I am participating in Jenny Matlock's Alphabe Thursday
Twice now, I have had the incredible good fortune to stop for one day on the island of Madeira in the north Atlantic, about 325 miles from the coast of Africa. After six sea days, crossing from Florida, it is a magical stop, with its subtropical climate and incredible beauty. It is easy to see why so many European vacationers choose this Portuguese island as a destination. It was a favorite of Winston Churchill who stayed at the famous Reid Hotel and enjoyed painting Madeiran scenery.
The island rises from the port to incredible cliffs with glorious vistas of the ocean. At one point,
Cabo Girão, one of the highest cliffs in Europe is over 6.000 feet above sea level. Cable cars are used to transport people from Funchal to areas higher up the hillsides. You can do the cable car up to Monte - see incredible views, then take a toboggan ride down in the traditional wicker basket that once was used to transport vegetables and items from upper elevations down to the port area. It's a bit pricey - about 25 euros per couple but I thought it was great fun, careening down the streets with the two men in white, braking with their shoes. I kept my eyes closed and screamed until we came to a halt about halfway down!
Just as in Bali, every inch of land is terraced and farmed. Flowers bloom everywhere. The island justly deserves its nickname, "pearl of the Atlantic." It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and I hope to win the lottery one of these days so that I can go back, like Winston Churchill and stay at least a week. A one day stop on a cruise ship just isn't enough. I am thrilled, though, that I got to visit twice! Madeira is off the beaten path and, unless you've had their famous wine, you may not even have heard of it at all.
Sadly, in a computer crash several years ago, I lost all of my beautiful pictures of this wonderful island. The photographs shown here are all from various photos on flickr, with a creative commons license. I am so grateful to these photographers for being able to show you their work.
Sao Laurenco, Madeira
by tumsdebab
Beautiful flowers
by markwoodbury
Botannical Gardens
by nwillsey
Breathtaking view
by vigour
Cable cars
by Leo -seta
Church in Madeira
by mark woodbury
Cliffs of Madeira
by mark woodbury
Funchal, Madeira
by ahisgett
Homes on Madeira
by anybooker
Incredibly blue ocean
by jenschapter3
Ocean waves
by mark woodbury
Madeira sunset
by mark woodbury
Wicker basket toboggan ride
by mark woodbury
Madeira cliffs
by jenschapter3
I am sad you lost all your photos of this beautiful place.
ReplyDeleteThose toboggan men must have good soles on their shoes. The ride down the hill looks fun and a little hair raising too.
What a beautiful island! So sorry that you lost all your photos..
ReplyDeletestunning fotos of this place, and i was beginning to think why all the mismatch. ^0^
ReplyDeleteso sad to hear about your fotos, i guess,it happens to all of us. ^-^
i hope you can get to visit this place again and by then share it with us.
interesting blog btw, love it. ^0^
Too bad you lost all your pictures. But these were amazing. It looks very beautiful there. I love the wicker toboggan. It looks like it would be a lot of fun to go on that.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures of Madeira
ReplyDeletegorgeous,you are lucky to have been there :D
ReplyDeleteYou have selected the most beautiful photos to showcase this wonderful island, Carmen..Great M post!
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry for the loss of your photos. Love that you included the wicker basket toboggan ride because I was having a hard time picturing that! Great M post, Carmen!
ReplyDeleteLiss - I learned my lesson, then, about backing up your computer!
ReplyDeleteMumsy - thanks for stopping by. At least, I have the beautiful "Insight" guide on Madeira and it is filled with fabulous pictures. They are my favorite of all guide books for their photography.
ReplyDeletearabesque - unless I find work again, I probably won't ever see Madeira - although, sometimes, the transatlantic cruises are quite reasonably priced!
ReplyDeleteViki - I can't believe I went on that toboggan ride again. I am really terrified of that sort of thing. I was with a friend, though, so I sort of had to do it...and I was glad. I can't really describe the island's beauty and I'm seldom at a loss for words.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, that toboggan ride! I think I would scream too! You've taken some wonderful trips. Maybe you should go into the travel business in some way.
ReplyDeleteCarmen Madeira looks so spectacular! The ocean is so blue and the views so beautiful and those cute little homes are so charming! It's nice how you give credit to all the photographers whose photos you used ..that is true class!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you lost your photos! I hope you back up everything now. I learned that computer lesson the hard way too :-(
How sad that you lost all of your lovely photos but you still have your memories. What a beautiful place Madeira is. How lucky you were to get to visit. Great m post....stop by mine if you have time.
ReplyDeleteSpectacular photos. Lucky you.
ReplyDeletemadeira is intoxicating!!
ReplyDeleteScenes of the Nature are really grand.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to spread through my very front immediately.
Thank you for showing beautiful landscapes.
Your photography is very splendid.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
And, I thank for your always admiring my calligraphy.
Happy weekend.
From the Far East.
Best regards.
ruma
So sorry you lost your photos.
ReplyDeleteI've never thought about Madeira as a vacation destination and now I'm wondering why not.
It is lovely.
And magical.
Thank you for this delightful stop on my little journey through Alphabe-Thursday's letter "M"!
You are such a wonderful part of this Meme, Carmen!
I'm so glad you do it each week with us!
A+
omgosh it looks stunning ... the botanical gardens look beautiful ... I am so sorry you lost your photos ... it is so lucky that you were able to get some from flickr
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful Island! I love all the red tile and the colonial church.
ReplyDeleteWell, I guess my bucket list just got a little longer!
ReplyDeleteRiet - these photos are not my own, sadly. I did have so many lovely shots, lost when my computer crashed. Madeira is a photographer's paradise, for sure.
ReplyDeletelaterg8r - I treasure those two Madeira visits. It is truly one of the prettiest places I've ever seen.
ReplyDeleteIcy BC - I am glad the photos showed off Madeira well. It is really amazingly beautiful. A bit remote for the average person but a true jewel.
ReplyDeleteTina - as you can see, that wicker basket is a small thing and open, whizzing down a regular street. It is pretty scary, especially if you are a coward like me.
ReplyDeletesteviewren - years, ago, after my extensive back surgery and being disabled for a year and a half, I did take basic tourism classes at Canada College and worked as an outside sales agent for a local travel agency. It wasn't a very good income, though and a lot of work - nursing paid so much better. I did start to sell cruises from home but, again, it didn't give me enough to support my family - it was just fun. But I love learning about travel...and I love to travel!
ReplyDeletePat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti - I wish I had my own Madeira photos to show - they were so special and I had tons. Of course, the ones I borrowed deserved credit. The ones I chose were very much like my own!!
ReplyDeleteVKT - I enjoyed your "M" post! Yes, I am very fortunate that I got to do that transatlantic cruise twice stopped in Madeira. My third one went to Bermuda but our day there we were totally drenched!
ReplyDeletelakeviewer - doing that post only made me sad at losing my own photos. I lost so many when my computer crashed. Now I upload them all to flicky or another site so I have them backed up!
ReplyDeletemagiceye - all these photos of beautiful Madeira were ones I got from flickr, creative commons, site...since my own died in my computer crash, not only my Madeira shots but all my travel pictures of several years duration. I learned my lesson about backing up files!
ReplyDeleteruma2008 - that photography was borrowed from others because I didn't back up my files and lost them in a computer crash. My own pictures were really good, though - taken, actually with an old SLR camera. I lost so many travel photos which can never be replaced!
ReplyDeleteJenny, except that it is really off the beaten path and, thus, a bit hard to get to, I think Madeira is a fabulous vacation spot.
ReplyDeleteIt's been such fun having this meme to stimulate our writing! I've enjoyed it so much!
Jo - flickr is such a great source of photos. I just enjoy looking at what other folks have taken of places I've been.
ReplyDeleteGardenofDaisies - I've not been to the other side of Madeira, staying closer to the capital, Funchal...but the ship has offered tours all over the island. One really needs to stay on the island to really see it well.
ReplyDeleteAmanda - I would have missed Madeira entirely if I hadn't done that transatlantic cruise on Royal Caribbean. I didn't even know it existed!
ReplyDeleteYou're correct...I've heard of the wine, but not the island. It looks beautiful. What a wonderful place to visit.
ReplyDeleteBetty ( picture circa 1951 ) - Madeira is truly an island of breathtaking vistas. I would like to spend more than just a day there, though, to sample some of the local cuisine and to travel to the other parts of the island.
ReplyDelete