It took us a couple tries, but we made it to Madeira. Our first attempt was July 1. We flew from Madrid to Lisbon, then after a three hour layover, made the two-hour flight to Madeira. Unfortunately, the wind was too strong to land, so, after circling for awhile, we flew back to Lisbon. After a couple hours in the customer service line with the other 180+ passengers, the airline put us up at a hotel and booked us on another airline for the following morning. We were entertained while in line watching the people, mostly women, get upset and either try to cut in line or start yelling at the one agent tasked with getting everyone rescheduled. With fatigue and flared tempers, it once escalated to some pushing, shoving, and even one face grab! Perhaps it was the quiet time on the Camino or the fact they were yelling in Portuguese, but we were thoroughly entertained.
Lisbon, Portugal.
On round two we landed successfully! Madeira has a surprisingly small airport. It is called the Hawaii of Europe. We’re looking forward to putting our hiking shoes back on and exploring the heights!
Madeira is Portuguese for wood (the islands were heavily wooded). It consists of three islands 320 miles west of Morocco (NW Africa). It has an area of 310 square miles and a population of 250,000 (half the population lives on the main island of Funchal). Its highest elevation is over 6,000 feet. Madeira was discovered by the Portuguese in 1419; possibly by the Vikings in the 900s. It is the same latitude as the Bahamas. Sugar cane was a primary crop in the 1500s. In the 1600s vineyards replaced sugar cane. The island is directly in the trade winds between Europe and America.
Fun facts: In the US colonies there were no vineyards, so they imported Madeira wine. John Hancock had a ship named Liberty that was seized by the British in 1768 after unloading 3,150 gallons of Madeira wine. Import duties were placed on the wine, causing an uproar in Boston. Madeira wine was used by the founding fathers to toast the Declaration of Independence. A bottle of Madeira wine was used to christen the USS Constitution in 1797.
The average mean temperature is 66 degrees Fahrenheit. The NW part of the island has lots of fresh water and the SE part is dry. In the 16th century, they started building aqueducts to move the water around and today there are over 1,300 miles of aqueducts.
The only clothes we have are the two outfits we rotated on the Camino, so we did some shopping today. While walking around, we found the Madeira Cathedral. It was built between 1490 and 1514 and has an interesting carved wood ceiling and beautiful hand painting.
PatDon
Looks like a great place to sit down.How is your leg Barb?