Blogs from Portugal, Europe - page 6

It’s lucky I christened this blog the way I did, because this country has tarts in abundance! To the left of me, I have some delicious Portuguese Pastels de nata. These are nothing like the sugary soft things we get at home, which I confirmed with a second and a third after dinner. To the right of me, I have a peep show. Some entertainment watching all the comes and goings from our apartment window. Survived another long flight wedged between a wriggler and a spewer and managed another successful airport rendezvous with Geoff. Made it to our apartment and had a quick freshen before a late lunch in the heat and a quick trip to Belem for a look at the tower. The tiredness and heat meant it was a flying visit but at least ... read more

Portugal has been on my must visit list since I was a child reading Robinson Crusoe. I was obsessed with being a pirate and this country has plenty of seafaring history to draw me in and that might be what set me up for major culture shock when I arrived. My hotel is located within the “Bombay” area as my taxi driver stated, which makes sense (now) given the colonial legacy of the Portuguese in Southeast Asia. I can much easier find Indian food than traditional Portuguese food, though I did the best I could as far as finding local foods. Portugal is different and perhaps that is purely because of my expectations for coming to this place - after all, how do you visit a seafaring nation? I joined a hop-on-hop-off bus tour and took ... read more

5th May Today was another full day excursion to discover the West & North of the island. Roberto was our driver today, all of the tours we have been on only use small coaches, just 18-20 people, just as well as some of the roads are very twisting and turning. Our first stop was a pretty seaside town Ribeira Brava which benefits from the privileged climate felt on the west coast of the island almost all year round. The town was so named after the water line, with a wild flow, that crosses it. We continued along the coast stopping at a small village where we took a short walk through a banana plantation where our guide explained the growing processes of the banana plant, all very interesting. One amusing fact is that Madeira only export ... read more

3rd May Our hotel is situated in the old town of Funchal and within close proximity there is always something interesting to see. As the Portuguese almost completely dominated the North Atlantic routes in ancient times, the defence of the island did not seem of special importance. Because of this negligence, in 1566 Funchal suffered a terrible pirate attack, where many people were slaughtered. In spite of the constant danger of another attack, only in 1614 the São Tiago Fort was finally built to protect Funchal from the corsairs. In 1767 it was enlarged and exclusively served military purposes until 1992, the year in which Madeira’s Regional Government decided to use it for cultural activities. There is also a restaurant with view across the battlements. A little further on is The Socorro Church, also known as ... read more

30th April Sunday is the day of the Great Allegoric Flower Parade when thousands of locals and tourists descend on Funchal. After breakfast Benita, Rosemary & I went to collect our grandstand seats, we had pre-ordered them on line before arriving in Madeira but no tickets are issued until the day. As we walked to the pickup point rows and rows of empty tiered seats which would be full later in the day. We had no idea what number grandstand we would be located in. We had passed 10 grandstands most each side of the road, a fair walk from our hotel & even more beyond. We were handed our tickets & what a bonus we had obviously been some of the first to book as we were in Grandstand No. 1 seats 912-917, not too ... read more