Sept. 15 - Porto da Cruz, Portugal

“Stop being afraid of what could go wrong, and start getting excited about what could go right.” -Tony Robbins

While we were in the planning and research stage of our trip to Madeira we watched several YouTube videos. One talked about the Santo da Serra Farmers Market held every Sunday. It looked like a great local place to check out. In reality it was packed with tourists. I guess everyone watches the same videos. The road was jammed with at least 20 large buses and 100s of cars. It's a very small market with some great food booths and a few vegetables and fruit vendors. There was also a flea market across the street. Neat to see but definitely not worth being tied up in traffic. 

We didn't stay at the market long and thought while we were in the area we'd do a little hiking at one of the levadas. Levadas are irrigation canals that were built in the 15th century to carry water to agricultural crops around the villages. There is a whole network on Madeira Island most of which are used by hikers to access the many springs and waterfalls on the island. The roads in the mountains are very windy and not as wide as those along the coast. The traffic was even worse at the Levada dos Balcões than at the market. Cars and buses parked along the road miles from the trail head. That would be crazy, hike a couple of miles in traffic to start a four mile hike...no thanks. When cars park like that it turns a two lane road into a one lane road. Traffic was only moving north. So we kept moving and ended up on the north shore. 

We looked at our map and decided to check out Porto da Cruz. A cute little fishing village on the northeastern shore. Popular with surfers, sunbathers and hikers. It has lots of little cafés along its harbor, a huge saltwater pool, a seafront promenade and a rum factory. What an amazing place we found. Sometimes it's the unexpected things you find that are the best. 

The market

They serve ponchas at several stands. Poncha is the local rum punch...it has a lot of punch.

Hydrangeas grow everywhere here on the island. So pretty.

Once you get up into the mountains the scenery looks a lot like that in NY and PA.

Volcanic peaks are everywhere.

Looking east along the beach in Porto da Cruz. A popular surfing spot in Madeira.

Looking west at some of the little cafés along the harbor.

Lunch at The Wave.

Porto da Cruz Swimming Pool

Looking back to town from the seafront promenade.

The seafront promenade.

Bird's eye view of Porto Da Cruz.

Companhia dos Engenhos do Norte (Northern Mills Company) is a working rum refinery. It's the only working steam powered rum distillery left in Europe. It is located on the west side of the promenade.

You can tour their facility and do tasting in their little store.

One of the best meals we had all week was at India Gate. Stan had the Chicken Tikka Masala - Boneless chicken tikka cooked in yogurt, ginger, garlic, tomato, and a touch of garam masala. I had Chicken Curry - Chicken stewed in an onion and tomato based sauce, flavored with ginger, garlic, chili peppers and a variety of spices.