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Background: Following its heyday as a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence in 1822 of Brazil as a colony. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy; for most of the next six decades, repressive governments ran the country. In 1974, a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The following year, Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. Portugal is a founding member of NATO and entered the EC (now the EU) in 1986.

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By Grey haired nomads
April 23rd 2008

A Postcard from Madeira

Europe » Portugal » Madeira » Madeira

Funchal from ahigh
Cruise liners come and go

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 [View Full Entry]

By penfold6
March 8th 2008

The End Is Nigh

Europe » Portugal » Madeira » Madeira

Wicker Factory

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 [View Full Entry]

By Bapu
January 31st 2008

Last Days in Funchal

Europe » Portugal » Madeira » Madeira

Tea Terrace
Overlooking Funchal from Reid´s Palace´s terrace.

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 [View Full Entry]

By Bapu
January 26th 2008

Shoe Shopping

Europe » Portugal » Madeira » Madeira

Cafe Row
This is the place to see and be seen.

The second thing on our "must see" list is a sailing trip the the Desertas. These are the three uninhabited islands you can see from Funchal. They´ve been declared nature preserves and you have to have permission to go out there. A charter company here sails out three or four times a week with paying customers for a couple of hours. However, last Saturday the wind shifted and has been coming in from the east. Apparently this happens a couple of times a year and lasts for several days. During this time the seas are quite rough and the sailing ship [View Full Entry]

By Bapu
January 24th 2008

Monte

Europe » Portugal » Madeira » Madeira

Nossa Senhora de Monte
Monte's Church

Our first agreed upon "must see" before we leave Madeira at the end of the week was Monte. It's a village just above Funchal that consists mostly of villas and doesn't really have a town, just a square. One of the ways to reach Monte is by cable car from Funchal's waterfront. It's a twelve-minute ride over Funchal and straight up the mountain. The ride is very quiet and you almost feel like you're eavesdropping as you look down on people's patios, but the view is spectacular as the city drops away from beneath you. At the top we followed a [View Full Entry]

By Bapu
January 22nd 2008

Wandering Funchal

Europe » Portugal » Madeira » Madeira

Funchal´s Marina
Most of the tourists come by cruise ship and hang around the marina.

The first week of being on our own in an apartment has flown by. We've achieved a routine of sorts. We rarely get out of the apartment before 11 a.m. as we eat breakfast, sit in the morning sun drinking our coffee, etc. Don has been watching the Australian Open and I've been re-tooling my yoga routine. Anyway, we generally get out the door just as the cleaning crew shows up to clean the apartment. Once we're out on the street, we usually choose a different direction and just wander; checking out anything in our path that is mentioned in the [View Full Entry]

By Bapu
January 18th 2008

Settling In

Europe » Portugal » Madeira » Madeira

Moving to an apartment in downtown Madeira and settling in to a comfortable routine has been just a bit challenging. Why do I have to have a routine going to feel settled? When we first arrived, our room wasn't ready yet. So we left our luggage and walked to the main Post Office to buy stamps for our post cards. That went smoothly. The Post Office (Correios) looked and operated much like those in the US except that the predominate interior color is bright red and they have racks and shelves of stationery supplies and books. We took a number and [View Full Entry]

By Bapu
January 16th 2008

A Typical Madeiran Dinner

Europe » Portugal » Madeira » Madeira

The final "tour" we purchased for the first week of our stay in Madeira was a "Typical Dinner". A minivan picked us up the hotel at 7:30 p.m. There were two passengers already in the van, a mother and daughter from Surrey, England. They immediately commented upon my American accent. Given that I've neither met nor heard any other Americans so far in Portugal, I guess my accent is noticeable. I wonder what an American accent sounds like to a Brit. Anyway, we were driven to a large restaurant that probably holds up to 500 people, with a stage across one [View Full Entry]

By Bapu
January 13th 2008

Nun´s Valley

Europe » Portugal » Madeira » Madeira

Our first full day in Madeira, we signed up for three tours. The first was the sailing excursion that I last wrote about. The second was the Nun´s Valley tour we took on Thursday afternoon. The minivan picked us up at the hotel and took us to a lookout point, Pico dos Barcelos, about one-third of the way up the mountains above Funchal. It turns out that when you look at Funchal from the sea, you can see only about two-thirds of it. From Pico dos Barcelos you look down on more Funchal tucked in behind hills that block the view [View Full Entry]

By Bapu
January 11th 2008

Funchal from the Sea

Europe » Portugal » Madeira » Madeira

Replica of discovery ship
The original discovered Madeira in 1420

We booked a chartered catamaran to spend time on the water, view any wildlife that might pass by and cast loving eyes upon the fascinating landscape that is Madeira. There wasn´t enough wind to sail, so we were motored along at a pleasing pace and reveled in the sea and sun until the crewman with binoculars shouted out. The captain sped up the boat and we were soon surrounded by about a dozen cavorting dolphins. What fun to watch and try to get photos as they rolled out of the water and before they dove back down. We were soon joined [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Europe » Portugal » Madeira