Vacances d'hiver

Yes not only does the French school system have Christmas break but also winter break, score!  Last month I was busily planning my 2 week span, I happened to talk to an aquaintance that also wanted to travel so I set out dreamily endorsing Lanzarote in the Canary Islands when she mentioned a little island called Madeira.  Intrigued I looked at some photos and my mind was quickly made over.  It looked like a mini Hawaii.  After much planning (much much) we found a reasonable hotel and means of transportation for a one week trip.  Here was my one day travel itinerary: Saint Amand Les eaux->bus-> train Lille->metro-> Lydia's house-> car-> tourcoing train Paris->bus Orly airport-> flight Lisbon->flight Funchal-> bus hotel.  All of these legs were carefully planned out when of course there were technical difficulties on the trains leaving us in a near constant state of stress; also stressful was the fact that the night before leaving I received an email that reported the most dangerous airports in the world and based off of my nightmares I decided to frighten myself.  Guess which was number one?  After that full day of traveling in fridged France we arrived to warm sunny Funchal the capital of Madeira island .  

Madeira is a Portuguese island about an 1:30 hr flight away from Lisbon; it's tropical and mountainous, known for its hikes and its wine, it doesn't have sandy beaches but cliffs and rocky beaches.  It's the same latitude as Morocco and is filled with plants and trees from all different regions of the world-ancient pine trees from Europe, eucalyptus trees from Austrailia, plants from South America and at least 5 types of passion fruit.  

Things to do in Madeira:

Climb up to Monte, yeah hike up its a killer but you'll see the 'real folk' and save 10€ on the cable car.  Go watch or participate in the sleds that god lying down the mountain to Funchal.  

Go to public and botanical gardens

Walk, hike, run, climb...

See the east side of the island

Go to a market

Watch the sun go down with your back against warm volcanic rocks on the coast

Speak 3 languages with one person in 2 minutes 

Remember to say bom tarde in the afternoon

Go to the artsy eastern side of Funchals old town

Take a dip in the volcanic ocean pools 

Take a bus ride on the island, it's an experience by itself

Eat good food, drink good drinks, walks a lot and get some sun

-drink-

Try passion fruit poncha-a drink made with lemon/honey/passion fruit juice and aguardente (a type of high proof rum), Madeira wine much like port both dry and sweet, ginja a cherry liquor, and the white and red wine from the Central Valley of Madeira (the white was suprisingly amazing)

-food-

Scabbard fish- a scary looking but nummy nummy fish that looks like a barracuda, try it cooked with banana or Madeira style with tomatoes and onion.

Tuna- Tuna steak fished around the island cooked on a stone 

Bolo do caco- round loaf or filled with meat and lathered with garlic butter (💃🏼👌🏼) consistency of an anguish muffin/pizza.  

Pastel de nata-traditional Portuguese mini creme brûlée flan pastries

Tropical fruit especially the passion fruit, bananas and especially annon.