Cloud Adventures in Madeira!
Madeira
After a nine-hour warm-up in Amsterdam, we had a 20-hour layover in Lisbon. The KLM staff was very pleased, they really annealed. Everyone seemed to be in a certain way. Although perhaps the Dutch are all like that. I was euphoric just from following their service. Some grandfather among the passengers also felt a surge of creativity in himself, stood in the aisle and began to entertain the crowd of grandmothers, but fortunately not in English, because the people laughed so much that it was dangerous for health, which will be very useful to us in the coming days. The atmosphere of some global fun reigned in the plane. The plane went to land, and tens of meters above the ground got into a specific turbulence. I thought that the plane should not land in this case, but the pilot did not think so, although, judging by the landing, he clearly mixed up the slope of the flaps. From the first impact on the ground, everyone who dozed off woke up, the plane bounced off, and for a moment we were back in flight. Then the second blow to the ground, but without separation. Fortunately, everything worked out. Two landings in a row were the most difficult, and yet tomorrow we are waiting for a landing at the third most dangerous airport in the world.
Lisbon
Having gone through with the purchase of cards for the subway, we still defeated this evil machine. A girl even tried to help us, but she failed in this unrealistic battle between man and machine. The Lisbon metro is the most beautiful in our experience, each station is a real work of art. Our favorite was the one whose columns were made like pipes in a Mario game.
Settled far from the center, but with its own toilet, and the price is 35 euros per day. In the morning, after having breakfast with provisions from Kyiv, we quickly went on a Free walking tour. There was an unforeseen obstacle along the way - it was the elevator in the hotel, which was moving so slowly that there was a fear of not being able to catch the evening plane. Since the tour began in another part of the city, we just had the opportunity to get to know him on foot. Portugal is the country with the highest number of sunny days in Europe.
It was not hot, but the sun shone so that the first day three eyes could not get used to it. On the way, we saw old trams and many of their tracks, and the rails could simply end at any moment without leaving the ring.
Free walking tour
We hurried to the starting point. The guy began with the phrase “We all love history! ” and delved into history so that, in my opinion, he completely forgot that he was supposed to lead a tour. After about 30 minutes, we finally moved on and walked along some streets, stubbornly avoiding the sights that the tablet showed on neighboring streets. Sometimes, after passing a street, he seemed to remember something and say why it was unique, but the street was already behind him. The guy also said that imagination would be very important on this tour, and then the moment came when he stopped and decided to tell that Lisboa seemed to him as a girl, he closed his eyes, went into his imagination and it seemed that he again forgot that leads the tour. For a while, we watched a bearded man with his eyes closed tell something about a sometimes naked girl in shells. When the dude's memories let go, we moved on. The tour had already been going on for about two hours, and apart from one square and his imagination, we really did not see anything. Here our guide decided to talk about the untranslatable and very sad word “Sadat”. So sad was his speech that even the birds fell silent. The speech was so long and repetitive that in one moment the Chinese tourist had an epiphany and spoke in Chinese-English his understanding of the word Sadat. The guide nodded his head in the affirmative, although he hardly understood the Chinese. Then we also learned how to parse this word by letter, three times, probably. Since it was already the third hour of the tour, the nerves could not stand it, and we left the race. Based on the results of the last two walking tours in Latvia and Portugal, I want to make a short review: Free walking tour is when a bearded man complains to you about the European Union for free.
Lisbon Again
After walking on Rosso Square, the analogue of which we visited in Macau, we went to the elevator. We didn’t know where exactly and what the name of the square was, but we were told where it was from the patterns on the magnets for sale.
The entertainment was strange. You stand in line for 40 minutes in order to get up for 1.2 euros in an elevator to a survey, where everything is covered with a thick chain-link, and you need to pay another 1.5 euros to walk up to the place where there is no chain-link. But in fact, this review can be reached on foot from Largo do Carmo Square, which is on the same level with it. Somehow the start in Lisbon did not work out.
But the meal decides everything, because a lot depends on the cuisine in the country. There was no one in the first restaurant, and we also had to leave it. None of the staff dared to approach an English-speaking tourist, and when the girl did come up, she rewarded us with generous silence and a smile for all 32 when trying to order something. She even tried to mark with a pencil what was included in their menu, but then she got lost, tried wipe the pencil, confused everything even more in the menu written in Portuguese, smiled at us at 33 and that was the end of our short meal. There was some kind of gesture. There were people in a nearby restaurant, but in such numbers that we were offered to sit down with some grandmother, who looked at us with a frightened look. But with the third restaurant, it went wrong so that the rating of Portugal has risen sharply.
Portuguese meal
The restaurant was run by an elderly man who worked there as one of the waiters. Only locals sat in the restaurant, all the tables were moved so that everyone was sitting with a large Portuguese family. Out of habit, we sat down at the next table. We were immediately brought a set of starter snacks, a basket of bread, butter, a plate of olives and a brie-like cheese. Such sets are paid separately according to the fact that you ate from this. The menu was, like everywhere else, predominantly fish, so we went exotic. The first guest of our program was a fish sword with boiled potatoes and salad. The portion size pleased us while we ate with a sword, grandfather brought us octopus and beer, and every time he served dishes he said “Yeah! “Fortunately, when he took the order, he spared us, it was only half of the portions, and we could not master it to the end, although we finished off the whole head of cheese. But how did everyone have a hearty meal. It was delicious. At the end they brought us a bill for 13 euros. This meal was a whole cult of the Portuguese culture. Unsuccessful start was immediately forgotten. Just for the sake of a meal in this restaurant, you can fly to Lisbon. The restaurant is called Super Mario, located not far from Largo do Carmo square.
Then we went to the embankment. We admired the seagulls until a wave covered our legs.
Of course, I'm not a fan of rain, but there was really a lot of sun. One of the main attractions of the city is the castle. We hurried to him and wandered. The road to the castle is quite cool, beautiful views and cozy streets. Lisbon, like all other Portuguese cities, is located on the hills. Of course, it was unusual for the legs to do so many ups and downs, and we have not even reached Madeira yet. When we got to the castle, there was no time to visit, we decided to reschedule it for the next time.
We hurried to get to the hotel by taxi, the taxi driver said that the price would be about 5-6 euros. Taxi meters calculate the price not by distance, but by time. When we hit the traffic jam, I thought everything was gone. When 6 euros came up on the counter, the taxi driver stopped him. But this is unexpected and pleasant. A Kyiv taxi driver would hardly have done that. According to our further experience, taxi drivers in Portugal are the first assistants in solving your problems. I can’t believe that these two words are in one sentence… taxi drivers… assistants, no, this is not a dream.
We checked out of the hotel, 5 minutes passed and remembered that we traditionally forgot the bag of food in the refrigerator. Probably, there is no country in this world where we would not forget him. And although there is - Egypt. There is a subway to the airport, which simplifies the process of getting there. At the airport station, in a clothing store, they gave me an orange! The Portuguese rule! Having plunged into an Easyjet company plane, we went to Madeira, our transfers were over.
Madeira
Outside the window appeared an island, a large island. The crests of the waves washed it with thick turquoise. This is it, one of the distant islands, and there is the airport. At the sight of the airport inside, the alarm began to rise. It is one of the most dangerous in the world due to the winds walking here and a short landing strip. Once it was even lengthened by placing part of the strip on tall supports. Our plane was landing very unusually. First, the plane flew along the runway to its beginning, then a 180-degree maneuver, followed by a landing. Landing was the softest. Phew, you can breathe. At the exit to the gangway, people who stood on the terrace of the airport waved to us joyfully. We waved back at them. Since we missed the bus for one minute, we had another hour and a half to admire the airport. You can buy a bus ticket immediately roundtrip, saving a couple of euros. Valid for one round trip per year. On the bus, the driver enthusiastically told the passenger how the island was formed from the volcano.
So, our starting point for all departures is the city of Funchal. We moved into a hotel which, of course, was located on a hill, on the highest floor without an elevator. But the views are beautiful! Waking up in the morning, my first phrase on the street was “If I didn’t know what was in Madeira, I would have thought that it was in the Canaries”. Madeira is a lot of tourist routes through the mountains, rocks and relict forests along the levadas. Unfortunately, only a few will be able to visit by regular buses, the transport network is not designed for tourists, bus routes connect only towns and cities. But the nearest bus station to our house pleased us with a bus to one of the most interesting trails in Maydeira.
Cape San Lorenzo
This route is not a levada, but it differs from the rest with rocks rising majestically from the water, desert nature and, as it turned out in our case, strong winds. The total length in both directions is 6 km. But in terms of difficulty, of all the Madeira routes we visited, this one was the most difficult.
We made a small mistake by not taking food with us. When a building appeared in the background a couple of hours later, there was hope that it was a restaurant. But it turned out to be just a large closed building without signs, but with a working paid toilet. Moreover, a paid toilet for the entire trip was only here. This is a profession for a person, every morning to do a two-kilometer route in order to collect euros from those who need to go to a paid toilet.
At the end of the route, it was unrealistic to climb up, and the hurricane reigned such that the tablet was pulled out of the hands. But fortunately no one flew away, except for the hat of one tourist. Since the hat flew along the path straight to me, and I did not have time to grab it with my hands, I had to save it at the cost of my own backside. As a result, the hat was saved, and I, sprawled, was lifted from the path. It's good that the cliff was not so close.
The route turned out to be roundtrip and, accordingly, everything that you overcome in one direction must be overcome back.
At the end of the route, we were so exhausted that for some reason we decided to walk another 3 kilometers up and down the hills to the neighboring town of Caniç al instead of taking a bus, which we would have to take anyway. I will say right away that the decision was not the most successful. On the way we passed through a cool town, which turned out to be one big hotel.
Moreover, the hotel was almost deserted, as was Canisal, to which we walked for more than two hours.
Hotel grounds
There were still steep steps down the cliff along the way, it’s good that some tourists saved us from the descent, warning that there was only a small beach below. Eat and drink like crazy. And in a deserted city, all that we could find except for an imaginary tumbleweed, which loomed everywhere mentally, was two pieces of cake and cold cocoa. I don’t know what happened to the cities there, but there were so few living people even in the Terminator movie. After eating, we went to our native Funchal. Despite the entire volume of the route traveled, we decided to visit the survey.
Cabo Girao
To do this, in Funchal, they transferred to another bus. Since we were sure that the survey was in our city, and we were traveling by bus, nothing foreshadowed the complexity of the route. But when the bus left the city and rushed high into the mountains, we realized that our adventures were not over today.
After the expiration of the first hour of driving, we no longer doubted that the adventures of this day were just beginning, despite the setting sun. The views from the mountains were amazing. Only the trip on this bus was worth a lot. At one point, the driver turned around and loudly asked the passengers something, no one answered. The driver turned to the road, but it was too late, the serpentine road went to the left, skirting the cliff, and our bus rushed sharply down. There was an asphalt descent, which the driver knew about, but we, sitting in the front seats, only had time to open our mouths for an inhuman scream. Apparently, the driver asked “does anyone have a thread of heart problems? ” Having driven somewhere completely into the mountains, the driver dropped us off, writing to us on a piece of paper 10:30 and pushing some kind of speech. That is, in the worst case, the return bus will be tomorrow morning, and in the best case this evening. Before the review still had 20 minutes to walk. It was cool in the mountains. Although the review was with a glass floor, for some reason it was made into a white dot. They took the extreme from the tourists. It was beautiful, the ocean below us was at an altitude of 580 meters. You look into the distance and see from where we were brought and how to return now. It was a beautiful day off, and weekends are especially respected here with occasional buses and closed shops.
On the way back, we found a local restaurant, where the owner reassured us that the bus would be, but in three hours. In general, you'd better walk on foot to the glorious town of Camero de Lobos, from where buses run more often. From the outside, it may seem that we decided to immediately visit all the sights of the island in a day. The road was very, very beautiful with many secret paths for short cuts. If only the GPS showed us that we were going in the wrong direction, but from all the balconies and terraces, the locals assured us that we were going in the right direction. We admired all this beauty for about two hours. When we reached the city, it was hard to believe that the morning route seemed difficult to us and we were very tired. The town was really cool. It's like something out of a romantic movie.
But there was one catch, at the bus stop, which hung a schedule indicating where the buses would go, but there was not the slightest explanation of where they would go. Local residents also looked at this sign with confusion when we asked them to help figure it out. We received a variety of answers from “In 20 minutes” to “Never at all”. And since the island did not please us with an abundance of buses, we had to sit at the bus stop for an hour and a half in hope. Admittedly, the ability to drive a car on this trip would not hurt, but it would still be stressful to take two cars on the island and the mainland. In the end, we waited for the last bus in the schedule, and he still came to take us to Funchal! It was about midnight on the clock, and we plowed as if it had been an eternity on this island. And finally, the long-awaited open cafe. True, Dasha did not guess right with the dish, but in Portugal this was the only case. She ordered Eshpetada, a beef skewers on laurel rods. The problem was in the degree of roasting. Workers 2 times tried to “fry” him, but the blood showed up from the barbecue again.
We finally made it to our hotel on the hill, barely climbing to our highest floor with a beautiful view, and instead of falling without our hind legs, we began to adjust the itinerary of the trip by changing hotel reservations and buying train tickets. They fell fast.
Levada Ribeiro Frio - Portela
In the morning we went to the next route. It was a large relict forest, preserved from the time of the dinosaurs. In our experience, this is the second such forest, the first was in the Canary Islands. Ribeiro Frio can be reached by city bus (€3.5 per person), making this route as accessible as the previous one. Arriving at the starting point, we found the most unrealistic crowds of package tourists, a small park and pools and fish. From such a concentration of people it became scary, unlike the previous cape, there were a lot of shops and restaurants.
But as soon as we started our ten-kilometer route, we were alone on the trail. It turns out that tours are brought only to visit the park and, if desired, a small route 1.8 km in the other direction. Our route was almost all along a flat forest road, which greatly simplifies it. Thick tunnels of trees formed a shadow on almost the entire levada.
It was comfortable to walk. In the intervals where there were no trees, it was possible to enjoy the mountains covered with dense forests from a great height. From time to time there were waterfalls and lakes. My favorite type of waterfall is when the water flows through the dense greenery that covers the rock. Sometimes people came across, even Russian speakers got caught once.
The price they paid to get to this route horrified us, but it seems that most vacationers on this island do not care about money.
Along the entire route, water flowed along a paved levada, which did not make it possible to get confused at the forks. A nice addition to the route were large rocks that formed dark caves in which we passed through the mountains.
After Cape San Lorenzo, there was still a contrast, nature with the desert turned into tropical, or rather relic. After 2.5 hours, we left the forest and a couple of kilometers we had to go down a rather interesting area with no less beautiful views. From time to time there were paths leading directly into these beauties, but what we have learned well from the previous day is that modifications to planned routes do not always end well.
At the very end there was a large observation platform on a distant city, rocks and the ocean. There were two ways to return to Funchal, by taxi bus for 5 euros or by bus for about 3.5 euros, we chose the cheaper option, going down to the bus stop we found 20 euros, we also remained in the black after this route. While we went to the pub for ice cream, we tasted some kind of beans, according to the bartender, this is a popular delicacy for beer. In Madeira, city buses are very crippled with uncomfortable backrests at an angle of approximately 89 degrees. And then some comfortable one arrived, I couldn’t believe it at the beginning. But when the bus stopped in the middle of the route and we were told “Bus change! “Then we realized that everything was fine. This phrase sounded quite often in our trip. That is, when buying tickets, you will most likely get to the end point on another bus, but it’s good that the transfer to another bus goes hand-to-hand, so it’s important to keep your tickets, although it won’t be easy to lose them within the bus.
We celebrated our second ascent on the island with a traditional fish dinner with a liter carafe of ice-cold sangria.
This time they ate a fish sword, served according to all traditions with fried bananas. The aperitif was the local honey drink Poncho. For dessert, we went to the supermarket to eat the most popular pasta custards, washed down with orange juice. I think the ascent was excellent.
Pasheisha
A group of musicians in bow ties gathered in the park, but they prepared for so long and did not dare to start the concert, that after 30 minutes the gathered people began to disperse, but they did not start playing. For 30 minutes, someone put the notes closer, someone corrected the butterfly, someone did not know which side is better to blow into the flute. Maybe, of course, that was the whole point of the performance. On the main stage of the city, we were rehearsing something in full, we found out that tomorrow there will be a big concert. Before a sound sleep, we went for a walk along the embankment. I really wanted to finally touch the ocean, but at the sight of a 20-meter zone of pebbles, fatigue nevertheless took over, and we went up the mountain to our hotel on the fourth floor without an elevator, but with a beautiful view!
Two botanical gardens and a levada between them
The day was planned to be more relaxing, but it turned out, as always. One botanical garden and no levadas were planned. None, Carl!
Our first visit was the Mercado dos Lavradores fruit market.
Passion fruit is so popular in this market that you can try such unique fruits as: passion fruit banana, passion fruit lemon, passion fruit orange and even passion fruit tomato.
Dasha is tasting passion fruit orange.
And many other varieties of crossed passion fruit. The price for fruit is about 7 euros, so the market is more like a tour with free tasting than for shopping. The fish department sells fish for every taste.
Showing the Portuguese how to butcher a crucian carp
The Jardim Tropical garden was somewhere in the mountains, where the cable car led. The price for a roundtrip of the cable car with entrance tickets to the botanical garden dealt a blow to our card in the form of 50 euros for two. It looks like our most expensive park ever. True, the views from the cable car were such that 50 euros could be given just for these views. In the distance one could see a very high automobile bridge, past which we passed all the routes of every day, and even the airport.
The botanical garden was Japanese-style with red bridges, waterfalls, fountains and lakes. I found a cave with bells where I made a great bell song. The park had two problems - the price and the fact that all the time it was necessary to go down, and then naturally up. In one of the lakes we did a good deed - we saved a drowning dragonfly.
From time to time, the sound of a sawing grinder was heard throughout the park. But this is the eternal problem of many cozy places. The more comfortable you find a place for yourself, the more likely it is that someone will need to trim or cut something. If the park were cheaper, I would love it. A couple of hours like never before. Further along the banners, we found out that there is also a Botanical garden that can be reached by another cable car from the current Gardim Tropical. An interesting fact is that the cable car to the park goes down, not up. We asked if it was possible to walk and found out that we were separated from the park by a two-hour mountain levada.
It turned out to be mountainous, in the truest sense of the word, since during the hike we moved from one high mountain to another high mountain, saving about 16 euros. This levada was of medium difficulty and ran through the eucalyptus forest.
A hike between two mountains naturally implies a difficult descent and ascent, but we were glad that we chose the levada, the views are beautiful, but you don’t have to pay as in the case of the park. With these levadas, the eternal problem of water. You will want to drink a lot, but you won’t carry much with you, because the more cargo you take, the more difficult it is to overcome the route. Here is such a dilemma. We usually took a liter for two with us. There was no park at the other end of the route, instead it took 25 minutes to go up steeply. On the way, we went into an air-conditioned confectionery and took our souls away. First, we were shortchanged by 10 euro cents on the bill, and in the second bill, the restaurant shortchanged itself by one euro. So it's back like a boomerang. Having drunk a glass of orange fresh juice, having eaten two pizzas and a cake, we recharged and continued to climb. We walked up such a mountain that the taxi drivers from the windows looked at us like they were crazy. It looks like we were the first in the world to walk here. Taxi drivers seemed to be hurt to see our every step from this angle.
The garden, of course, was located from top to bottom, but the exit was from below, that is, you don’t have to climb again. When we got to the cash register, it was difficult to even explain anything. The cashier looked at us knowingly. We have planned a relaxing day for ourselves. After such a route, the first thing I did in the garden was lie down on a bench and sleep on my wife's cozy knees for 30 minutes.
The garden was much cheaper and specifically inferior to the first. Although the hallmark of Madeira is considered to be a photo of the flowerbed of this particular garden. Let's just say, having visited the first garden, it is not necessary to visit the second one, the first one is really very cool, but the infection is expensive.
In the second park, the territory with birds was closed, and we hurried to the exit. We decided to walk to the center, but one of the taxi drivers was terrified, and he drove us to the center cheaper than the cost of the bus.
It was towards evening, but the concert and dinner were still far away. We launched the geocaches map and went to look for treasures. Treasures are always hidden in interesting places. Thus, being in the harbor for pleasure boats, we found an ancient castle. Entrance through the voluntary donation system, a red carpet with paintings and a brief history of the pedigree of the inhabitants of the royal family led to the castle. All this was in a comic form and decorated with everything that came to hand. It was like some weirdo had fulfilled his dream of becoming a king, the whole history of artifacts and scenery is fiction. Everything in the castle is so amusingly designed and done that standing on the veranda and admiring the waves crashing against the rocks, you understand that this is one of the most beautiful castles. Another of the treasures was found in a park not far from the place where $100 was once hidden by the hosts of the Eagle and Tails program.
Next, we had a traditional feast of fish delicacies, this time we got to know more about fried sardines.
Then a cool Portuguese concert was waiting for us, one of the songs we heard at the rehearsal and the concert itself became the anthem of this trip. It took several weeks after my arrival to find the song, not a single service, not a single forum could identify it, until I thought of finding a Russian forum for people preparing to move to Portugal, where one local resident helped me. This song is Amor Electro - Juntos Somos Mais Fortes. For dessert, we now ate traditional pasta almost every day. Moreover, this cake tastes very similar to those that my grandmother used to make.
The next day was the final one on the island and the most grandiose ascent awaited us.
Route between the peaks and Arieiro and Ruivo
We never found out how to get there by public transport, we had to pay in full for a tour with transfers of 30 euros per person. Through the forests and mountains, the bus took us straight to the top of the second highest peak of Arieiro. From there, a ten-kilometer route to the highest peak of Ruivo started. It all depends on how lucky we are with the weather, we are very, very lucky.
The first half of the route was full of mountains covered with green-yellow vegetation. There were many caves and tunnels, such that it would be stressful without a flashlight. The views were bombing and the number of photos per meter just rolled over. There were places where other tourists had to duck and hide behind rocks so that we could get the perfect shot. But all this turned out to be nothing compared to what awaited us in the second half of the route - clouds spread like an endless ocean under our feet.
We walked higher and higher, and the clouds approached our feet. It seemed that they are very soft and jumping off a cliff, you will certainly plunge into this ocean of fluff. The second part of the climb looked like this - the legs go along the path, and the head is turned and constantly looks at the clouds.
And the plants that grow here above the clouds created the feeling that you were in some kind of fairy tale. Among the climbs, the steepest are Machu Picchu in Peru and Hoverla in Ukraine. Now in the first place is definitely the ascent. At the end of the path, before the 15-minute ascent to the peak, there is a fountain with drinking water, which greatly facilitates the route. From the peak, the views are also beautiful, as elsewhere. On the way back, you need to walk through the mountains to the parking lot, where the bus is waiting for you. The path lies between two cliffs and on both sides of the cloud,
it's even more beautiful. The advantage of our weather was 20 degrees, on one side of the mountains the weather was clear and everything was visible, on the other side there were clouds and no fog. If yesterday our assessment of the island was above average, now it is a solid five. Didn't want to leave. It's that rare feeling when you can't get enough of it.
You look at the landscape, and it is so beautiful that the look does not get used. It's like the first time in the Carpathians or in Istanbul. Having rested in Funchal, we got on the bus and went to relax in the city of Camara de Lobos we already knew.
The city has a towering cliff on which a green area is located. We celebrated the ascent with Dorada fish and green sparkling wine. For dessert, they ate masterpieces of local confectionery. After spending a couple of hours in the city walking through the green area and cozy streets, we went to a stop with the same unreadable schedule.
This time we were more lucky with the bus. The controller on the bus was already well known to us, it was not the first time we crossed paths with him. He seemed to like this town too. When the controller left, we were left alone on the bus, and when we asked the driver to stop in Funchal, he looked at us like he was sure that the bus was empty. In Funchal, on one of the central streets, the clockwork grandfather danced and sang, warming up the audience. It feels like some kind of eternal holiday on this island! I wanted to listen to my grandfather's performance longer, but I was already really tired. We had the last ascent to our hotel on the hill, on the fourth floor with a beautiful view. We are great, we did it! For four full days, we visited almost all the most interesting things on the island. If there were still a day left, we would visit all the main tourist places in general, but these days are never enough. Fatigue for all the routes passed was felt concretely, although we had already gotten used to living at such a pace for a little while. For example, after today's peaks, I was determined to go through some more levada. But the main thing now is not to relax too much, because the second half of the trip is ahead - mainland Portugal.
Epilogue
Tourists often compare Madeira and the Canary Islands, and now we can give our expert opinion. Food and nature in Madeira are clearly in the lead, but in terms of entertainment and ease of travel, the island of Tenerife definitely wins. If it were possible to transfer peaks and delicious food to the Canary Islands, then I would move there to live in this ideal place for a traveler. If you have not been there or there - go to Tenerife, if you have been to the Canary Islands and want something like this - Madeira is always at your service!
