Portugal - Madeira

Madeira is a place I never heard of a year ago, and this past month we spent a magical week there!  I had heard of Madeira wine, but since I'm not really a wine drinker, I never really thought about where Madeira was.  I would have guessed Spain or Italy.

Anyhow, what a place!  Before our trip, I scoured the internet reading and watching videos about incredible hikes on this island.  I made a list of the ones I most wanted to try but also knew that weather could be a big factor.  A hike on a blue sky day is such a different experience than a hike on a dreary, rainy day.  I also made a list of things to do on rainy days.

I'm glad to report that we didn't really need our rainy day plans!  We did have a few rainy, cloudy and cold moments, but we were blessed to get to take our top hikes in very good conditions!  Thank you, Lord!

When we landed, we went straight to our AirBnB in Machico only to find out that we had been upgraded to the nice hotel (Dom Pedro) across the street!  We also found a great place to eat right away with pizza and GF pasta.

We looked at the forecast and noted that it was supposed to rain all day the next day.  Woke up to no rain at all.  This happened almost every day!  So that first morning we had an incredible breakfast buffet and then got right down to the business of hiking.

Our Hikes

These are the hikes we took in the order that we took them over the next few days:

PR8

This hike was very close to Machico and was the reason we stayed in Machico the first night.  It goes out on the peninsula on the eastern most point of Madeira.  It got exciting when a rain and wind storm blew up, making it particularly hard for Ann with her balance issues.  Spectacular hike, though!  When we got to the end, we decided to take the boat back.  

PR9

This was our first levada hike, and we thought it would be a good one for a more dreary day.  Had a bit of a hard time finding the trailhead, which was right in Santana where we were staying. Ann and David turned around about half way as the path was getting tricky for Ann.  Terry and I continued all the way to the waterfall at the end - going through 4 tunnels.  Terry cut his head open on the roof of the third tunnel.  Ouch!  

Happy to finally find the trailhead

PR1.2

This trail is also known as Pico Ruivo.  The first time we drove up to the trailhead, the mountain was socked in with clouds and it was cold and drizzling.  The next day, we had blue skies and barely needed our jackets.  

PR11

The most challenging part of this hike was finding a place to park and getting the Simplifica website to work to buy our trail tickets (most trails were 4 euros each, though nobody was ever checking tickets when we were hiking). 

PR1

Wow!  Took this hike on our last full day in Madeira.  We had though we would have to skip because of bad weather, but the clouds rolled out and it was beautiful!  Very cold and slippery right at the beginning.  I was very glad I had put on a 2nd pair of pants.  But it warmed up nicely.  I loved the sheer dropoffs and views on this hike. 

Stairway to Heaven

Levado Moinho/Nova

This was the second hike of our last day on Madeira, and we almost gave up finding the trailhead.  So glad that Terry was determined, as this hike was so cool!

The trail started behind a church in Ponta de Sol.  Same age as Terry

The view up the valley

The flowers!

Double walk-behind waterfall

Other Stuff we Saw/Did  

Portugal - Mainland

To be honest, a trip to Portugal was never really on my radar . . . BUT IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN!  

When cheap plane tickets to Portugal showed up a few months ago, I started doing some internet research and decided that Portugal had a lot to offer.  Because we love hiking, we planned the main course of our trip to be the island of Madeira with mainland Portugal as an appetizer and dessert.  It did not disappoint!  And the trip was made so much better because my sister and her husband came along!  Ann and I had so much fun planning.  

Colares

We flew to Lisbon but then drove right away to an AirBnB in Colares, right on the Atlantic.  Our apartment was on the 3rd floor above a bakery and had an ocean view.  

The beach at Colares was covered with seafoam while we were there.  We loved watching the kids play in the foam and make teepees with the sticks that were washing up on shore.  

We had made reservations at restaurant with GF options that was right on the beach with a sunset view.  It was a great way to start the trip.

Cabo de Roca ("Cape of the Rock)

Just a few miles down the coast from Colares is the westernmost point in Europe.  We visited the lighthouse there in the morning and returned again for the golden hour the next day.  Terry and I climbed on the rocks and took a little sunset hike there. 

Sintra

Sintra is a fascinating town.  We decided if we only had time to see three things there we'd see the Pena Palace, the Moorish Castle and Quinta de Regaleira.   This involved quite a lot of uphill walking.  We were blessed to have beautiful weather. I enjoyed all of these, but I think the Quinta de Regaleira with all its hidden pathways and the deep "Initiation Well" was the most interesting.  

Lisbon

After spending six wonderful days on Madeira, we flew back (just in time as most planes were grounded and most hiking trails were closed due to high winds for the next several days) and spent two nights and one and a half days in Lisbon.  

Our hotel was located right across from a huge plaza (one of many in Lisbon).  We took a Tuk Tuk Tour one day and the other day we hung out with a friend of Ann and David's from Fayetteville that was living in Portugal.