Madeira

Hi,
This is a long post and I am so behind with my posting anyway here is some information of Madeira while you look at the pictures I took from a view point overlooking Funchal.
Madeira basks in the Atlantic Ocean, less the 700 Kilometres from the coast of Morocco,  and about 1,000 km from Lisbon.   Madeira is own by Portugal and they speak Portuguese.
The Archipelago of Madeira is formed from a number of island of which Madeira is the largest of the two inhabited islands.  The others are deserted islands.  Madeira is about 300 km to the south off the Canary Islands.  The also Volcanic in origin.  Madeira means "wood" in Portuguese

 Madeira is known for its embroidery,   which is very expensive but beautifully worked,   and is one of the local industries along with basketry.   I am sorry I was not able to get any photos of their work.  we did visit the embroidery shop  in Funchal and their work is wonderful,  if you ever go to Madeira do go and see some wonderful embroidery work.

 These Agapantbus  grow everywhere,  in white and blue,  they call them weeds,  here in the UK they are expensive bulbs,   mine are just beginning to have flowers stalks,  and possibly wont be flowering until August.

We now go into the mountains of Madeira,  above the clouds, to  the road took us to the highest point in Madeira,   I managed to get these photos before the clouds descended again.  The weather up here can change hour by hour and we were lucky to get these pictures,  before the mini bus took us down the cloud did descend again.   This is the pathway to the highest point in Madeira,  unfortunately I could not walk any further but these pictures below are from this spot.

Looking down onto a village,  and I cant remember what the name of this village is,  sorry

This is inside the church at Monte, which 6 kilometres from Funchal, its called the church of Nossa Senhora of Monte (Our Lady of the Mount)  a 19th century church which has a wooden image of the islands patron saint Nossa Senhora de Monte.  Monte Village is perched 500 meters above sea level.






This is a piece written outside the church about the history of the church,  and there is another one further down the post

This is a piece which was also on the wall outside the church about the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Charles 1,  The emperor spent the last six months of his life on Madeira when the victors of World War one decreed in 1921 that he should be sent into exile.

This is the view from the church overlooking Funchal. Its from Monte that the famous wicker basket run is done,  the baskets hold two people,  this thrilling ride down the streets lasts around 10 minutes,  needless to say this time neither of us did the ride,  I did it 35 years ago and I know my back would not have liked it today.             

These houses are called palheiros unusual triangular shaped brightly coloured thatched huts.  They stay cool in summer  and provide heat in winter.  They are found in a village called Santana in central Madeira.   This was one outside the shopping centre in Funchal.

This is one picture I had to share this is my hubby Vernon sitting in  one of the basket wicker sleds in the shopping centre.

And finally this is the ship we saw all week its usually passed a couple of times a day,  When you think of an ocean you think there will be lots of ships on it,   no for a whole week we only saw local fishing boats and this galleon.

Well that's finally one post of Madeira,  I hope you enjoyed it and when you can visit this lovely island.

                       Hugs

                    Margaret