Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Madeira

  • Madeira – Madeira Airport to Hotel Solar Bom Jesus (Uber, No Walking)

    Madeira – Madeira Airport to Hotel Solar Bom Jesus (Uber, No Walking)

    Despite not being in a rush, I happened to be the first person through to landside, so with everyone following me I had to concentrate on going the right way so I didn’t get muddled up and look an idiot. My initial intention was to walk the 25 minutes to the hotel, but then I realised from Google Maps that this looked rather more challenging than I had anticipated.

    There were nice views of the Atlantic from the airport and I realised that although it was technically possible to walk to the hotel, it would involve some ridiculously complex navigation alongside roads not designed for pedestrians. Some people had walked it, and it is possible, but I decided to see if there was a bus.

    It soon transpired that there were no buses, or at least, no sensibly priced ones and just more expensive shuttles. However, I looked at Uber and realised that the taxi fare to the hotel was £3.40 which is what I would have happily paid for the bus. I went down the stairs to brace myself for the whole stress of taxis.

    Now, I don’t like taking taxis, they are too decadent for me and have a level of stress that’s too high for me. I like trains, buses, planes and things I don’t have to interact with in this individual way. However, I’m very polite and have a 5 star rating on Uber, unlike my friend Richard who has plummeted to very low levels. I tell Richard that he needs to think from the driver’s perspective, but he’s very demanding.

    After some slight faffing whilst the taxi worked out how to park, and me being annoyed as I realised I was charging a waiting fee of 6p when I was in the right place, the friendly driver turned up. The drive took about eight minutes and I apologised for the short journey, but the driver said he preferred them as he could easily return to the airport.

    I had by this point calmed down about the 6p surcharge and was safely at the Hotel Solar Bom Jesus, a cheap and clean accommodation option that seemed well reviewed on-line. More on that in another post, as I rather liked the hotel. Incidentally, I found the taxi hunting process so stressful that I didn’t get any photos.

    Anyway, my revelation was that for my time on Madeira I was going to have to take taxis everywhere, not something that usually happens on my travels. Actually, it’s so notable, that’s why I’ve given it a post all to itself….

  • Wizz Air (Warsaw Chopin Airport to Madeira)

    Wizz Air (Warsaw Chopin Airport to Madeira)

    Back on the rail network from Warszawa Śródmieście station and every time I come here I wonder when they’re going to renovate this as it’s getting ever more rickety. The train signage here is a bit basic, but fortunately Google Maps informed me that my train was running eight minutes late.

    I’ll just add here that a train ticket to the airport costs about 85p.

    Now this was exciting as there was a ticket check, as the inspectors do monitor this line reasonably frequently. To my right were what I think were a Polish mother and daughter, the former was quite elderly. I, as I may have mentioned, cannot speak Polish of any merit, but I was able to understand enough of the conversation to hear what was going on.

    It boiled down to this:

    ELDERLY WOMAN : “The ticket machine was broken”

    INSPECTOR : “So you have no ticket?”

    ELDERLY WOMAN : “I’d like to buy a ticket now”

    INSPECTOR : “Yes, you can, that will be 580zl [about £120] including the fine”

    ELDERLY WOMAN : “But the machine was broken”

    INSPECTOR : “You have no ticket”.

    This went on until the train pulled into the airport and it was clear that the pair thought they were getting off and the inspector would forget it. No, the doors opened and he locked the one they were standing by.

    I sat on those seats to watch the whole affair unfold, as I don’t get out much. And indeed, the two ladies weren’t getting out much, but their card did and they paid the penalty fares. This is why fare evasion on the Polish rail network seems to be so low, the inspectors will enforce those without tickets.

    Very Christmassy. Airport security was interesting, the lady in front of me took a ridiculous amount of time to put her things in the bag. Fortunately, Polish airport security is friendly, calm, collected and told her to hurry up. She got annoyed and so she found herself being interrogated for the entire time I was at security. I like a bit of drama.

    Anyway, I reached the lounge and got myself a Greek salad, chicken wrap, coffee and an early morning beer which was to fortify myself for the flight which would take over five hours to get to Madeira. This is another one of my favourite lounges, as there are power outlets, unlimited chocolates, unlimited olives and unlimited Feta cheese.

    Mine was the 11:20 flight.

    Boarding at the gate was uneventful as it was organised, fast flowing and there were plenty of seats around. Fortunately, Madeira is in Schengen, since it’s part of Portugal, so I didn’t have to faff about with any border control.

    This is aircraft 9H-WNS, yet another one that I haven’t been on before. The flight lasted for five hours and thirty minutes, which is quite a strain on a budget airline if I’m being honest. I normally like having my bag under the seat in front of me, but after five hours I was getting annoyed that it was in the way of my legs that needed stretching.

    The seating Gods gave me an aisle seat which was very fortunate for a flight of this length, so that did give a degree of comfort. The couple in the window and middle seat were very agreeable and didn’t barge into my seat space, with the crew merrily plodding up and down with the trolley a few times.

    The flight cost me £8.99, so I can’t really complain and I find spending this amount of time without a phone signal to be quite relaxing in many ways. I have rather decided, that despite Wizz Air being a perfectly competent and comfortable airline, that flights of this length are perhaps just a bit much.

    Safely in Madeira, which is my first time to the island. I understand that pilots require special training to land at this airport as there are strong winds and there’s not a huge amount of space to work with. The landing was sudden but seemed smooth, although I’ve never doubted the competence of Wizz Air pilots as they always seem professional and calm to me.

    The view from the runway and the winds were certainly getting up at this stage. I had intended to walk to the hotel, but events meant that didn’t happen….. But more of that in the next ‘riveting’ post.