:43

And then we were looking for a chill evening. So we went and we changed really quick, and then we went to one of the natural pools that was near the area that we were in.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

Okay, so I had looked these up like before we even went to Madeira, and it was like they're called natural pools because it's like a pool, but it empties and like gets filled by ocean water. Like the waves crash in and it gets filled that way. And I was like, you know what? Uh, if we don't do this, we don't do this because like it's just an extra thing and it's like a pool. I am so happy that we decided to do this. This place was amazing.

SPEAKER_01 29:18

This place was really good, it was amazing.

SPEAKER_00 29:21

And the pool, the first one that we went to was in Fun Shaw, which I think there was a couple, but this was the one that we went to in Fun Shal. But they're all over the island. It was um oh gosh, where it is.

SPEAKER_01 29:36

Yeah. That one I think sounded good.

SPEAKER_00 29:40

That one sounded good, but that was the one that we went to in Funchal, and it was it was so great.

SPEAKER_01 29:45

It was good. It was like so we're getting there like pretty late in the day, so I feel like it wasn't as crowded anymore. It also wasn't like super hot or anything by the time we got there. Um, but of course, we first had to get a drink. It was perfect. And it was the guy that the bartender was new. I don't know if this was like his first day.

SPEAKER_00 30:03

Yeah, it was like his first day, and he was getting trained.

SPEAKER_01 30:05

Yeah, he was getting trained, so he was being like watched like a hawk by like the other bartenders or whatever. But let me say this bartender made some great drinks. They were also very strong, which I'm surprised that the other bartenders were cool with that, but they were so good.

SPEAKER_00 30:20

They were I got um a strawberry mojito, and then they had like a passion fruit mojito, and I had a couple of those.

SPEAKER_01 30:26

It was just real like, I don't know, they put a good amount of mint and it was and they had like they had like the strawberry puree, but then they had like also like crushed strawberries in there, and like a lot of mint in the bottom of it. Yeah, it was so good, like 10 out of 10. I hope that bartender, you know, I hope he's doing well. I hope he's doing well, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:43

Yeah, I hope he's doing it after post-training. I hope he's still got a heavy hand. But we chilled. But here's the thing, you guys, these natural pools, like most of them like half ways to jump into the actual ocean. And like that's that's essentially all we did for like half of the time. Yeah, I tried peer pressuring Abby.

SPEAKER_01 31:03

I did it eventually.

SPEAKER_00 31:04

I was getting so angry with her. I was like, just jump, you'll enjoy it. It was a high jump. It was a high jump, it was kind of scary, but you just jumped straight into the ocean and then you just swim around, and they had like a platform in the ocean.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

Oh, yeah, you could like swim over there and then you could jump on the platform.

SPEAKER_00 31:19

Me and Emily were obsessed with it.

SPEAKER_01 31:22

Look, I was trying after like this five-year-old did it like four times. I was like, Okay, you could do it.

SPEAKER_00 31:27

That five-year-old is not dead, so and then of course, we didn't even try with Sky because like but what me and Emily are on this platform in the in the ocean, just uh this is the first time I've done dives in like since I was a child, and I was just diving and flipping into the ocean, and like it was I was like, I'm a five-year-old right now, and I'm enjoying my life. And we kept on yelling at Abby and Skye to get in the water.

SPEAKER_01 31:55

I did it eventually.

SPEAKER_00 31:57

You did, and Sky did too.

SPEAKER_01 31:58

Did she jump? She did not jump, she felt like the lower level because I think I went to the lower level first before I did like the jump because I came in the water because I wanted to go off and like jump off the platform and stuff. It was just like the cliff was kind of high up. It wasn't even the height, it's just like I felt like the rocks that were jutting out. Like, I was like, what if I like mess up my jump and I hit one of those rocks?

SPEAKER_00 32:18

It it was kind of it was freaky.

SPEAKER_01 32:21

Like, if you didn't jump out far enough, like you would hit the rock.

SPEAKER_00 32:24

And then he had to climb up like a really scary ladder to get back, but it was so worth it. Oh my gosh, go there and do these, just just do it, just do it.

SPEAKER_01 32:33

And then on the other, so after before and after, I think we were jumping off the cliff. On the other side of the pool, we could like sit on the ledge, and there was all these little fish. It was like the fish that cleaned like your feet, and they were like nibbling on our toes. It felt so good.

SPEAKER_00 32:47

It was so tickler, but it felt so good, and then they had like crabs crawling on the side, too.

SPEAKER_01 32:52

Oh no, when the crabs got closer, I left. Like, I am not upset.

SPEAKER_00 32:57

It was like, oh my gosh, we're just in nature right now.

SPEAKER_01 33:00

They were blue crabs, right?

SPEAKER_00 33:01

We're one with nature, symbiotic relationship between us and the fish, at least.

SPEAKER_01 33:06

Oh, yeah. Yeah, they were cleaning up our toes.

SPEAKER_00 33:12

Anyway, excellent end to uh end to like what we had been through in the morning for dinner, you guys.

SPEAKER_01 33:22

So we're getting dinner pretty late.

SPEAKER_00 33:24

It is, and everything is packed, everything is really crowded.

SPEAKER_01 33:27

I don't remember the original restaurant that we tried to go to.

SPEAKER_00 33:30

We'll have to figure it out for the next episode because we actually didn't work in the room.

SPEAKER_01 33:33

We went back, but I think we had gone over there, we asked if we if they had any room, and they're like, no, sorry. But then they gave us this recommendation to go to this other restaurant called Olivia's.

SPEAKER_00 33:42

And we look like garbage people, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:44

So we like just came from the pool. So we're so we haven't walked into the restaurant before because there was somebody like standing outside, like you know, taking names for like the table. So they were like, Oh, yeah, like it'll just be like 15 minutes, and we were like, Okay, and then we go inside, and this is like a fancy restaurant, tablecloth and everything, everyone looked nice, and we just looked like it were just like no, we were like, should we leave? But then we were like, Oh, but we're hungry. So we said so. They they saw us when they took our names, so they knew that we looked like trash. They didn't turn us away. Um, so but this restaurant was also more on like the pricier side than what we were expecting to spend for dinner. So we did like a polyg type of dinner where we family shared.

SPEAKER_00 34:31

We split three entrees and an appetizer. And one appetizer. The uh the appetizer itself was what was it called? Pate. It was different types of pate, and it had like the French bread with it too, and it was like tuna and then like a different type of tuna.

SPEAKER_01 34:47

Yeah, I don't remember. I just remember none of you liked the like bluish black one. I thought that I thought it was an olive one.

SPEAKER_00 34:55

That's what it was.

SPEAKER_01 34:56

I think I had some, like I didn't hate it, but it yeah, it definitely wasn't my favorite one.

SPEAKER_00 34:59

But it was it was interesting. I would definitely try it again. It was good, it was good, and then the entrees, I think we what did we get? The risotto with the the cod or so oh white fish.

SPEAKER_01 35:09

It was so good.

SPEAKER_00 35:10

So good.

SPEAKER_01 35:12

This was my favorite of like this meal was the risotto.

SPEAKER_00 35:14

The risotto was honestly my favorite too. And like steak tips and then steak tips, uh rice, and then we had octopus. Octopus. Octopus becomes a theme. Like, we really just go for the octopus.

SPEAKER_01 35:26

Anytime if there's like muscle or octopus on the menu, like that's what we're getting.

SPEAKER_00 35:29

My mouth is literally watering right now. I am salivating so much right now. But in general, fancy place, probably don't look like garbage.

SPEAKER_01 35:40

Yeah, maybe like, yeah, don't look like garbage.

SPEAKER_00 35:42

But we definitely recommend this place.

SPEAKER_01 35:44

Yeah, it's good.

SPEAKER_00 35:45

And then we obviously had to end the evening at a bar.

SPEAKER_01 35:48

Yeah, and Skye had found this bar. I think she was looking at bars like on Instagram or something, and this was the day that apparently it was some national holiday.

SPEAKER_00 35:55

It's the next day. It was the next day.

SPEAKER_01 35:57

Oh, okay, okay. But I think she had found so it's like that national holiday weekend. Yes, and this bar was advertising like if you came in and you said the word, which I think was the whatever the national holiday was, like you would get a free shot.

SPEAKER_00 36:11

Of course. Kind of finds the one for the shot.

SPEAKER_01 36:13

So she finds the one place that has a free shot. So we go to this bar. It was pretty, it was like a small bar, it was really cute. Um, so we go in and we have our shot of tequila.

SPEAKER_00 36:23

By the way, the name is Bartez, and it's just beer and cocktail bar. So Bartes is the main name, and then dash beer and cocktail bar. Yes. We go in, we have our well, no, we go in and we're like about to be at the bar because it's so small, and there's like this party of four children. They're not actually children, they were like children, they were like at least 18 and 21, somewhere in that age. Really young, they were so young and so drunk.

SPEAKER_01 36:51

They were so drunk and so like disrespectful to the bar. Like he was getting so agitated with them. But I'd just like to point out that all of them were wearing white socks with slides every single one.

SPEAKER_00 37:04

The thing was, uh that was just funny. They were like that was really funny. It was just like, what are you guys doing? But like they were leaving, thank goodness. Because like I think they realized something they gotta do.

SPEAKER_01 37:18

Well, no, because I think after they they broke a glass or something, they broke a glass, but they didn't get kicked out, they didn't get kicked out, but I think they realized they gotta go.

SPEAKER_00 37:27

And they were leaving, and we were coming in, and it was just like, oh gosh, is that gonna be us in an hour? And no, I don't think the bartender didn't hate us. No, the bartender did not hate us, but we got our first shot, yeah, and as soon as he cleaned up the broken glass on the windowsill, that's our weekend.

SPEAKER_01 37:43

We literally took their and then we literally just some wait, these children left, but they were like still outside, like you could sit, like we were basically on this like little terrace thing, like outside, and we could see them, and we were just sitting there like watching them for a good like 30 minutes while like two of them like ran away and then they came back, and then they were arguing, and then there was more running around.

SPEAKER_00 38:06

It was really funny. They were like in this park in front of this bar, and it was just them going crazy in this park, and like she said, they were just running about and like arguing with people, like, oh my gosh, why are you doing this? We need to get back to the back to the Airbnb. You're being a mess.

SPEAKER_01 38:24

Finally, at least two of them got in an Uber.

SPEAKER_00 38:27

I know, no, two of them walked away, two of them walked away, and then they came back to the other two that were, I think, a little bit more sober, and then the two that were a little bit more sober were like, Okay, we gotta crawl these bitches back. And they took them by the arms and pretty much walked them off into the distance, and we never saw them again.

SPEAKER_01 38:43

Yeah, their little white socks and slides.

SPEAKER_00 38:46

Okay, but here's the thing, you guys, we kind of turned this bar into like a dance club.

SPEAKER_01 38:49

Okay, so those pack of boys were there when we first got there, and then there were just like a couple other people sitting in like the main part of like the bar. Um, but eventually they all left too. So it was just us sitting on like the terrace, and yeah, we were having a lot of cocktails, like he was playing great music, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:10

He was playing, he had a great playlist going on, and I had no comments, I didn't even wanted to take over.

SPEAKER_01 39:15

You didn't want to take over the ox, which was crazy.

SPEAKER_00 39:18

Oh my god, and we were just a great time, great time, and of course, Abby and Emily were just like, okay, it's time to leave.

SPEAKER_01 39:26

No, we didn't leave yet, we were dancing in the bar. Oh, then, and then I went up to the bartender and I was like, Do you take some recommendations? And he was like, sure. And I gave him the option of two 10-minute songs. I was like, Okay, you either gotta play Taylor Swift All Too Well 10-minute version or Bohemian Rhapsody. He chose Bohemium Rhapsody. No, he chose zero. No, he played Bohemian Zero. No, no, he played a different Queen song. He played like Don't Stop Me Now or something. So, like, that was fine. Like, I was jamming, but it was like halfway through the song when I realized it wasn't Bohemian Rhapsody, and I was like, he didn't play either of my songs.

SPEAKER_00 40:04

What was really funny is this was the most drunk that I've seen, you and Emily. And like, because it's weird because I'm normally the more drunk one. But I was I've been maintaining myself, I'd been drinking beers and stuff like that. And Emily and Abby were just like, okay, it's time for us to go, but they were drunk, and I was like kind of sober still. And I was like, Wow.

SPEAKER_01 40:24

In a dancing mood, like before we left the other terrace. I was in the other terrace, just like by myself, having a great time. Like I was dancing in the other terrace, and then other people walked up the bar and they wanted to sit there, and I like turned around and they were just looking at me, and I was like, Oh, I'm sorry, you can sit here. I'm just being stupid. And then you guys got to the street and you continued dancing on the street. It was great, and then we went home.

SPEAKER_00 40:48

I remember looking at you uh from the top and like just saying, Loveins, love yins, say it back. I don't think I said it back. You did not say it back. I was very disappointed, but means God decided to stay, and like I just wanted to have a couple more beers, and then I was gonna head back to the Airbnb. And like I'm sitting there, and apparently, like it started hitting me because like in the morning I didn't realize this, but I had sent Emily a voice memo.

SPEAKER_01 41:15

Oh, yeah, you sent her a voice memo. A voice memo, which I wonder if she still has it.

SPEAKER_00 41:20

We're gonna have to find it because we'll we'll start the next episode with the voice memo.

SPEAKER_01 41:25

If Emily still has it, that's what we'll do.

SPEAKER_00 41:28

But I am so proud of myself because Sky started talking to these guys at the bar, and I was just like, I can't do this tonight. And she wanted to go to the casino really badly because there's a casino on the island of Hoot Shaw. I was like, there's no way I can't do this. So, like the last thing I remember was leaving the bar, and I don't remember this, but I do remember leaving the bar. I don't remember the walk back, but I got into the Airbnb. I accidentally locked Sky out though. But she went to the casino and stayed out until like 4 a.m.

SPEAKER_01 42:02

That's amazing that's basically like when we got up. So she had been up for like straight 24 hours.

SPEAKER_00 42:08

I know. And then she I'm so glad that she did not go crazy on the door trying to get back in.

SPEAKER_01 42:14

Yes, because we were in like a resident, I mean another like residential area.

SPEAKER_00 42:18

But enclosed.

SPEAKER_01 42:19

Enclosed.

SPEAKER_00 42:20

And I somehow managed to wake up when she knocked the first time and let her in, which you guys didn't even think that I had come back.

SPEAKER_01 42:26

No, I didn't. I didn't hear you come. Uh to be fair, I also didn't hear Skye come back. I'm a pretty heavy sleeper, but yeah, I didn't hear either of you.

SPEAKER_00 42:32

But I remember Skye telling me in the morning, yeah, like I remember you walking up the hill and just waving at me goodbye.

SPEAKER_01 42:39

Can you tell her you were leaving? She's like from a distance. Bye.

SPEAKER_00 42:43

And I'm so proud of myself because I did not stay out and get crazy, crazy.

SPEAKER_01 42:48

I mean, she was fine the next day. She was fine. I don't understand. How could not be me? Sky. Because we also got up pretty early the next day because we had to get to what are the spooky trees?

SPEAKER_00 42:59

Phenolphores.

SPEAKER_01 43:00

We had to get pretty early. Yeah, we had to get there early because we wanted to see the spookiest.

SPEAKER_00 43:06

But I we need to do like scientific studies on the ability that Skye has.

SPEAKER_01 43:11

I want Skye to get one of these fancy fitness trackers to like track her asleep. It's gonna be like you're dead every single day. She's gonna always be in the red.

SPEAKER_00 43:24

But anyway, you guys, that is the end of this episode.

SPEAKER_01 43:28

Yeah, yeah. That was a great, great day. It was a long full day. That was a full full day. I think I passed out immediately when we got home. Because from getting up early and then just like swimming also just like takes it out of you. Yeah, I my head hit the pillow and I was out.

SPEAKER_00 43:46

When you go on a trip with us, you're not sitting still.

SPEAKER_01 43:48

Yeah, we don't we don't vacation, we travel, we do shit. Like when I get back home, like I'm like, I need another day off just to like retreat.

SPEAKER_00 44:00

Coop, a vacation for every vacation.

SPEAKER_01 44:02

Yeah, like my cobra would be like, Oh, like, are you so relaxed? And I'm like, no, no, I am not relaxed, actually. I don't actually know how to relax.

SPEAKER_00 44:13

But yeah, but as always, stay chaotic.

SPEAKER_01 44:17

Love-ins, lovins.