Yesterday afternoon we planned to swim after enjoying our ciders, but we had forgotten our hotel-provided green towels in the room. So my brother went to ask some staff if there were any more available. After being sent from one desk to another, eventually he spoke to a lady at the spa. She did not want to give him any towel because they belong to the spa. Even though these are the same towels as in the room. Then she only would give him one towel if he promised to bring it back!

As we were talking and relaxing, he only got around to swimming at 7pm, he tried to return the towel at seven thirty but spa was closed. That lady is going to be so cross!

Time find somewhere to eat. There are several places to choose from nearby so we went for a walk. All the nicer places were full, except a sushi bar but we preferred local cuisine. Eventually we walked back near the hotel and saw that our table from last night at Horta was empty. I found our server, he recognised us and we were seated quickly.

Yesterday we went with recommendations. Then, they were warning us to not choose particular dishes in a joking way. Tonight again, I was told, don't take the pork shoulder, take the chuck instead. Now we were curious, why would a chef put a dish on the menu that the serving staff would warn against? Well they took our question seriously and two staff came to explain there had been issues with deliveries from the mainland, and that they had had to source from a different supplier. They therefore couldn't guarantee the dish would be up to standard, especially the pork shoulder and the endive in the Asian salad. We were happy with their honesty and so again went with recommendations.


Quinoa starter.


Roast chuck with balsamic ketchup.

(forgot to take photo of the tuna tartare)


We liked the "10" Madeira last night but decided to go up a notch with this quite expensive "20".

We had a chat with the server about how the barrels go back and forth between Portugal and Scotland. The Scots promote their whisky that it is aged in barrels previously used for fortified wine for at least 20 years. And Madeira buys them back so they can claim the wine is aged in barrels that have had whisky in them for 20 years. Such barrels are worth thousands of euros.