Madeira: Things

General Information

• Madeira (pronounced "muh deeeer uh" if you are from England, "muh dare uh" if you are not) is one of a group of volcanic islands under the Portuguese government, but is actually situated south and west of Portugal, off the coast of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean.
• From Wikipedia: Madeira was rediscovered by Portuguese sailors some time between 1418 and 1420. The archipelago is considered to be the first discovery of the exploratory period initiated by Henry the Navigator of Portugal. It is a popular year-round resort, noted for its Madeira wine (yummy and potent - my addition), flowers, and embroidery artisans, as well as its New Year's Eve celebrations that feature a spectacular fireworks, which is the largest in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records. It is a politically autonomous region of Portugal, part of Europe and therefore the European Union. Its harbour - Funchal - is important due to its commercial and passenger traffic and for being a major stopover for cruisers (read "Germans" - my addition) en route from Europe (read "Germany") to the Caribbean.
• Yes, there were a lot of Germans in the city of Funchal. How do I know this? Well, we saw and heard them everywhere and I am trying to collect the different denominations of euros from each country we visit and just each country who uses euros in general. I got almost all of Portugal and pretty much the only other country whose currency was spilling out of my wallet was Germany. I did also get three coins from Finland and one from Greece (BONUS! especially the Finnish ones because we probably won't get there).
• Since joining the European Union, there has been extensive road construction which in my opinion was badly needed. The old Madeiran country roads are truly some of the twistiest, steepest and nervewracking roads Craig and I have ever driven (in a manual shift car I might add). I was so thankful that they were actually paving the road that was the most direct route to our house for most of the week because it was so steep, I felt like I was driving vertically. I don't know how they paved it!! That said, the small roads are well-maintained in general and the countryside is gorgeous and amazing and deserves to be seen on those aforementioned roads. The new Via Rapida gets you around the perimeter of the island through a network of oh, about a bazillion tunnels. Relying upon a GPS system is not recommended and we actually saw lots of drivers circling the roundabouts, trying to get a signal and reset their GPS. Hello??? It's called a MAP!
  

Flora and Fauna

• There is an interesting variety of flora on the island. We strolled through a few parks and hiking trails and got a feel for the abundance of flowers. Ferns are everywhere in the upper laurel forests. The lauris silva trees are gorgeous and sound so pretty in the wind. They smell fresh and clean like eucalyptus - that same smell when you walk into Michael's craft store.
• The garden behind the house was chock full of fruit trees: banana, avocado, Brazilian cherry and Japanese loquat to name a few. We sampled every one and I think our favorite was the loquats - sort of like an apricot - although the fresh ripe avocados were a real treat. The garden was nice because the kids would just go and get lost in it. In the middle was a seating area/patio with an umbrella.
  

View east of Funchal from Santa Catarina Gardens

Owen playing Munchkin in the Jardim Municipal

A well-deserved rest in the Jardim Municipal. The walk back to our hotel was a pretty intense uphill climb especially after a day of sight-seeing. Luckily there was a gelato stand at the top - great motivator!

Buildings surrounding the Jardim Municipal

View from Cabo Girao, supposedly the second highest cliffs in the world. They were pretty high up there.

Limpets on a rocky beach

• Small lizards permeate the island. Owen was in his glory! Our neighbors showed him how to make a lizard lasso from a very long piece of grass. He was never successful with it, but our neighbor's son did catch one in it. Owen preferred the sneak and leap attack, sometimes coming up empty-handed, more often with a wriggling tail only and other times sucessful.

• There are also small, squat and ugly Pug/Pekinese breed dogs which bark incessantly and wander or lie in the middle of the extra curvy and low visibility downhill roads (never on a few and far between straightaway) especially when the owner is near enough to call the dog but chooses not to do so.
• Farm animals predominate and there are lots of cats. The boys were particularly enamored with the neighbor's cat whose name was Pintada. She was a sweetie and meowed for them to come outside.
• There was an occasional rare mosquito, but omnipresent flies. I NEVER got bit by a mosquito - a true feat.
  

Food

• From a previous post, I compared different countries' method of milk and egg packaging. All milk on Madeira is long-term packaged in one liter juice-box-type containers and totally delish. There is no real dairy industry on the island, although there are cows and so milk must be shipped. We preferred "leite gordo" which literally means "fat milk". Eggs are in half- and dozen packages. You don't get to pick your own like in So. France.
• Speaking of eggs, every hamburger and a lot of the steak we saw & ate came with a fried egg on top even if we asked for "no ovo". I think it's unMadeiran to eat an eggless burger. They were yummy though. The hotdogs which should be called "sort of warm dogs" were served generally coldish and definitely not hot with chopped lettuce, mayonnaise and ketchup and tiny fried potato chip sticks on top. One was enough for Evan and me (yuck).
  
• The fish and meat selection was superb and Madeiran beef is so good. The amount of food you get at a restaurant is shameful. Really. I think we have gotten used to English standards (although these vary). We never got to order dessert, oops sorry "pudding" because we were so full.
  
• Brisas maracuja is the best soda ever. It is passionfruit flavored and ever so scrummy. Sadly, no root beer in Madeira either, but you can get anything else. Our search for a country outside the US which serves root beer is still on. Luckily, we can get it at the commissary as a once in a while treat so we are not forced to go cold turkey.
  
• They recycle and reuse glass bottles like madmen. Not so good on plastic though. Although like in most of Europe, reusable bags are encouraged and you are charged for plastic bags at the grocery store. Oh, and like in the UK, you pack your own groceries which I actually prefer weirdly enough.