Funchal; Monday, 27 May, 2019

…2 hours later and we had started the third circuit round the stack to the north of Madeira. The winds had increased whilst we had been flying and for the moment were above the level that the airport could safely operate at, so we had to sit, circle and wait. The pilots had told us that we would circle for about 30 minutes and if we couldn’t land at that point we would divert to the neighbouring Porto Santo island. After about 40 minutes of circling the pilots came on the PA again to let us know that an easyJet flight had just successfully landed at Madeira so they were going to give it a go. We came out of our stack and headed round the Eastern end of the island and started our approach to the airport.

Clearly things were very close to the limit as we lined up for landing, started levelling up and then were all pushed back into our seats as the pilots slammed full power on the engines and climbed back up out of their descent. We headed out to sea and did a couple of circles to the south of the airport before the pilots decided to have one final attempt. This time we did actually make it down, though right up until the point that the nose wheels finally hit the tarmac it always felt like they were about to abort and divert.

Finally arriving an hour late into Madeira I collected my luggage and met my now slightly annoyed taxi driver, who had been waiting watching the plane circle for an hour, and headed into Funchal.

After dropping off my stuff at the new hotel I headed out into town and picked up the open-top sightseeing bus to do some sightseeing and sunbathing at the same time in the glorious warm sun.

As it was so bright and clear I got off the bus at the Miradouro Pico dos Barcelos and took in the view over Funchal and the coast, stopping for a little while at the small café at the viewpoint. I spent quit a bit of time there and ended up only just picking up the last open-top bus of the day back down into town.

I headed back to the hotel and then popped up to the roof-top bar that overlooks the cathedral and offers a city centre view over Funchal, as well as a pre-dinner drink.

I then wandered down into town to grab dinner before heading back to the hotel and turning in for the night.