Sunday, November 19, 2006

THE PEARL OF THE ATLANTIC

MADEIRA AND PORTO SANTO ISLANDS - AUGUST 1995

After Eurodisney in April (Easter time), I went to New York once again, by the end of April, to Brussels one more time in May, and in June 1995 I had this schedule:
Lisbon to Amsterdam on June 5th; Amsterdam to Lisbon on June 9th;
Lisbon to London on June 18th; London to Lisbon on June 20th;
Lisbon to Brussels on June 21st;
Brussels to Paris on June 23rd;
Paris to Lisbon on June 24th;
Lisbon to Brussels on June 26th;
Brussels to Amsterdam on June 28th and
Amsterdam to Lisbon on the same day.
No wonder that by that time I always had a bag ready to fly...

Finally, in August, I took some time off and returned to the place where I was born - Madeira -, 41 years after I've left it... That's when we had a much enjoyable vacation in Porto Santo!

***

MADEIRA


"LIDO - The explorers arrive to Lido beach, where I took my first steps in water at the age of three..."


"MAGNOLIA - Already with the cousins, relaxing at the Quinta Magnolia"


"PONTINHA - The port"


"CURRAL DAS FREIRAS (NUNS' VALLEY) - Refuge for the nuns from the Santa Clara Monastery fleeing pirates in 1566!"



"QUINTA DAS CRUZES - It's said that João Gonçalves Zarco, who discovered Madeira and seems to be the ancestor to many Gonçalves families, was the owner of this property, now belonging to the regional government"



"FAMILY PHOTOS - Under the statue of Tristão Vaz Teixeira, companion to Zarco on the discovery of these Islands, and in Santa Cruz, home to the Gonçalves..."


"FUNCHAL GARDEN"

***

PORTO SANTO


"TIA MARIA - A nice restaurant at the fabulous 9 km golden sand beach"



"THE BEACH at Porto Santo"


"NORTH SIDE of the Porto Santo Island"

2 comments:

Gill said...

I clicked here because my family is from Madeira Island. My father came to Canada in the 50's and hasn't been back since. He would like to. He was born in Funchal.
He and my mother go to mainland Portugal-but he would love to see Madeira again.
Your photos and descriptions are amazing.
xo

Anonymous said...

Gillian,
Amazing that your parents are from Madeira, where I was born...
This post has some lousy pictures, as my main feature was the video camera. But anyhow, I'm glad you enjoyed...
Have a great Easter!
Gil