Why Madeira
After we left Portugal in August we travelled for four days to the beautiful island of Madeira. Madeira is located in the middle of the Atlantic Sea, off the coast of North Africa. During our visit we rented a car and stayed in an inexpensive, somewhat your grandmother’s, funky arbnb in Funchal the capital city, overlooking the harbor.
On the first day of our stay we thoroughly explored the old town of Funchal on foot, enjoying the small cobbled streets and pastel houses that closely line them.
Our walk through town also took us into the fish market where we saw giant slices of Atlantic tuna laid out for sale.
In order to see the whole vista of the town more clearly, we decided to head up to the top of the mountains behind Funchal on a venicular, which swung us high above gardens, multiple banana groves, and tiny dollhouses spread way below us.
Later that evening, we enjoyed a traditional Portuguese meal at Food and Fado, listening to guitars, mandolins and singers, who despite the language barrier engaged us.
On the second day we drove all around the eastside of the island to Porto Moniz, and swam in the salt water pools and bays that abound there. The Atlantic sea on that side is warm in August, and has a clear deep turquoise color which clearly shows the rocks, stones and the teaming sea life many feet below its swell.
After driving for hours through Madeira’s beautiful national park back to Funchal, we ended up having a very late lunch at Joe’s Bar in the tiny quaint village of Jardim de Mar.
Serendipity played its hand when I came across a young actor and screenwriter named Germano Sardhina. We’ve decided to collaborate on a pilot TV series together.
On our third day in Madeira we had a delicious brunch at Quinta do Furao a restaurant located near Santana. This restaurant on the opposite side of the island to Funchal is next to a beautiful boutique hotel. It’s surrounded by mountains, ocean and grape vines. While there we checked out some old-style, typical historic Madeiran houses.
We had some hilarious experiences following Waze to remote locations. At one point we were asked to turn left onto what looked like a footpath, and my husband turned to me and said “sorry no way am I driving up there.” We also ended up at a private house down a long driveway, where the non-English speaking lady of the house told us, “no is hotel, no is hotel.”
The fruit in Portugal is to die for and I am a particular officionada of passion fruit, so I was lucky to find many flavorful varieties including the one shown below.
Madeira is a beautiful island that is well worth a visit if you find yourself on vacation in Portugal as we did. Best of all Southern Europe is an inexpensive place where I can rendevouz with my English family whom I miss greatly, and only get to see infrequently.
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This book gripped me from beginning to end. The author has extrapolated a vision of the future that is based on her extensive scientific research. This illuminates her vision with plausible future scenarios that both fascinate and alarm. Thank you Ms. Harley, for this journey into a dystopian future that also weaves hope in the resourcefulness and creativity of your finely drawn characters, while at the same time awakening your readers to the present day urgency of climate activism.
