One Way Ticket to Madeira: Crossing the Atlantic in a Storm (Part 4)

This is the final part of my One Way Ticket to Madeira series, where I share my solo journey across the island — from food markets and gardens to crossing the Atlantic in a storm.

My another day in Madeira started lazily, the kind of day that makes you think: this is exactly why I love traveling alone. You just go with the flow without knowing what awaits you in the corner... 

Market Morning and Exotic Surprises

That morning began at the Mercado dos Lavradores (Farmers' Market) in Funchal, where colors, smells, and voices mix into one beautiful picture. It is the kind of place where you do not just buy food. You experience the colorful palette of fruits and veggies. 

Mercado dos Lavradores in Funchal 

Stalls were overflowing with tropical fruits that looked unreal. Papaya, mango, banana, pineapple, guava, and dozens of varieties of passion fruit, which locals call maracujá. Some were purple, some yellow, some orange, and some mixed with other flavors.

Maracuja banan cross bred 

Ananas banan cross bred

Passion fruit ready to eat

What really fascinated me were the hybrid fruits. Passion fruit mixed with banana, orange or tomato. Yes, tomato. Madeira is famous for these cross-bred maracujá varieties, and they actually grow them on the island. You bite into one fruit, and suddenly it tastes like three. I bought several without fully understanding what I was getting. For 4 fruits I paid 20 euros. Well... kind of a tourist trap, if you ask me... Nevertheless, it was the best decision. Each one tasted different, surprising me again and again. It felt like Madeira was offering me a fruit lottery, I just needed to figure out how Jackpot tastes... 😂

Tasting Madeira: Food, Drinks (A Lot of Drinks 🍹)

After the market, what is the best way to spend your day? 🤔 Of course eating and drinking.... 😂 As a real explorer I went on a hunt for some food. 

One of the first things you notice is bolo do caco, the famous Madeiran bread. Warm, soft, slightly crispy on the outside, usually served with garlic butter. Its recipe is distinguished by the inclusion of sweet potato, which gives it that soft texture and an unmistakable flavor. What made it truly special is its unique baking method: instead of an oven, the dough is baked on a very hot basalt stone, the so-called "caco". This ancient technique gave it a perfectly crispy crust and a light interior, characteristics that still make it so delicious. 😋

Madeira traditional bread, bolo do caco

Lets me get to the point, or should I better say the bottom... of a drink glass 🍸.  Poncha, the traditional local drink made from sugarcane rum, honey, and lemon or passion fruit.  It is a strong drink containing between 25% and 50% alcohol. The funny part? You never know how strong the drink you get. You can only figure it out after 2 or 3 glasses of it when it is technically too late... By the time you know, you speak fluent Portuguese.

Traditional Madeira drink, Poncha

You can see it in my eyes how many drinks I had

There is also Nikita, a creamy cocktail made with beer, pineapple, vanilla ice cream, and sometimes wine. It sounds strange. It tastes amazing. Madeira loves mixing things that should not work together and somehow making them perfect. Sitting in a small café, eating warm bread, sipping poncha, and watching locals chat around me, I felt like I was slowly becoming part of the island’s rhythm. Maybe I should stay here and never buy a ticket back? 🤔 

Traditional Madeira drink, Nikita 

Monte Palace: Where Time Slows Down

What is the best place to sober up? 🤔 Definitely somewhere peaceful and quiet. Later that day, I decided to go up to Monte Palace Gardens, a place locals and travelers kept recommending. Monte sits high above Funchal in the mountains, and the journey there is already part of the experience. I took the cable car, slowly rising above the city while the ocean opened up in front of me. When I arrived, I understood immediately why people love this place so much. Monte Palace is not just a garden. It feels like a small universe of its own. There are lakes, bridges, waterfalls, sculptures, tropical plants, Japanese corners, and hidden paths that invite you to get lost on purpose. It is a perfect place to sit on a bench with a book and enjoying the February sun of Madeira. 

Monte Palace (tropical garden) Madeira 

From Monte, there is also a very traditional way to go back down to the city, something that has been part of Madeira’s history for centuries. It is called Carros de Cesto, and it involves sitting in a large wicker basket while two men guide you down the steep road using their shoes to break. Yes, their shoes! In the past, wealthy people used this as transportation. Today, it is more of a cultural attraction.

I watched several baskets fly past me, half amused and half impressed. It looked fun, slightly terrifying, and surprisingly fast. When I saw the price, I decided that filming it for memories was enough for me. 😅

Tropical garden Madeira 

Tropical garden Madeira  

When Paradise Meets Reality

Sooner or later a one way journey was about to come to the end.

My return flight had been planned. Funchal - Lisbon - Amsterdam. Everything was set and carefully planned. At least, I though so... 

Less than 24 hours before departure, I casually checked my email, expecting nothing more than a boarding reminder. Instead, I found a short message that instantly flipped my carefully prepared return plan. 

A powerful storm was approaching from the Atlantic, and flights were disappearing from the schedule one by one. In that moment, my peaceful island escape turned into a small logistical puzzle. The realization hit me hard, I will be crossing the Atlantic in a storm. Paradise was still beautiful, but reality was approaching faster than I could ever imagine. I had 2 choices. I could stay another day and hope the weather would improve, or I could take a very early flight at 4 in the morning and leave before things got worse. Without thinking too long, I chose the second option which also meant I was preparing for almost no sleep.

There was only one small detail. The night before my flight, I was on the opposite side of the island, in Porto Moniz. So in the middle of the night, I found myself sitting in a taxi, driving through dark mountain roads, half asleep and half anxious, watching the headlights about approaching storm. The island that had felt so calm during the day suddenly looked mysterious and serious in the darkness.

Madeira meeting the clouds 

Crossing the Atlantic in a Storm

The passengers boarded in silence and the plane took off. 

Outside, the wind pushed against the aircraft. Inside, the lights were dimmed. There was no cheerful background music, no relaxed conversations. Everything felt seriously tense. 
Almost immediately, the turbulence began. It was scary, shaking and powerful. 

The plane moved in every direction, as if the sky itself caught a terrible flu and it was feverish. Outside was only darkness. Inside, people held armrests, whispered prayers, and closed their eyes. Some tried to sleep. Some stared at nothing.

At some point, my mind started doing what it does best in moments like this. It jumped straight to worst-case scenarios. I could already imagine tomorrow’s headlines: “Flight Lost Over the Atlantic,” “Storm Claims Passenger Plane,” “Passengers Never Made It Home.” At the same time, every single turn of the airplane, left or right, was immediately picked up by the strong winds. One moment it felt like we were being pushed toward the mountains, the next like we were falling straight into the Atlantic. It honestly felt like being inside a Hollywood disaster movie, except this time it was happening for real.

I was sitting next to a small boy and his father. The boy was calm and curious. He even was smiling a little. He did not look scared at all. Watching him gave me unexpected strength. If he could stay relaxed in this chaos, maybe I could too.So I stared into the darkness... 

For almost 3 hours, the plane fought the storm. Every bump, every drop, every sudden movement reminded me how small we are compared to nature. Then, little by little, something changed.The shaking softened. The engines sounded steadier. And far away on the horizon, a thin orange line appeared... 

Sunrise.

A quiet promise that everything would be okay. 

That is how hope feels.

In the end, Madeira did not just give me a vacation. It gave me a reminder: life is unpredictable, beautiful, sometimes scary, and always worth the ticket — even when that ticket is a one-way ticket. 😎 🎫