Blogs from Madeira, Madeira, Portugal, Europe
May 15th 2011
Two things have struck me in nine years traveling to Madeira: 1) how amazing the roads are and 2) how few visitors take advantage of them. Some of the roads are quite epic, whether sweeping clifftop coastal roads or traversing the steep valley walls of the interior and, outside of the main towns, you have these roads largely to yourself. Both the quality of the roads and the scenery that surrounds them make Madeira a driving destination in its own right. Yes, Madeira for a fly-drive holiday First thing to mention are the highways or 'Auto-estrada'. Huge sums of public money have been spent making more of the island accessible, and the only way to put expressways through such difficult terrain (Madeira is essentially a mountain serrated by valleys) is bridge-tunnel-bridge-tunnel. Each and every metre of ... read more
Snowmen and Toboggans ... But No Snow
Published: December 30th 2010Europe » Portugal » Madeira » Madeira
December 30th 2010
We arrived to rain, so we opted for the hop on hop off bus tour and we decided on a seat undercover. It was a good option as we got to see a lot of the city, got our bearings, and allowed the rain Gods to finish up their gardening. After the bus we jumped on the Gondola which took us to the top of the hill. The rain scared away most of the tourists so there were no lines and we got a Gondola to ourselves. We had great views all the way up. Most of our pictures don't do the place justice. This city would make San Francisco look like Saskatchewan. Every house has a view of the ocean cuz each one is higher than the next. We're hopeful the parking break technology in ... read more
October 21st 2010
Madeira - Day 10 We quickly disembarked so we catch the cable car to Monte before the tour buses arrived, and as we rode up in the first chairlift of the day it started to drizzle, at this stage we had no idea of what was to follow. We made our first mistake when we reached Monte, we decided to stop and admire the great views over a coffee. The tour groups over took us and we ended up in a huge line for the wicker taboggan ride back down the mountain. As we inched forward in the line, the rain fell heavier and heavier until it turned into a heavy tropical downpour. Ron kept telling me it would be worth the wait as it was such fun riding in the taboggan. After standing in the ... read more
August 15th 2010
Maggie is a little oldish lady, an ex-diplomat who has been everywhere but still adheres to scrupulously high standards of domestic cleanliness. She holidays with Gabriel and Gabriel with her. They are birdwatchers. As a couple, they are unlikely. Gabriel's apartment is a filthy dump. Maggie arrives the next day. Gabriel gets drunk to get in the mood for cleaning and finds he isn't really in the mood. It's 6pm. He needs a cleaner. A cleaner in Funchal at dusk? Probably impossible. He certainly can't clean the place on his own. How about a whore? Whores do anything for money. Gabriel has a few more bargaçeira and makes for the docks where he has seen, but never partaken of, whores before. Gabriel finds a whore. No sex, he explains, just cleaning. She tells him to fuck ... read more
April 26th 2009
More from Friday We went to the early Captain’s Circle party and had our pictures taken with Captain Tony Yeoman, our very British ship’s Captain. Then went to an early dinner and the theater production. It was wonderful - great singing, costumes and staging. After it we went to the Explorer’s Lounge to listen to “dancing through the decades” - we listened to music from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Since we had slept in we decided we should actually try to get up early on Saturday. But neither of us could go to sleep - well after 2 AM before we could nod off. Saturday, April 25, 2009 We were awake before our alarm went off at 8:45 AM - remember that is 2:45 AM NE time. We even lose another hour Saturday night. We ... read more
March 24th 2009
Hello all!!! I finally got off the ship!!! YAY!! After 7 very long sea days, yesterday I had the pleasure of disembarking on the Portugese island of Madeira. The name of the port was Funchal, and my friends and I left the gangway at noon and started my first European journey. The first thing we did was boarded a shuttle, which cost $5 US for passage to the city and back (a great deal, considering guests had to pay 10 euros for taxis). By the way, the current exchange rate for the US:Euro is 1.35:1....which isn't all that bad. The ten minute shuttle ride took us to the edge of town. Remember, Madeira is an island off the coast of mainland Portugal, and this particular island has all of the homes that people live in built ... read more
November 5th 2008
Today we are in Funchal, Portugal. It is sunny and warm! We woke up to learn (or confirm I should say) that Obama won. We were up at 7am as we are all on a tour of the island today. Latte's and cinnamon roll and down in lounge by 8am. This is a tropical island, with temperate climate; so beautiful; flowers and banana trees everywhere. Bouginvillas are native here; the flowers are purple. The island has 150,000 inhabitants; average income of 550 Euros per month. Because of this low salary many natives go abroad to work to save enough money to some day come back to build a home. The island is very hilly, each home has a small garden; perhaps bananas, vegetables and fruits. They produce a lot of molasses here. As we climbed the ... read more
April 23rd 2008
A Postcard from MADEIRA - April 2008 It’s now nearly nine months since we returned from our trip around North America, and the English winter has recently been getting to our bones - time for a short break to warmer climes to top up on a bit of sunshine. Why, then, Madeira you might ask? Well; for a start, we had heard about their cake and wine, but more to the point, we remembered my little brother, Michael, had once visited the island and told us how much he loved it. We thought we should check it out. You can’t get there by motorhome, there's too much water in the way, so we took a plane from Stansted, courtesy of EasyJet. Many people we know have already been to Madeira; some of them several times. They ... read more
March 8th 2008
So this is it, my final entry of the cruise and what a time we have had. Our last port of call.Madeira, was reached on Thursday around 0800hrs. The weather overnight had been somewhat rough and many of us were kept awake with the banging throughout the ship by the waves hitting the bough, not to mention the heavy swell. Thought after that we might be in for a rough day but in fact turned out fine. The Maderian archepelago lies in the Atlantic Ocean, west of Mexico and north of the Canary Islands. The largest of these Portuguese islands, some 600 miles southwest of Lisbon, is the Ilha da Madeira, Island of Timber, and the only other inhabited island is the tiny Porto Santo. Also in the archipelago are the Ilhas Desertas, desert isles, and ... read more
January 31st 2008
Don loves the "elegant" and "genteel" feeling of Madeira and we both really enjoy the landscape, flowers and the sea. But after three weeks, we felt we´d seen and done most of what Funchal has to offer. To spend more time as tourists, you really must get out in the countryside. We did that last year on tours, but if we go back, we´ll rent a car and do the exploring on our own. However, the thought of traversing those narrow, twisty, mountain roads does give one pause. Anyway, the last thing on our "must do" list was to take tea at the Reid: a perfect way to celebrate Funchal´s elegance and genteelness. The Reid Palace Hotel was built by a Scotsman many, many years ago. It is where the rich and famous from the UK ... read more
