Madeira

Greetings,

Madeira is a beautiful island. Mountains all over the place. The roads are steep and very very curvy. Today's tour was not the best. I visited a wicker "factory". I can see me getting on a plane with wicker baskets or even better table and chairs. We then visited an embroidery "factory". The work is spectacular. I have never seen work like this. All work is hand done and it is spectacular. We then went to the Madeira wine plant and sampled their four basic wines. What I found interesting is that the older the wine the better and so they have a room where one can purchase wine back to the 30's and beyond. The plant is 200 years old. All one needs is money. I think what fascinated me is that they store the wine year by year and market it, for a significant price. The older the wine is the more expensive. Supply and demand right before your eyes, influenced by one's test buds.

As we wandered from place to place we got to see the beauty of the island and the crazy terrain. We were up over 2500 feet visiting the wicker plant. The harbor is beautiful. Main St is lined with flowers, a park filled with flowers moat of them blooming. I found callow lilies blooming in a couple of parks. What a great sight. The island exports flowers and wine, nice products. The island imports lots of tourists. There are no really sandy beaches, mountains plunge into the ocean, but there are hotels with beautiful pools. The other element is that the climate is beautiful. Madeira is off the coast of Morocco and north of the Canary Islands. The island is part of Portugal and the locals are broad of this connection. The total population of the island is around 280,000.