Final total costs for 77 days in Madeira...A year ago...the walled city of Lucca, Italy...Two more days until departure...

While on foot we spotted this waterfall.

Finally, we have the tally of our total expenses for the 77 days we've lived on the island of Madeira, Portugal. The grand total includes the following expenses:

Rent
Airfare from Marrakech, Morocco to Madeira Portugal including excess baggage fees
Car rental, fuel
Entertainment
Restaurants (including tax and tips)
Groceries including laundry soap, cleaning supplies, paper products, toiletries purchased at market
Housecleaning service and tips
Parking fees
Shipping fees (for package we received)

The grand total:    $10,720.51, EU $7,978.77
Monthly average:  $  4,234.83, EU $3,151.78
Daily Average:      $     139.23, EU $   103.62

We walked through this short tunnel to reach the ocean at the other end as shown in these other photos.

With respect for the property owners we don't post the rental amount unless we've paid close to the asking price. Living in vacation rentals for these extended periods often enables us to negotiate a rent considerably lower than the price posted on the owner's listing. If we were to post these prices, other future short term renters may expect these lower prices.

Nothing is as mesmerizing as the sea.

If anyone is interested in the rental amount for the extended period in Madeira, please contact me directly at: jessicablyman@gmail.com. For short term rentals, please refer to Gina's listing at Homeaway by clicking here.

Two small waterfalls flow from the rocks in a natural rock wall.

Not surprisingly, the cost for the rental car was almost as much as the rent. Undoubtedly, we could have easily saved quite a bit if we'd used a taxi three or four times a week. In this case, the freedom of coming at going at our leisure proved to be worthwhile.

Clouds rolling in.

We don't always rent a car. At times, it makes more sense to use taxis or public transportation, especially when we're walking distance to restaurants and markets. In Paris and London, public transportation will be outside the door of the hotel making getting around easy from what we can determine so far.

At times, the clouds appear as if they were smoke. At times, there is smoke wafting through the hills when residents are allowed to burn off their terraced gardens.

Food costs, including dining in restaurants, can be high depending on the country as was the case here in Madeira.

Our total food costs while in Madeira including dining out:
Grand total:          US $2,329.60, EU $1,733.81
Monthly Average: US $   920.23, EU $   684.88
Daily Average:      US $     30.25, EU $     22.51

These giant cement forms are used to some areas to protect the beaches.

We're pleased with the totals especially since early on we determined that dining out was too expensive to do regularly. As a result, knowing we'd be dining out for months to come, we opted to eat in after spending US $65 to US $70, EU $49 to EU $52 for each of the three times we dined out, although the food was excellent.

The preformed cement blocks aren't attractive but serve a useful purpose.

When one is constantly traveling and with my restrictive diet, dining out is not as huge a treat as one may expect. Although it will necessary to dine out until after mid October and surely we'll experience amazing food, we always find our home cooked meals to be the most rewarding. There's something appealing about spending 25% of the cost of dining out in order to dine in.

In Ribeira Brava we walked through a tunnel to an area where local residents anchor their personal watercraft.

Today, we'll finish up the laundry, pack the smaller bags and I'll do my manicure and pedicure. With excellent leftover pizza to pop into the oven, cooking will be at a minimum today and tomorrow when all I have to do is prepare is a salad and bake the already put together uncooked pizza, ready for the oven.

In Ribeira Brava we wander into a needlepoint and craft shop finding a new zippered bag as a carry on for our prescriptions and vitamins when the handle on the old bag broke.

The more often we move, the quicker and more organized we become as departure time approaches. Also, the lightened load is a huge factor in making the task relatively easy.

Back tomorrow with updates as we wind down our final photos. Happy day to all!
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Photo from one year ago today, July 29, 2913:

A year ago today on a very rainy day, we visited the walled city of Lucca. Once inside, we dashed through the city in the rain to see as much as we could, stopping to look at this clock, The Pretorio Palace Clock. For many more photos of the walled city, please click here.