Heading for home

The airport in Madeira has recently been renamed - after local hero, Cristiano Ronaldo. It's a wonderful little airport. Friendly. Beautiful location. And they have the (now) old fashioned opportunity to watch the planes land.

It's actually the smoking area but it's so often a beautiful sundrenched terrace as the planes appear as little silver creatures against a deep blue sky.

They are emphatically not lax on security - armed security officials patrol. One young woman today, near the screening area, looked both tough and attractive.

In the distance, just behind the excited little girl's hands, is the extension to the runway. Now, the planes have a good chance of stopping before they plunge into the sea. The horrid statue near the Forum Shopping mall commemorates the men who died during the construction of this huge raised runway. Underneath the runway extension there's a sports complex, dry dock area, and scope for huge rock concerts.

The easiest landing now then ? Well, not quite. The winds are changeable and it's quite often that planes are diverted to the nearby island, Porto Santo, or Tenerife, or even sent back to the UK. (And there's some "interesting" stuff on YouTube.)

Home now. And Furbie and I have just watched "Pointless" and are starting the catch-up of Masterchef.....

Thank you for the hearts and for sharing my adventure.