Madeira

Feb 17
Madeira

Today was another return to an old favorite port, one problem though…massive amounts of rain. That being said, I had a rehearsal at 11, meaning I missed a large part of the rain, which then starting to hold off as soon as the band got off the ship, but it still didn’t make for the sun-shiny island weather I was hoping for. I had nothing planned and decided to go out with the band to a restaurant they frequent for a decent meal before we left for a 5 day crossing.
The restaurant was small, but really classy considering it’s hole-in-the-wall appearance from the street. They brought over a huge platter of fish for today’s special, and after having decided on the way there to go for a steak, the red snapper that was presented on this platter looked too fresh to pass. Why get a steak that I could get anywhere when I have a shot at a really good, really fresh fish? The only problem is that anyone who knows my eating habits knows that I don’t like fish, and that I say I only like “good fish”. I was hoping this snapper was going to cross that line and land in the “good fish” category (and for 18 euro, it better be good). Meanwhile my friend ordered one of the other special fish, a parrot fish, something I’ve never seen served in a restaurant before (though I’ve seen them many times diving).
The service was a little slow for such a tiny restaurant, but I was with the band and it was a good hang. The music director ordered an appetizer of sardines, which were the biggest sardines I’ve ever seen in my life. When my fish eventually came, it came as one side of the fish, head to tail, which makes me wonder what they did with the other half when the place was too small to have a huge demand for Snapper halves. Regardless, I did enjoy my fish, maybe not 18 euro worth, but still a good fish experience which are few and far between. Apparently I didn’t know how to eat it though, and when the waiter came over to take my plate, he pointed out a small little packet of meat that resided on the fish’s cheek/eye area, supposedly the “best part”, that I had forgotten and was required to eat before he cleared my plate. Was it the best? I didn’t notice a difference, but I did find the eye ball which I decide to eat out of curiosity and it’s neighboring status to the “best part”, which ended up being slightly crunchy and salty.
Following the meal, we went to a grocery store to pick up supplies for our approaching sea days before parting ways to head back to the ship on our own time. The rest of my day was spent trying to find free internet, which didn’t quite pan out as planned. McDonalds supposedly had it, which turned out not to be true, and I couldn’t get the local system to work by the time the rain started up again and I was forced back onto the bus.
My one disappointment for Madeira was that I couldn’t find my name painted on the dock. Maybe you remember, but way back in 2007 when I was visiting here with the Navigator, I had my name painted on the dock along with two of my friends. I couldn’t find it today! Maybe I just didn’t look hard enough because of the rain, and I couldn’t remember off the top of my head exactly where I should have been looking, but it’ll be worth further investigation when I come back here in 6 weeks. I pulled up my old pictures, so I know exactly what I’m looking for.
The show that night was for a classical violinist performing the usual repertoire. My sax player was still out, which meant that I got stuck covering two parts. The other thing my devoted blog readers might remember is that I don’t have a good relationship with my clarinet. This guest performer didn’t care and wanted me to stand up before a song and perform an un-accompanied clarinet cadenza. Luckily, I could improvise a cadenza within my abilities and still make it sound good, but the whole act of me playing totally solo for a minute worth of cadenza isn’t quite my within my clarinet comfort zone. But everything went well, the band thought I played great, and there weren’t any other scares for that show.
And now it’s off for 5 straight days at sea, can’t wait!