MADEIRA, PORTUGAL

"Some beautiful paths can't be discovered without getting lost." ...Erol Ozan

Friday, March 27, 2015

Today were at sea again and again it's really rough. Time to do some reading, some napping, more eating which I will do all three. Looking forward to getting to Madeira tomorrow.

Saturday, March 28, 2015 - MADEIRA, PORTUGAL

 Look up this morning and saw the strangest sight! It was the sun. It was such a welcome sight and it really wanted to make you get outside and have some fun. Pat, one of my table mates, asked if she could join me: I had already booked the hop on hop off bus and that was our plan for the day. We took the shuttle into town and getting off the bus we were surrounded by about seven taxi drivers all offering the best tours in Madeira. One of the guys belong to in a pinup calendar. Tall, dark, Roman nose, beautiful accent (spoke just like Luciana, which of course I love), and for only €60 Antonio would take us around the island and show us all the high points. I would've gone if he said €100, but Pat and I decided we would find a couple of other people go with us to lower the price.

 






Finally we set off to see the highlights of Madeira. He brought us up to Pico do Arieiro, one of the highest points at over 5900 feet. The view was fantastic. We saw the ocean, all the little towns, all the terraced gardens, the cable cars bringing tourists up-and-down the mountain. It was really a beautiful site.






Driving around the island, which is very mountainous, you could see all the houses built into the hillsides along with their gardens. Sugarcane and bananas grow all over the island. It's amazing find an empty spot in there you'll find banana plants. The Bougainvillas  were beautiful only passed avocado trees and passion fruit trees and just everything tropical.

We went to another site where they built a glass platform that you could look straight down, again about 5000 feet, and see the ocean and the beach below you.

 

We drove on a bit and then stopped at a small little restaurant. Antonio had been telling us about the local drink called poncha, which contains passionfruit, lemons, and their honey rum. Talk about knocking your socks off! The owner gave us a taste of the rum straight up and it was like liquid dynamite but if you sifted it really wasn't that bad. She served as a small dish of lupines.... I can't tell you what they are because I've never seen them before and Antonio couldn't explain it either but they had a hard shell and the inside was also hard. Antonio said that this is what they serve all the time with their Poncha. While we were waiting for her to make the Poncha, I spotted the natas!I LOVE NATAS! The full name is pastis de nata, which is a flaky pastry shell filled with custard. They taste best warm with cinnamon and powdered sugar sprinkled on top. Pat and I both had one along with our Poncha and then we headed out for the next stop.

We headed over to Camara de Lobos, a local fishing village. There are a few boats in the water but many were up on land; outdoor cafés lining the area and to narrow streets completed the scene. One of the boats had fish hanging from lines drying; Antonio said it they were Sapatas (sp?) Or what we call baccala (sp?). Walking up one street I noticed a plain doorway but then when I looked up realized it was a church. From the outside just a small white church in a little fishing village but I was pleasantly surprised when I walked inside. You can see by the picture it's really a neat little place.

The big tourist section is in the lower part of the island with many 3, 4 and five star hotels, but one of the best hotels was up in the mountains not crowded in by other hotels and shops and restaurant after restaurant after restaurant.

It was funny; every time Antonio spoke about going on vacation or young people going off to school he always said they went to Portugal. I asked him why he didn't refer to it is the mainland since Madeira is in Portugal and he said 'that's Portugal; this is Madeira.'

Footnote, Antonio is happily married with three children… Damn!

Madeira has become one of my favorite places.

We have a sea day tomorrow, Sunday, and then we will be in the Cadiz, Spain. Our location guide told us that things will be different this trip because we will be in Spain during holy week and with Spain being 95% Catholic there will be a lot of processions going on and we will be able to see the tronas. More on that next time.