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Abr 17
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Through well trodden ways around Madeira

By Unforgettable 4 Comments

The Associação do Caminho Real da Madeira has just completed its first tour of the island, using the old routes, recuperated by the councils as memories of our common history. The route proposed by the Associação started in Machico, and returned there, with eight stages totaling some 200 hundred kilometers, as announced in Madeira In & Out.

They used CR23, which was always the most important of the royal routes, with some 35 walkers taking part, including 6 that completed the whole circuit of the island.

The Associação created, to be used from this date and for all those interested in acquiring it, a sort of passport that allows walkers to stamp the appropriate square in a network of partner venues spread through the whole island (small shops, restaurants, cafes, snack bar, bar, grocery stores, bed & breakfasts, …) where the Route goes past (37 of the island’s parishes), and thus collect “certificates” of passage through the points that make out the route.

The goals? To get to know local history, visit monuments (civil, military and religious), walk through the laurel forest, taste local delicacies, live customs and traditions, learn the legends and myths and feel the warmth of Madeirans’ hospitality. The initiative also meant the injection into the local economy of some 350 euro for each of the walkers completing the circuit, which is a clear sign of the added values of the concept.

More information, on the walk, the Associação and its goals, can be found in www.caminhosreais.pt or the facebook page for Caminho Real da Madeira.

Abr 16
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Over seven thousand have already been bewitched

By Our Islands, Unforgettable 926 Comments

Over seven thousand people didn’t want to miss the soul of a people. These were the words of Luis Miguel Jardim, yesterday (Thursday, April 13th 2017) just before the start of another session of “O Feiticeiro da Calheta” (The Calheta Wizzard”, which again filled the Centro de Congressos da Madeira.

On a special event, with many in the cast present, one could feel, within the room, the soul of a people that, in mid twentieth century, resisted the devastation of hunger and disease, and had to find new path to go through its days, far from their families.

The producer of the film, which has become a true success, and even allows us to forget the island’s former presence (just a single scene), called part of the cast to the stage, like João Augusto Abreu, actor, but also responsible for the disturbing soundtrack. And, since we are talking about a movie, the images shown of Calheta landscapes are fabulous.

Madeira was all there: the typical gossiping, the land management system (colonia), the respectable women and the others, the men that worked to feed their children, the famine, the exploitation, the misery, adultery and the dreaming.

We believe that seven thousand more can see the film that shows – as Luis Miguel Jardim put it – the soul of a people. Not to be missed, on April 23rd, at the Centro Cultural John dos Passos, in Ponta do Sol.

Abr 13
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Create memories with Made in Madeira

By Unforgettable 40 Comments

No, we are not quite making an appeal to “buy Madeiran”, even though this is actually a good idea. We are referring to a new space, recently opened very close to the city centre. A space where one can try and taste the most iconic tastes of the island, as well as our wines.

It’s a space that goes back to our cultural references, to the habits and customs of Madeira and its inhabitants.

For those who visit us, but also for Madeirans – both residents or living abroad, Made in Madeira also has an online store (www.madeinmadeira.pt) where one can order a series of very Madeiran products (poncho, ginja, spice cakes, traditional biscuits, …), as well as a great collection of t-shirts inspired in Madeira.

Open Monday through Friday, 10h to 20h. Rua Dr Brito Camara, 3 and Rua Serpa Pinto 27 (next to the Infante roundabout).

Mar 31
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Caminho Real nr 23 – From Funchal to… Funchal

By Unforgettable 4.478 Comments

We have gotten used to have roads. To go and have lunch in Santana, or Porto Moniz, to quickly get to airport… It is easy to forget that just fifty years ago getting out of Funchal was almost an adventure.

And until the opening of the Caminhos Reais (Royal Routes), in the second half of the 20th century, it was actually quite dangerous. A description of the “route” between Seixal and São Vicente spoke of planks tied with willows that would very frequently collapse, always dragging someone along.

The Caminho Real nr 23 is the most iconic and certainly the most important. It would go around the whole island, a route that anticipated what would one day become the EN 101, and later the ER 101. It’s characteristics were necessarily different – it was, after all, a “road” designed to be used by people walking or, at best, by sleds pulled by oxen.

But it was a giant’s leap in the sense of allowing access and the possibility of traveling within the island with a minimum of safety – if not quite comfort. In fact, the accompanying graphic is quite clear about the efforts needed to overcome distances along the route…

The first stretches of the Caminho were still built in the 19th century, linling Funchal to Santa Cruz, to Machico and Porto da Cruz and later to Santana. When this first ring road was finished, it had varied characteristics, to a great extend depending on the expected use of the route.

It was also possible to identify different priorities and strategies in terms od accessibilities. One could see, for instance, a greater stress on connections to the small harbor that dotted the coast, with the Caminho linking these to the hinterland. And if there is one place where this is obvious it is in the connections between the São Jorge pier and the villages of São Jorge and Santana. In the care and the effort that are still today clear both in the quality of the building work and the width of the route, this being the main channel out for the villages’ products to its market, with the produce being transported by boat to Funchal.

Common characteristics? The use of materials that existed in ample quantity, namely stone, in some places laminated basalt, placed vertically to give both added resistance to erosion and better grip, in other places pebbles, as is the case in Calheta. And the care in the construction, with a quality that allowed its survival, with only occasional maintenance, until today, the only exceptions being the places where it was destroyed due to the building of new roads.

More information at www.caminhoreal.pt

Mar 27
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Royal routes

By Unforgettable 4.612 Comments

There are six royal routes crossing the Island, all of them clear evidence of the efforts necessary to overcome the barriers that make this Island simultaneously so beautiful and so difficult. The divulging and promotion of their use was the task undertaken by the Associação do Caminho Real da Madeira, made out of a group of friends that always enjoyed walking through Madeira.

The most important, especially by its integration of the territory, as well by its extension, is the first. Caminho Real nr 23 started and ended in Funchal, after more than 180 kilometres around the whole island.

The other routes are shorter – in fact, all together, they are still shorter than the first, even though they were all important, and they all went through difficult ground. Caminho Real (CR) 24 went from Santana to Funchal (Santana, Cruzinhas, Ribeiro Frio, Poiso, Terreiro da Luta and Funchal), CR 25 from São Vicente to Funchal (São Vicente, Encumeada, Jardim da Serra, Estreito and Camara de Lobos), CR 26 went from Ponta do Sol to the São Vicente valley (Ponta do Sol, Estanquinhos, and would then join CR 25), CR 27 went from Boaventura to Funchal (Boaventura, Lombo do Urzal, Boca das Trrinhas, Curral das Freiras, Eira do Serrado and Santo Antonio), while CR 28 also linked Ponta do Sol to São Vicente, but taking a diferente route.

They can all still be used, even though in some cases the original route has been taken over by more modern roads, and it is not always safe to walk along these streets – the most obvious example would be between Ribeira Brava and Serra de Água, where the need to build a sidewalk was never felt, despite the fact that this is quite a fast road.

And they all allow, now as they always did, a very close interaction between residents and travelers, feeding bonds and shortening distances. And increasing the potential returns of many small businesses, where it is possible to buy a light meal, find some lodging, or just trade a few words.

In many places there was the effort to rebuild the original path, in some – fortunately the majority of the cases, with the original material used – laminated basalt stone, placed vertically, thus allowing gains both in terms of resistance to erosion and in foot holding. There is not a constant characteristic in these paths, as they are normally wider in the places where they would be more used, and narrower in less frequented areas, namely where there was no need to cater for the need of traction animals.

A good example of these changing characteristics are the local accesses to the pier at São Jorge, a clear sign of how important this small port in the north of Madeira was for the local population.

But there are characteristics which are frequently present: there are many “casinhas de prazer” (leisure houses, small rooms next to the road which would allow people to work in their domestic chores while talking to passing people), allowing for increased contacts between residents and travelers, fountains, and load bearing points, that would allow the bearers to rest a bit before continuing their ways – these are clearly visible, still today, in points of Caminho do Monte and Caminho de Santo Antonio.

A number of members of the Associação do Caminho Real da Madeira will start, one of these days, the route around the island, something which they have done before. The goal? To enjoy the quiet, and recover serenity, avoiding cars and stress. And enjoy the landscapes and the friendliness of the island’s peoples. And show that the Caminhos Reais can be a means allowing us to get to know the history and the culture, the landscapes, the scents and the tastes of the island.

It is only a shame that, while some work to recover and keep them, and use them without damaging them, there are also those who – though lack of care or mischief, damage the Caminhos.

In the coming days there will be more of these Caminhos. Until then, good walking.

Mar 01
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”Fall” for the Levada do Moinho, in Porto Moniz

By Unforgettable 4.173 Comments

 

Levada do Moinho, also known as Levada Grande, is one of the references of the parish of Achadas da Cruz. With the cable car, it is of the major attractions of the parish, both in terms of its history, its agriculture and its ethnography.

Recently rehabilitated by the council of Porto Moniz it was originally built by the area’s farmers, and was used to feed the various mills existing there. Today there’s only one left, in Achadas da Cruz, where one can see the signs of this past. This is a walk that mostly takes place within Madeira’s native laurisilva forest, and always accompanied by the stream.

Prepare for various sensations. These will occur on both sides of the path and multiply, with the relaxing sounds of the water, as your footsteps go along the way.

Continue on the path, following the water towards the next sign, where the levada goes down the valley and wooden steps give all the safety necessary for the walk. Even so, pay attention to the presence of water that can make the path slippery – so a good choice of shoes is important.

And this is where the scenery changes. Light increases as we leave the densely forested laurisilva, here replaced by lighter vegetation that allows us to enjoy a view over the parish of Achadas da Cruz.

Go down one more flight of steps, even though the levada just threads on.

This will get you to the Moinho das Achadas (Achadas’ mill), where you can enjoy the historical heritage of the place by watching the small channels there. Open the gate in front of you and go along the small cascades and lagoons that form in the river, in a dance perfectly matched with the laurisilva forest, a UNESCO world heritage site since 1999. Follow the marked path, and concentrate on the promenade along the tilled fields and earthen paths, eventually reaching a levada that follows the road.

The walk finished at the Caminho dos Moinhos, at Junqueira.

More informations click HERE.

Fev 28
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Carnival concert

By Unforgettable 4.467 Comments

DR

I went to a concert. This will only be surprising for those who know me, even though perhaps less so if I tell you the concert I went to was by Orquestra Clássica da Madeira.

And having gone to a concert, I was surprised. Not so much by the competence in the use of the instruments (I wasn’t surprised because I expected it…), but by the sense of humour shown by the group.

I arrived at the Casino a few minutes before the start of the concert, and my first surprise was to see the entrance of the musicians. One roman emperor, with laurel crown, an air hostess, complete with bag and aerosol can, one tiger and one clown, besides many hats, wigs and accessories. Next surprise: the guest maestro waited for the fanfare to make his entrance, and completed this dressed as a gladiator.

Another surprise was the high-impact input by four “soloists”, with their very noisy “instruments”, four vacuum cleaners that accompanied the orchestra and that amply demonstrated that in music and in imagination there are no impossible – it’s just a matter of wanting to do something different.

The programme was a varied mix of pieces well suited to the season, accompanied by students from Conservatório – Escola das Artes, namely dramatizing Rossini’s Overture of William Tell (the theatre students), and dancing Offenbach’s Can Can (the dance students).

A great late afternoon, which left me the will to go back and see the Orchestra some other time.

Jan 29
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Funchal museums

By Unforgettable 4.738 Comments

Religious Art Museum
This museum has an important collection of Flemish paintings from the 16th to the 18th century, religious sculptures from the 16th to the 18th century and objects in gold from the 17th and 18th centuries.

Rua do Bispo, 21.

 

Quinta das Cruzes Museum
This baroque-style quinta was once the home of the second captain of Funchal. Today it houses a decorative art museum with a vast collection of Portuguese and foreign furniture from the 16th to the 19th century, porcelain from Europe and the Portuguese East India Company, 17th to 19th century Portuguese pottery, Indo-Portuguese and European ivory, Flemish and Portuguese sculpture from the 15th to the 18th century, nativity scenes from the 18th and 19th centuries and paintings and prints from the 16th to the 19th century.

Calçada do Pico.

 

Funchal Municipal Museum (Natural History)
In the 19th century, this baroque-style palace was the home of the Counts of Carvalhaland was famous for its receptions. Today, it houses a valuable exhibition of the archipelago’s fauna, flora and geology. It also conducts important scientific research into the Macaronesia region. The ground floor houses a small aquarium.

Rua da Mouraria, 31.

 

Frederico de Freitas House Museum
Frederico da Cunha e Freitas lived in this romantic-style house, where he collected objets d’art. The museum-house has been restored by the Madeira Regional Government and has an impressive exhibition of different collections including glazed tiles, mugs, teapots, ceramics, religious sculpture, old prints and neoclassic and art nouveau furniture.

Calçada de Santa Clara.

 

Madeira Wine Museum
The museum is in a series of baroque-style buildings where Madeira wine used to be made, stored, sold and exported and includes the oldest Madeira wine cellars. The museum’s collection includes letters from famous personalities, documents from the British companies that founded the Madeira Wine Company, books, utensils, a 17th century wine press and antique machinery. There is also a bar where visitors can taste and buy wine.

Adegas de S. Francisco. Avenida Arriaga, 28. Guided tours in English, German, Portuguese and French.