Pieces from an Altar

Museum of Religious Art

It was a quiet day in Madeira with no special activities planned. We took a walk into town and visited the museum of religious art where we saw an interesting collection of art from the last several centuries. They have on display an extensive collection of silver used in churches and for religious services….things like chalices, crosses, sepulchers, communion trays and vessels, candlesticks and more. The collection also contains many wood carved figures and altar pieces. Of most importance is the extensive collection of Flemish paintings from the 15th and 16th centuries. They also have some interesting pieces of jewelry and vestments.

After our visit to the museum we did a little window shopping in town and had a bite of lunch with Sue and Cindy at a small sidewalk snack bar. We had ham and cheese sandwiches for two-euros each. After a bite to eat we returned to the hotel for a rest. At 6:00pm we met up with our entire group at the language school for the second installment of a lecture on the local history and culture by a lady named Emke.

After the lecture about nine folks from our group ended up at a local restaurant called Theo’s for dinner. This is one of Kent and Christine’s favorite restaurants in town and it did not disappoint. Kent had a cheese plate while Mark had the roast duck breast served with sweet potatoes and a medley of vegetables. Our table mate, Karen, from Hawaii had the octopus which did not look especially appetizing but was extremely tender and tasty. She eats octopus regularly and said that it was the best that she has ever had. The restaurant had a local pianist who played the entire time that we dined.

Curral das Freiras Church

Curral das Freiras Church Interior

Curral das Freiras from the Lookout Above

This day four of us (Mark, Kent and Sue, with Marcelo driving) visited the small town of Curral (Corral) das Freiras with a population of only about 2,000 residents. This small town is located in a deep valley surrounded by steep mountain slopes in the interior of the island and was originally only accessed by semi-nomadic shepherds and slaves who gained their emancipation or escaped servitude. They built small homes and a small hamlet developed towards the end of the 15^thcentury. Today the steep hillsides encircling the town are used for the cultivation of cherries and grapes used in the production of Madeira wine.

We visited the charming small church and adjoining cemetery which is beautifully maintained and was blooming with hydrangeas. At a local souvenir shop we had a coffee and pastry along with a complementary sample of three liquors made in the area. The first was a cherry liquor, the second a eucalyptus liquor and the third a chestnut liquor.  None of us really enjoyed the samples.  After the coffee we took another short drive to the top of the mountain where we enjoyed the scenic overlook of the town. The weather at the top of the mountain was partly cloudy as the clouds swirled around the mountain tops.  Not great for photos.

In the afternoon we visited the language school where some of the people in our group are studying Portuguese. One of the teachers presented the first of a two-part series on the history of Madeira.

After the lecture we returned to the local bar and café near our hotel for a happy hour. Kent and Christine Zimmerman, our group leaders, treated us to wine, beer, mojitos, burgers and chips before returning to our hotel for the evening.

St. Martin Cemetery Headstones

St. Martin Church Interior

Mark, Kent, Sue and Marcelo from the Funchal Lookout Point

Funchal Lookout View

Blandy’s Madeira Winery

In the morning with Sue, we took a van driven by Marcelo out to the local cemetery called the Cemiterio de Sao Martinho or cemetery of St. Martin. This is the largest cemeteries in Funchal where many of the well-known families of Funchal have been laid to rest. They have family sepulchers or small ornate sheds where you can find racks on either side that hold eight caskets per small structure. You also can find many urns of ashes inside of the family plots. In addition to the old wooden caskets many of these sheds are ornately decorated inside and out. The exteriors often have art nouveau or neo-gothic styles dating back to the 1800’s. The interiors of the structures are sometimes adorned with ornate ceramic tiles, many photographs, as well as both fresh and artificial bouquets of flowers.

The cemetery also has smaller above ground vaults that may be ornately decorated with statuary and flowers as well as photographs of the deceased. Besides the above ground vaults there are three additional vaults under each vault to provide more space for families’ loved ones. If you can’t afford either of these options there are the traditional burials in the lawn with a small headstone marker, the wall vaults or even stone vases of flowers with the names of the deceased and a photo of them.

Our next stop was the nearby church of St. Martin located on a prominent hilltop overlooking Funchal. A previous church of the same name had been located nearby until 1883 when a parishioner died and left almost all of his fortune to the church. The current church was inaugurated in 1918 and just celebrated its hundredth anniversary on June 24.
The church is quite simple on the exterior although once you enter the church you are taken by its high ceilings, exquisite murals, glistening wooden floors and pews. It is very tastefully decorated without being too gaudy even though there is a lot of gold used throughout.

After our visit to the church we had lunch at a local restaurant along one of the restaurant row streets with our friend Sue. Mark tried the local specialty called Espetadas which are grilled marinated meat on a skewer. They use chicken, beef and pork for the skewers. Mark tried the pork which was tender and nice.

In the afternoon we met with our entire group at the Blandy’s winery in the center of town where they make Madeira wine. This particular winery has been here for 200 years and owned by the same family (seven generations). We had a tour of the winery in Funchal although today much of the wine making is done at another location outside of town. They have a very nice museum documenting the long history of this family business and their famous Madeira wine.

After the tour of the winery we had a tasting of two of their Madeira wines and one white table wine. There were few of us who liked the taste of any of the wines but it may be that it is an acquired taste….or terrible wine. The Madeira wines are extremely strong, reminding us of cough syrup. Even the white table wine had a strong sulfur odor and not very nice tasting. They say that the Madeira wines will not age in the bottle so they will last on the shelf for a lifetime or longer.

After the winery tour we met up with four others (Cookie and Vince; Natalie and Jan) from our tour group for a bite to eat at a local hamburger restaurant that was very good. The French fries had the skins on them and were sprinkled with herbs. Kent and Mark had the tuna sandwich which was a tuna steak with lettuce, tomato, a fried egg and sauce. It was very good. Afterwards a walk home and to bed.

Cabo Girao

Ribeira Brava Street

Ribeira Bravo Church

Porto Moniz Pools

Madeira Day is a national holiday celebrated on the anniversary of the archipelago’s independence from mainland Portugal, granted in 1976 in the Portuguese Constitution. Official ceremonies are held throughout the Autonomous Region of Madeira, while families and friends enjoy picnics and lively local events.

On this day we were taken in a 20-passenger bus on a tour of the western portion the island of Madeira. We started out at “Cabo Girao” lookout point located at the top of an 1,840-foot cliff on the southern shore of Madeira. At the top of the cliff is a glass floored observation deck where you can step out over the cliff to see the dramatic cliffs and the ocean below. The lookout was built in 2012 and is similar to the glass lookout in the US over the Grand Canyon.

Our next stop was the town of Ribeira Brava on the southern coast of Madeira with a population of about 14,000 inhabitants. Ribeira Brava means angry river and it was in 2010 when heavy rains in the mountains sent a deluge of water down the river to the small town at the mouth of the river doing tremendous damage. Many people lost their homes in the flood and much of the town had severe damage from the water. After nearly eight years they are just finishing building a concrete channel through the canyon to help control the water flow.

On this day the town was beautifully decorated for the Madeira Day celebrations over the weekend. The streets were filled with decorations and the church was beautifully decorated throughout with arrangements of anthurium, carnations, cascading white flowers and hydrangeas.

Next, we headed north across the island via several underground tunnels carved through the volcanic rock mountains. Once we reached the north coast the air was cooler and the sea was much rougher with larger waves and heavy seas. The terrain is very dramatic with steep cliffs dropping into the sea. We stopped to observe some of the “veils” of water falls cascading down the steep cliffs from the mountains.

We then headed to the northwest point called Porto Moniz with a population of only about 2,750 inhabitants. This part of the island was known for its whaling industry from about 1941 until 1981, but today caters to tourists stopping for the fantastic views of the rugged coast. The coast line is filled with jagged volcanic rocks jutting out of the water creating small pools of crystal clear sea water. The resort style area where we stopped for lunch has created huge swimming pools out of these natural rock formations. They have concreted around some of the rock formations to create areas for sunning and have filled the rock formations with plaster like a swimming pool like you have never seen before. The ocean waves crash over the swimming pool walls creating a thrill for swimmers. We had lunch here in a couple of restaurants overlooking the dramatic coastline.

We then headed over the mountains to see how the terrain of the island changes as we climbed in elevation. We saw lush green fields of ferns with rhododendrons and lush flowers. Cows wandered the roads and many birds could be found on the island. Grapevines grow on the sunny side of the island and cherries, corn, terraces of bananas, sweet potatoes and a huge variety of vegetables and fruits grow.

We then stopped at the town of Calheta (small bay) on the south shore where we had ice cream. This town of about 12,000 residents has many tourist hotels and its economy is reliant on fishing and agriculture.

This evening there was a mandolin concert with several youth groups playing mandolins, flutes, etc. and singing. As we walked by the concert area, we saw there were some chairs still available and we took seats and stayed for most of the concert which was augmented with video of each of the performing groups. We then took a short walk to a restaurant where we had dinner.

It was a long day on the bus but was great to see all the island has to offer and how different the landscapes can be.

Views from the hike

Hiking Group

It was a Saturday and the majority of our group had the day off from the Portuguese language classes they are taking each morning from 10:30-12:30. Mark and nine others took a van to the eastern most tip of the island where there is a hiking trail called the “A Ponte de Sao Lourenco” with spectacular views of the water and cliffs. The hiking trail was well marked although the terrain was very hilly and strenuous. The sign at the entrance to the trail claimed that it was only 3.2 kilometers but it took us two hours to reach the tip of the island and ninety minutes to return. Kent went shopping in town with Sue and Natalie. Sue and Kent had ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch!

After an afternoon of relaxing from the hike we were treated to a wonderful dinner at our hotel. This weekend in Madeira they had many festivals including a celebration for the autonomy of Madeira from mainland Portugal in 1976. Each Saturday night during the month of June the city allows four different countries to put on a firework show as a part of an International Fireworks Competition. After the four countries have put on a show the public votes for the best show. Once the votes are in the company with the most votes is allowed to put on the Atlantic Festival fireworks show, said to be the largest in the world (the one we saw).

The dinner at the hotel was a large buffet for about 100 guests out on the terrace overlooking the city and the seaport. There was a soup and bread station where they served the local Caldo Verde Soup made with potatoes, olive oil, collard greens and sausage. Next was a salad bar with a green salad, apple salad, chicken salad, Jell-O salad, etc. For the main course they served steamed vegetables, rice, sweet potatoes and grilled meats. The meats included two types of sausage, fish, pork and beef. The desserts included a delicious coconut cake, chocolate cake, flan and more. They also served wine during the entire meal followed by coffee and Poncho. The Poncho drink is made with distilled cane sugar, lemon juice, orange juice and honey.

After the extravagant three-hour dinner, we enjoyed the fireworks display which lasted twenty minutes. It was synchronized to music but at our hotel we were unable to hear the music. The fireworks were nothing spectacular to us as we have fireworks in San Diego all year round but it was enjoyable.