CROSSING THE ATLANTIC PEARL: MADEIRA - PORTUGAL

In 2013 I had the opportunity to travel to Madeira, it is one of the islands of Madeira Islands, it is the largest and therefore it bears his name. Madeira belongs to Portugal, it is approximately 2 hours by plane from Funchal, its capital, to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal or as the Portuguese call it "continent"; Madeira is in the Atlantic Ocean and for me it is definitely the Pearl of the Atlantic, I have been there several times and every time I go it surprises me and makes me fall in love more and of course I find it hard to say goodbye to the beautiful  island, just waiting to return soon.  

This time my trip was not planned at all, it was something very hasty at the end of October of that year, but well there they say that the things that are not planned are better and good. It's the first time I've been in Funchal so little time, it was only a week! so I had to do everything quick to take advantage of as much time as possible, of course I visited my family and took the opportunity to meet new places I had not been.     

One of the things I love most in Madeira is walking, walking through all its streets in Funchal, which are full of small and very typical restaurants, walking tourists who arrive mostly on cruises, beautiful flowers on every corner, music and the weather ideal, despite the fact that the trip was already coming in the autumn that in Europe is the beginning of the cold, the island kept a pretty cool and pleasant climate without the need to wear big jackets or boots, just simple sweaters and jeans, without forgetting of course, go out with the camera.     

My stay was in Funchal, but I visited other places like Machico, Calheta, Ponta Delgada, Camacha and Santana, in which the small religious festivities are typical, decorating the streets with colorful colors, as was the case of Machico when I passed by there. 

In Santana I saw its typical houses, most of the houses nowadays in this town no longer have this particular type of architecture, although I noticed in some cases that people have preserved their old houses and built a new one next to modern architecture, I think that in order to preserve part of its history. The explanation of this type of houses was given to me by their habitants, they told me that Santana is a place where it rains a lot, therefore the roofs were built so years ago to avoid the rainwater leaking inside their houses. In some places, like restaurants or supermarkets, they have small replics of the houses where you can enter, I of course could not resist that.   

 I was also in places with amazing views as “Ponta de São Lourenço”, one of the most beautiful views I've seen in my life, is a postcard. I also went through some viewpoints, although I did not have the chance to go to “Pico do Arieiro”, it is the highest point of the Island, they told me that being there you can see the planes flying down below you, definitely that place is on my list of places that I should to visit.  

Beautiful view, is´nt it?, because I tell you that here not only the view steals your breath, the breeze is very strong, while you go up feeling a breeze normal, quite bearable, but at one point it feels like a breeze , I think it's something like the point where the north and south winds interlock or collide, something like that was also told to me; the point is that if they plan to climb they must do it with enough care, do not try to get too close to the edges, here there is no edge protection and the breeze can make a bad move, many tourists trying to test their audacity fell. I highly recommend this site, the view is fantastic, but you should be careful, I also recommend that you do not do as I did  and if you are going to go through here remember to take something to tie your hair if you have long hair, or suffer from hair flying and well, you know the problem later, they will be entangled, just like me.  

The nights in Funchal are quite fresh and at the same time quite animated, for all kinds of tastes, you can go to take "ponchas", the typical Madeira alcoholic beverage and without a doubt the most famous, while you drink something you can enjoy live music, either from "Fados" or an interpretation of popular songs of the moment by local artists, you can go to one of the many restaurants in the area and walk along "Avenida do Mar", my favorite to walk near the port and with options of food nearby. Depends on the time you travel the nights will begin sooner or on the contrary very late, for the month I went the night began at a normal time, good for me, I am from Caracas and the night here is between 6.00 pm and 6.30pm. One night I decided to go for a walk on "Av. Do Mar", finding the surprise of a cart that sold roasted chestnuts, very common in those months, I had never tasted them and I loved them, I sat right in the harbor watching a big cruise while I tasted my chestnuts, when I ended up I went into a place very close to there where they had live music and a very nice atmosphere, where you could quickly identify one or another german or britain who had drink a lot of "ponchas" as it left them in evidence they`re  great skills to sing.     

 It was an incredible night, like every day I spent on the Island, if you have the opportunity to go do not let it pass, take advantage of the summer and autumn months to avoid the rainy seasons that could interrupt your tour of the Island. Madeira has millions of things to see and this is not even half, the truth is a quiet island but you will always get something to do, a week is not enough to cover it but to miss it. 

Tell me, have you been in Madeira? What sites would you recommend to visit for the next time?  

Kisses!   

Instagram: @fatimacarolinablog   

Blog: https://fatimacarolinablog.blogspot.com 

Source:   Post of my blog: https://fatimacarolinablog.blogspot.com/2017/09/recorriedo-la-perla-del-atlantico.html