{"id":470,"date":"2016-04-27T16:55:38","date_gmt":"2016-04-27T22:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/?p=470"},"modified":"2016-04-27T16:55:38","modified_gmt":"2016-04-27T22:55:38","slug":"funchal-madeira","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/?p=470","title":{"rendered":"Funchal, Madeira"},"content":{"rendered":"

Madeira is an island approximately 350 miles off the coast of North Africa. It is a province of Portugal. It has been described as the island of eternal spring. Portugal is approximately 600 miles to the northeast. Funchal is the capital and is home to about one-third of the island’s 265,000 people.
\nThousands of red tile-roofed homes cling the the steep cliffs that were once carpeted with fennel, their gardens overflowing with greenery and flowers. \u00a0The climate is as near perfect as it gets since it is in the gulf-stream flow of the Atlantic Ocean. \u00a0The warmest month has an average temperature of 73 degrees F, while the coolest is 61 degrees F. \u00a0This island receives a near perfect 28 inches of rain annually. \u00a0About 55% of that is in November-January.<\/p>\n

Year round the clean, clear sea is excellent for bathing, snorkeling, water-skiing and fishing. \u00a0The streets, as well as the air are almost pristine. \u00a0Parks and cobbled streets are found to be prevalent. \u00a0There is an old town the is quite charming, and as you would imagine, very pedestrian friendly. \u00a0As with most of these european cities there is a great open food market which is filled with produce, meats, and fish.<\/p>\n

I took a 3 hour bike tour while I was there and it was fabulous. \u00a0That day was sunny and 64 degrees F. \u00a0 The tour took me from the old town to the new areas (as depicted in my photo images.) \u00a0While riding through the newer more cosmopolitan parts of town there were abundant opportunities to be either hit by cars and buses, or have car doors opened in your path. \u00a0The roads were similar to Rome but with more traffic circles. \u00a0There were no bike paths and consequently we were in the street with the rest of the vehicles. \u00a0Since there were 14 participants in the tour I believed my odds to be pretty good for not becoming a statistic. \u00a0I also remained near the middle of the group for some added protection. \u00a0I completed this outstanding tour without incident, and so did everyone else. \u00a0In just a couple of days I will arrive in Gibraltar. \u00a0Please await for heads up email for that one.<\/p>\n

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Old town cafe. \u00a0Flowering trees are everywhere. \u00a0Some were in pots and some in the ground.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Typical cobbled street \u00a0in the old town. \u00a0Not much to say about this image.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Another cafe and because I’m early no one is here. \u00a0The menu was great too. \u00a0Octopus was a specialty. \u00a0Pity it was only 9:30 AM.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Hillside village. \u00a0No risks of slides because of the abundant vegetation and the fact that annual rainfall is a near perfect 28 inches (or 700 mm.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Ferns are found everywhere. Also important is the fact that there are no snakes on the island. \u00a0Also of note is that mosquitos are also nonexistent. \u00a0Another plus for visiting here. If I could only speak Portuguese I consider moving here.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Tropical plants and trees are common here. \u00a0The most ferocious creature one may encounter is a small lizard.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Just look at the tuna on this guy’s table. \u00a0He looks fairly uninspired. \u00a0Not sure why sales are slow, because this fish could almost sell itself. \u00a0Perhaps sales are slow because this guy can’t sell. \u00a0Good thing he works for himself, otherwise he’d be canned. \u00a0But not his fish. \u00a0Just sashimi it and I’m in.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Anyone for some fresh barracuda? \u00a0Just take a look at these toothy bastards. \u00a0Some of the larger ones can be poisonous. \u00a0So how can you tell? \u00a0 Fillet the fish and get it on ice immediately. \u00a0Next, give a fillet to your neighbor and put the rest in your refrigerator. \u00a0The next morning knock on \u00a0your neighbors door and if he opens it, the fish is OK to eat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Fruit and vegetable market. \u00a0Typical but not very interesting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Madeira is an island approximately 350 miles off the coast of North Africa. It is a province of Portugal. It has been described as the island of eternal spring. Portugal is approximately 600 miles to the northeast. Funchal is the capital and is home to about one-third of the island’s 265,000 people. Thousands of red … Continue reading Funchal, Madeira<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=470"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":503,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470\/revisions\/503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}