The Highs and Lows of Madeira

Madeira is a wonderful escape.  A beautiful Portuguese island blessed with fabulous massive ferns and exotic plants. 

Nearly two years now since our last visit but still remains firmly in our memory and it felt right somehow to do another post on this amazing island.

Oh and it would be rude not to mention the banana plants.  All over the island, absolutely incredible and look as if they are some prehistoric species :) 

The capital of Madeira is Funchal where you'll find International Hotels, vibrant restaurants and contemporary art spaces.   With its cafes and bars spilling into narrow alleyways it's hardly any wonder that it's buzzing with tourists and definitely a place to visit.

We stayed in Calheta which is much quieter but visited Funchal for a day and definitely wouldn't have wanted to miss it.

The highs ....

The cable car ride is a must for panoramic views over Funchal. 

I'm not much of an adventurer and a little nervous about doing anything out of the ordinary, but it would have been daft not to do this!

 As you can see, I'm smiling so it couldn't be that scary :)

Sadly we went just after the fires and some of the scenes below us were devastating.  People who had lost their homes to flames started purposely is hard to believe.  More on this in a previous blog.

Please, if anyone is lucky enough to go sometime soon, can you take some photos from the cable car to confirm that some of this beauty has been restored.  It would be lovely if you can share with us by email.  Happy to credit you with the images.  We just want to know all is well once more.

The lows .....

Ah you see I mean at ground level!  You must walk along the promenade, actually you'll have to, to get to and from the Cable car.

Take the kids to sit in the ice cream cones and buy ice cream of course!  Plenty of choice here and delicious.

And apparently the Madeira's own coca cola is Brisa which comes in different flavours.  Brisa Marecuja is the most popular made from the juice of purple passion fruit.  I haven't tasted it but if you do, let us know!

Oh and for the adults Poncha is the Madeira drink of choice, specially for celebrations.  It's made from sugar-cane rum, honey, sugar and lemon juice.  Yes, indeed, absolutely delicious, easy to drink and very potent.  Don't say I didn't warn you.

Where to stay.  Well of course we can only recommend where we stayed in Calheta at The Savoy 

However, there are many many places, of course, and if you can recommend please get in touch we're always pleased to hear of recommendations.

There is so much to see and do and I could go on for ages ...... but if you want to know more ......

Another high is the tropical gardens which is at the top, once you disembark the cable car!  Prepare to be amazed :)

If you're going you will be sure to have a truly wonderful experience.
Enjoy and be sure to share with us!

And we will be sure to share with you another beautiful island very soon. :) 

Bye for now and as they say in Portuguese 'Tchau' 
See you soon = te vejo em breve

Our Travels to Madeira Found us in the Sugar Cane Mill and Distillery

Anything to do with Distillery and you know who is interested!

The word 'distillery' and my husband's ears prick up immediately. And if you remember we visited the Bombay Sapphire Gin Distillery back in June.

Umm? I do wonder whether Malcolm had inside knowledge and this is the reason he chose for us to stay in Calheta on our Madeira visit?

In any case this is a must do when you visit Calheta!

Each Year April to May Non Stop - Sugar Cane Mill Calheta

Calheta´s Sugar Cane Mill works day and night from April to May
The sugar canes must be harvested within a few hours to stop them becoming dry.

Apparently labourers book to work here months in advance because the work in the mill pays well.
We visited in September but you can visit any time of the year and entrance is free..

There is a bus tour that takes you to the Sugar Cane Mill from the Hotel Saccharum, where we stayed. We did actually book ourselves on it.

However, the day before the tour was to take place we found the mill. Well we kind of stumbled upon it, on one of our Calheta walks. So we gave ourselves a tour round the Mill and 'unbooked' ourselves from the trip on our return to the hotel so that someone else could take our place on the bus.

The old steam engine has been in operation since 1894.

Being the first agricultural product in Madeira, I can understand the significance of the sugar cane mill.  This fabulous steam engine had been in operation for such a long time.  Malcolm, as you can see from the photographs, was in his element capturing all this machinery and its mechanisms.

Sugar cane in Honey Cake, Poncha, Aguardente

Sugar cane is responsible for many things, but the two things you will hear a lot about is the Honey Cake and Poncha and the sugar cane syrup which became a firm favourite of mine, as mentioned in my previous post!

The traditional honey cake known as 'Bolo de Mel's' produced in Calheta is, we're told, the best honey cake. :) As we were in Calheta, we were happy to agree with that.

The Poncha is prepared with sugar cane rum, honey and lemon juice. There is an old room in the Mill with shelves full of various aged bottles.

I loved the little cherubs who watched over the sugar cane mill!

A terrace with a pretty view

The terrace outside has plenty of tables and an undercover seating area out of the heat.  It is above the distillery so it has a pretty view, where you can relax a while with a refreshing poncha and maybe a piece of honey cake.

Now strangely enough I found the terrace whilst Malcolm enjoyed his time with the machinery!  No need to hide from the sun on this morning as it was a little overcast but still warm and the sun came through later as it mostly does in Madeira.

So where to next?

Who'd Have Thought It Me in a Cable Car in Madeira

We took a slow meander past all the pretty cafes (we were tempted to stop and watch the world go by but if time allowed we would do that on the way back)  and finally arrived at the departure station which is situated at the park Almirante Reis.

I was comforted to see how clean, modern and safe it looked!

We joined the queue, but these cable cars are efficiently run and there was not much waiting to be done! 

Come fly with me .... 

 Up, up and away, but not in our beautiful balloon, in our cable car.

This is truly the most amazing experience.  I am not one for being brave in any way shape or form, but this cable car ride is incredible and you never feel unsafe and, coming from me that's saying something!  

See below a very smiley me!

But then it was tinged with sadness.

We just couldn't believe it.  We were totally shocked by the devastation of the fires in Madeira. 

It was quite surreal that some homes had totally disappeared, yet some seemed to have escaped any fire damage at all.  

It is said that Madeira's very own world class footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo has donated thousands of pounds to help the people of Madeira who have been affected by the fires.

As you can see Funchal is a popular destination for the cruise ships.

Who'd have thought it ....

At the beginning of the 20th Century here was a steam train.  It would take the Tourists up the Monte hills.

  

Now replaced by a modern and the most amazing cable car ride with views as far as the eye can see.

And who'd have thought it indeed that I would go in a cable car ride! 

Stay with us on this trip for the surprise at the top.