Blogs from Madeira, Portugal, Europe - page 11

In Portugeuse, Madiera means "wood". The first settlers named it so, on account of the island that they saw covered in trees. On the approach to airport, the plane had descended through the clouds towards Ponta De Sao Lourenco at the very eastern tip island. It seems the first settlers did not approach from this direction. Trees? No trees here! We had been up early to catch a public bus at the SAM terminus in the centre of Funchal. It was all quiet. There were only a few tourists similar to ourselves, all heading to walk something other than a levada. The Service 113 bus was there, but no sign of the driver. He eventually appeared from the office before the departure time of 9 am. There was no difficulty in explaining to the driver the ... read more

The plane dropped a couple of thousand feet, but was still well above the cloud level. In the distance, a small spec of land poked above the cloud. It looked like a tiny island above the the sea, but it was in fact the very tip of the island's highest peak peeking out of the constant cloud. Welcome to Madeira! "Can you please return to your allocated seats?" The flight attendant repeated her request over the tannoy. An indignant group of passengers reluctantly agreed to the request, leaving loads of empty seats scattered around. The flight attendant explained for those who queried the request further. "We need to redistribute the weight for landing". I suspect the majority of passengers were totally oblivious to the fact they were circling to land at what is well recognised as ... read more

A mix of sunshine & clouds. Yesterday the morning started with beautiful blue skies, there is a lovely sun terrace at the hotel with views of the harbour and the hillside of Funchal. A nice place to sit and relax, also a reminder of a previous visit when the terrace was open to view Funchal's magnificent New Years Eve firework display. Whatever time of the year Madeira is one of our favourite destinations. Catching up with some reading we relaxed around the pool, I took a walk on the 'beach'. Well cobbles more like but then Funchal us nit known for sandy beaches! Come the afternoon the sun had decided to hide behind the clouds, we took a stroll into the centre, the flower carpets are revamped every few days so the scene is forever changing. ... read more

SATURDAY Usually the children's parade is held on the day before the Flower Parade but due to poor weather last Saturday the event was rescheduled for this weekend I wasn't able to get a grandstand view this time and I had expected perhaps that the children would have dressed up. By the time I reached the municipal square, there seemed to be children with their parents, each child holding a flower that was to be placed on the Wall of Hope. I had read reports from previous years of a parade of colourfully clad children in traditional dress, never mind it was a lovely atmosphere, the square was full of onlookers as we listed to music and watched flower girls dancing. Plenty of barricades & police controlling the crowds, many like us tourists visiting Madeira. This ... read more

An easy day today ! On my tick list this trip - Santa Catarina Park All previous visits to Funchal have either been in Winter time or we have been out & about around the island so today was an ideal time to have a stroll around the park. It is a public holiday today (Revolution Day) & a huge cruise ship is in port so I was surprised that the park was not busier. It was quite early so I'm guessing the locals were enjoying a lie-in & the cruisers their breakfast on board. I entered the park next to the Presidential Palace Gardens, the gates of the park were closed so it was not open to the public today. Something else to add to my tick list for another day! The lake was gleaming ... read more