Madeira 2023 - Day 2

Tuesday 

Our first walking day of the holiday and arguably one of the most challenging walks in terms of terrain. 

Our walk started from our hotel along the cliff path, we saw gardens festooned with Amaryllis and other plants that we have to grow indoors  and  a local harvesting his new potatoes. 

The well made path zigzagged down the mountain to the rocky beach at a desolate village of Celhau, once home to a sugar cane factory.  Our suggested walk was to climb up the other side of the valley to the town of Sao  Jorge but as the return journey would mean retracing our steps we headed back to our hotel for lunch - a local cheeseboard and a beer. 

I spent the afternoon exploring the hotel grounds before a wine tasting session in the wine cellar. 




Madeira wine is fortified to around 19% alcohol and there are 4 varieties:  dry and medium dry are aperitif wines and can be made into a cocktail with ice and sprite (very nice we tried those later). The other 2 are darker,  extra sugar is added and they are dessert wines.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

France 2025 - Day 8 - Normandy Landings

Image
Wednesday Today was a day of reflection on the horrors of occupied Europe and the bravery and sacrifice of the Allied Forces that landed on the Normandy beaches on 06/06/1944. 81 years have passed but these men are celebrated here in almost every street. There are many flags and memorials lovingly tended even one in our hotel grounds.  Our first stop was at The American Cemetery which has occupied it's current site since 1956 ( before this time the men were buried in temporary cemeteries close to where they fell). When the permanent site was being built the families of the fallen were given the choice of burial here in France or repariation to USA. There are almost 10,000 graves here and a memorial wall to those who are missing in action. The site is beautiful and mostly serene apart from the many visitors paying their respects. I have to say I shed a tear listening to the story of one man who was wounded by shrapnel on Omaha Beach aged 19, he was evacuated to England and required ...
Read more

France 2025 - Day 3 - Poulmenac'h

Image
Friday At breakfast today we were introduced to a Phillipino waitress that spoke perfect English.  She was an English teacher at home and then moved to Shrewsbury. She said she missed England but her life was here now and gave us a few local tips.  Pleumonac'h was one tip that was also on our list with a coastal path along the Pink Granite Coast to rival the SW Coast Path in England. This didn't disappoint and the forecast rain held off all day. In 2015 Poulmenac'h was voted the best village in Frnce! On our way back to the hotel we called at a beach frequented by locals and home to Oyster beds Vast expanses of sand and we were the only people there. This area is so quiet.  Much better weather today than forecast until a torrential downpour as we are about to go for dinner. We may need a brolly!
Read more

France 2025 - Day 2 - Trebeurden

Image
Thursday We woke to a foggy view from our cabin window this morning. After croissant and coffee breakfast we were called to the car deck, more very expensive cars on their way to LeMans to see. We had a two hour drive to our 1st stopover in Trebeuden. A quiet town with a deserted white sandy beach and sailing boats bobbing around in the harbour.  Our room at  Hotel Ti AL Lannac has a prime spot overlooking the bay. This area is The Cote de Granit Rose as it is dominated by the pink rocks.  After a lovely lunch we walked across the beach and scrambled over the said rocks to a small tidal island, fretting as usual that we would get cut off. There seems to be a big tidal range here.
Read more