October 6, 2020 – WANDERLUST FAMILY ADVENTURE

Fajã da Quebrada Nova – Madeira

October 6, 2020 Rita Aguilar Architecture, Europe, Hiking, Historic Sites, Madeira, Portugal

The tiny village of Achadas da Cruz has a cable car that will bring you to the even tinier village of Fajã da Quebrada Nova. The cable car drops precipitously over the cliff to bring you a collection of farms and stone houses. The only residents we saw when we were there were the multitude of cats that were patrolling the grounds. Can you imagine what it must have been like for the people of this village before the cable car was built.

New video by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

I was told that one of my relatives still lives in one of the old houses!

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

There is a well maintained stone pathway that brings you through the village along the shore.

Achadas da Cruz Post Office / General Store – Achadas da Cruz, Madeira

October 6, 2020 Rita Aguilar Europe, Madeira, Portugal, Services

In the small hamlet of Achadas da Cruz on the island of Madeira I made a pilgrimage to the home town of my maternal grandparents. I found the post office / general store where I had sent a letter many years ago looking for relatives. Amazingly I received a response from a distant cousin and was able to obtain valuable information about my family which led me to be able to obtain my Portuguese citizenship.

I was able to mail my brothers postcards from the post office! The ladies out front waiting for the bus were able to give me some more information about the town.

There was even a tiny police station nearby.

Hotel Review – Aqua Natura (Porto Moniz, Madeira)

October 6, 2020 Rita Aguilar Architecture, Beaches, Europe, Hotels, Madeira, Portugal, Reviews

We stayed at eight different hotels during our trip to Europe in the late summer of 2020 and the Aqua Natura in Porto Moniz, Madeira was by far the best. In terms of service, hospitality, accommodations and views it was unsurpassed. I highly recommend it to anyone traveling to the island for any length of stay. After arriving at the Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport in Santa Cruz we took a COVID test and then booked a taxi to take us to the hotel on the other side of the island. The drive took us over an hour and we headed straight to the hotel to quarantine until we received our test results.

After checking in the very hospitable staff brought us up to our room and gave us complimentary champagne and coffee while we waited for our test results.

The view from our hotel room balcony was stunning.

We collapsed into bed waiting for our test results.

It took eight hours to get our results, in the meantime we ordered some room service.

Our tests were negative (!) and we were free to explore Porto Moniz.

The next day after breakfast,

we swam in the Lava Pools that were just outside the hotel doors. A small fee of 1.50 Euros was all that was required for entry.

A great hotel, I cannot say enough about it.

Taste Test – Bolo de Caco (Madeira)

October 6, 2020 Rita Aguilar Europe, Madeira, Portugal, Taste Test

Bolo do caco is a flat, circular bread, shaped like a cake and thus called bolo (Portuguese for ‘cake’). It is traditionally cooked on a caco, a flat basalt stone slab. The bread is usually served with garlic butter, or eaten as a sandwich with octopus, or kebabs. We had this as a accompaniment to our meals at several restaurants during our stay in Madeira.

Weather as a sandwich or just doused with garlic butter it was delicious. A crunchy outside with a leavened soft interior.

Levada do Moinho – Porto Moniz, Madeira

October 6, 2020 Rita Aguilar Architecture, Europe, Hiking, Historic Sites, Madeira, Mountain, Portugal, UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Levada do Moinho in Porto Moniz, Madeira is one of the many levadas on Madeira island. In Madeira, the levadas originated out of the necessity of bringing large amounts of water from the west and northwest of the island to the drier southeast, which is more conducive to habitation and agriculture, such as sugar cane production. They were used in the past also by women to wash clothes in areas where running water to homes was not available. The idea of this style of water channel was brought to Portugal by the Moors during the time of al-Andalus. Similar examples can still be found in Iberia, such as some Acequias in Spain. In the sixteenth century the Portuguese started building levadas to carry water to the agricultural regions. The most recent were made in the 1940s. Madeira is very mountainous, and building the levadas was often difficult. Many are cut into the sides of mountains, and it was also necessary to dig 16 miles of tunnels on the island. This hiking trail adjacent to the Levada is on the main road to Porto Moniz and is easily assessable. The Levadas of Madeira are on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

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