The volcanic island of Madeira, off the coast of Africa and roughly in line with Morocco, is a wonderful vacation spot visited by many Europeans and increasingly more North Americans.
The culture, climate and sights are amazing, and we certainly enjoyed our rather short 10-day visit in April. As I described in a recent article, I had spent time exploring the underwater world of Madeira but my wife Claudia and Sylvia, the wife of my fellow-diver Jim, had more time to explore that area around the capital city of Funchal.
Madeira has a mild climate all year, known as the “island of eternal spring,” with temperatures rarely dropping below 10 degrees Celsius. We were quite comfortable in April with daily average temperatures of 21 C. Sometimes, at a restaurant sitting outside in the evening, a light sweater made it more comfortable if the wind off the ocean could be felt. It is a mountainous island and at times we became aware of clouds in the higher elevations which looked threatening, but we never encountered anything more than a gentle sprinkle for about 10 minutes one day.
We had experienced the cuisine on the Azores a few years ago and were expecting similar on Madeira. All the restaurant experiences we had on the island were wonderful, and we had the opportunity to try several of the local dishes. I preferred to try local seafood, and it was superb. Local scabbard fish, found in the deep sea, was my favourite meal — it's a very ugly fish that tastes great any way it is cooked. A specialty with this fish is with a sauce and a banana, which I tried once. Another seafood dish I enjoyed was the squid and scampi skewers. Beef or chicken served on skewers suspended on a rack at the table was also very good. Other items we tried were local tomato, onion and egg soup and several of the local desserts, such as passion fruit puddings and cookies, which were simply delicious. And, of course, one cannot pass a Portuguese bakery without stopping in for a Pastel de Nata, a flaky, crispy pastry filled with a light egg custard.
A day excursion we undertook together was to walk down the main promenade to the harbour area, where we saw several cruise boats in the harbour, including the Cunard vessel Queen Victoria. A replica boat, the Santa Maria de Columbo, takes folk out along the coast and we often saw it sailing by. At the harbour, we took the gondola ride up to the Mont area where there are wonderful gardens to experience. There is a church too, the Mother Church of Our Lady of Mont, the original which was built in 1489 and rebuilt after an earthquake in 1818 — a lot of steps involved. In one side chapel within the church, lie the remains of the last Emperor of Austria, Karl of Habsbourg, who died in 1922.
Instead of taking the gondola back down we opted for a traditional Madeira experience — the Toboggan Ride. This ride on traditional wicker basket ‘sleighs’ is a great tradition on Madeira, and a lot of fun. You travel down the streets on this sleigh with two ‘riders’ at the back who direct the sleigh or pull it on level surfaces. It’s very popular and well worth the experience. Also amazing was when we climbed out of the sleigh at the end of the ride, a photograph memorializing the event was waiting for us, for a small fee. We couldn’t turn it down.
A walk from our hotel took us along some interesting roads leading to the downtown area. We were impressed by the tiled walkways seen throughout the city in the Portuguese tradition. These mosaic tiled pavements are exquisitely designed. It is a traditional style of pavement used in many pedestrian areas. It consists of small pieces of stone arranged in pattern or image like a mosaic. The stones are made of natural stone, usually white or black limestone as well as basalt. Each stone is applied by hand to form these decorative patterns. They were seen throughout the area and were quite beautiful.
Claudia and Sylvia ventured out on the local buses one day. They caught a local bus to a small fishing village west of Funchal called Camara de Lobos. They also visited the narrow and colourful street in Funchal, the Rua de Santa Maria, an old cobblestone street. There are many restaurants in the area but it is known for all the colourful doors painted by local artists. Some are naughty and some are whimsical, but all are really interesting.
It would be remiss not to mention Madeira’s most famous person, Cristiano Ronaldo, a professional soccer player who plays forward and captains for both Saudi Pro league club Al Nassr and Portugal’s national team. The airport on Madeira bears his name A much-visited statue and museum honours his contributions to the beautiful game.
