The theme for our ‪‎travel pics this week is M for Madeira. To wrap us up, a lovely view from near the Cabo Girao lookout. It was typical of Madeira – hills, and terraces, and medium density housing – and as my wife pointed out … gum trees! Now, just think about that: if you were to drill…

The theme for our ‪‎travel pics this week is M for Madeira. Pretty much everywhere you look in Madeira, there’s a church. To be honest, I have no idea what this church is, in the lower third of this image. If you happen to know, I’d be grateful if you could tell me – because I…

The theme for our ‪‎travel pics this week is M for Madeira. One of the most famous tourist attractions on Madeira is the Monte Toboggan ride. At the top of a hill above Funchal is the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte, or “The Church of Our Lady of the Mountain.” It’s a beautiful Catholic church…

The theme for our ‪‎travel pics this week is M for Madeira.   The Madeira Botanical Gardens in Funchal date back more than 50 years. They were built in 1960, on land that was formerly the family home of hotelier William Reid. The gardens themselves are quite lovely – and cover a whole range if flora,…

The theme for our ‪‎travel pics this week is M for Madeira.   For Wednesday, it’s the Jaoa Gomes bridge –  a 140m high bridge that connects two tunnels near the Madeira Botanical Gardens (where I took this picture from) Built in 1974, it’s one of the highest structures in ‘Europe’ (although, as I’ve already said, that’s…

The theme for our ‪‎travel pics this week is M for Madeira. Madeira, like all of Portugal, has a deeply embedded religious ethos – and that’s shown in its dozens of churches that are dotted across the island. This church is apparently St Anthony’s (or, strictly speaking, Santo Antonio) The parish church of Santo António was…

The theme for our ‪‎travel pics this week is M for Madeira. Madeira is geographically closer to Africa than Europe – it’s about 500km from the North African coast, and a full thousand km away from the European landmass .. but it is considered to be part of Portugal, and hence a part of Europe. This is…