On our recent family holiday to the gorgeous Portuguese island of Madeira we walked around Monte Palace Tropical Garden, reckoned to be one of the most beautiful botanical gardens in the world.
Madeira’s southerly location (same latitude as Marrakesh), moist Atlantic air and rich volcanic soil combine to provide ideal conditions for year-round, frost-free cultivation of all kinds of flora ranging from English roses to tropical bananas to native laurel trees.
Early British settlers on the island played an important role in the local economy and they spent their wealth on lovely estates and gardens where they could enjoy the healthy climate and great views.
Monte Palace was one of these estates, developed by Charles Murray, a Scottish merchant and British Consul from 1777-1801, high on a hill overlooking Funchal, the capital of Madeira. This home came to be known as Quinta do Prazer (Pleasure Estate).
The property was acquired by Alfredo Guilherme Rodrigues in 1897 who built the current house, inspired by castles he had seen on the banks of the Rhine. The house later became the Monte Palace Hotel until it was closed down in the 1940s. It is now owned by a charitable foundation which transformed the grounds into a tropical garden and museum open to the public.
The Tropical Garden covers seven hectares of sloping hillside and contains a fine collection of exotic plants from around the world including cycads, proteas, azaleas, hydrangeas, heather, sequoias, acacias and olives. People like us, visiting from Malaysia, can feel at home to see hibiscus, heliconia and orchids.
There are two oriental gardens with and koi fish ponds, with Japanese and Chinese style bridges, stone lions, pavilions and so on.
One of Portugal’s most important collections of tile panels dating from the 15th century up to contemporary works, depicting historical, religious or purely decorative designs is displayed along footpaths around the garden.
A separate exhibition centre shows off the Berardo Foundation’s collection of stone sculptures from Zimbabwe and rocks and minerals from around the world.
The best way to reach the Monte Palace Tropical Garden is by cable car (Teleféricos Da Madeira) from Funchal but it is possible to get a taxi or drive.
You can find details of opening hours, admission prices and location on Monte Palace’s official website, www.montepalace.com
If you still have energy after seeing the Tropical Garden there is another botanical garden in Funchal, Madeira Botanical Garden, which you can reach by a second cable car.
While flying back from the Azores to Malaysia last month I stopped over in Lisbon for 36 hours. My previous visit to Lisbon was over 25 years ago and I had forgotten how beautiful the city was, especially on a gorgeous sunny November day.
With a full day to spare, I decided to avoid the top tourist attractions such as Jerónimos Monastery, Belém Tower and São Jorge Castle as I saw all those last time. Instead I took a long walk around the old part of the city in a roughly circular direction from my hotel.
Here are a few of the sites covered on my 8 hour walk.
The Palácio das Necessidades was originally a convent, then a royal palace until the monarchy was overthrown in 1910. It now serves as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Estrela Basilica, or theBasilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was built from 1779 to 1790. For a fee, I was allowed to climb one of the bell towers and up onto the roof to enjoy the view. I rested my elbows on the parapet to steady my camera not noticing the electrified wires running around the edge of the roof to stop people from jumping off. I received a nasty little shock but luckily my camera survived the jolt.
Lisbon still has a number of tramlines with old-style carriages. They add a lot of character to the place and are used by both tourists and locals.
This historic building, known as São Bento Palace, houses the Portuguese parliament. Quite a big building for just 230 seats.
Pastéis de bacalhau are a type of fishcake made with salted cod, potato and onion. Delicious and only €2.50 including a cup of expresso.
Portugal has been going through an economic crisis and austerity programme for the past few years. They seem to be well on the road to recovery but a sign at the Botanical Garden apologised for the unkempt condition of the garden due to budget constraints.
Perhaps those budgetary constraints also mean there is no money available to clean up graffiti. Those graffiti vandals should be made to go to art school to improve the quality of their work.
Lisbon is a hilly city so there were plenty of steps to climb on my eight hour walk.
Feeling a bit tired, I had to rest for a while in this church near the highest point in the city.
This restaurant near the castle was giving off the most delicious aroma of grilled sardines.
Lisbon has done a good job in preserving the appearance and character of its historic centre.
Lisbon is a lovely city. I don’t think I’ll wait another 25 years before returning.
While in Lisbon recently I wanted to visit the Museu do Oriente, a museum dedicated to the Portuguese presence in Asia. Portugal’s principal possessions in Asia comprised Goa, Malacca, East Timor and Macau together with a trading post in Nagasaki, all places which are relevant to the theme of this blog.
The museum, together with its parent organisation the Fundação Oriente, is housed in a former dock-side warehouse which used to belong to the Comissão Reguladora do Comércio de Bacalhau (commission for regulating the trade of cod).
The museum’s permanent exhibitions cover two floors, the lower floor containing the items relating to the Portuguese colonial period in Asia and the upper floor housing the Kwok On Collection of over 13,000 pieces connected with performing arts in Asia.
The Macau section covers the most floorspace which is not surprising since Portugal controlled the territory for nearly 450 years.
This handsome lacquer screen portrays some of the major landmarks of Macau including St. Paul’s Church (of which only the facade still remains), Mount Fortress and A-Ma Temple.
Some works by the English painter George Chinnery (1774 – 1852), who lived in Macau from 1825 until his death, are featured in the museum.
Another lacquer screen from the 17th Century shows a Portuguese trading carrack in the process of disembarking its cargo in China to trade with the Chinese.
One of the world’s thinnest books must be this atlas of Portuguese possessions in southern China by Albino Ribas da Silva (1868-1934). It consists of just 8 pages, all of Macau.
This European style bureau or writing desk has been decorated with a black and gold lacquer illustration of the Praia Grande, Macau’s seafront promenade.
Over in the Japanese section is a fine collection of inro, beautifully crafted wooden boxes used for carrying small items (since Japanese men did not have pockets in their traditional robes).
Portuguese traders and missionaries were tolerated in Nagasaki for 50 years or so until Tokugawa Ieyasu took power and expelled the foreigners in 1614. Portugal is credited with introducing tempura, firearms and Christianity to Japan among other things.
This Japanese screen shows a Portuguese delegation with its leader sheltered by the yellow umbrella.
East Timor was a Portuguese colony until 1975 when it became part of Indonesia. It broke away from Indonesia and gained independence in 2002. Timur is Malay for east so the country’s name means east-east which is a bit odd, like Gili Islands in Lombok which means island-islands. According to the museum, Timur was so-named because it was the most easterly island in the Sunda archipelago searched by Malays, Indians, Arabs and Chinese in their search for white sandalwood which grew in abundance in the area.
The Indian section contains some attractive pieces such as this inlaid cabinet and desk.
This is a scale model of the Church of Santana in Talaulim, Goa. The church, which still stands, was built between 1681 and 1695 and marks a turning point in Luso-Indian architecture.
The town of Malacca hardly gets a mention in the museum which is disappointing. However Malaysia does feature in the performing arts section with Wayang Siam shadow theatre puppets on display. Wayang Siam exists in Kelantan and is heavily influenced by Thai and Javanese shadow theatre traditions.
This lovely MG car is not part of the museum but was parked outside. If you want to find out more about the museum you can visit their official website.
Pico Island was the third and final island visited during my recent trip to the Azores.
We went for a half day trip by ferry from Horta to Madalena, the main town of Pico. The ferry journey took about 30 minutes each way. It was quite a windy day with heavy seas and the ferry captain needed all his skill and experience to negotiate the narrow entrance to Madalena harbour with rolling waves crashing on either side of the breakwaters. You can get an idea from this video.
Pico is the second largest island in the Azores with an area of 446 sq. km. There must be a lot to see but in the limited time available we were only able to look around the town.
The main attraction on Pico Island is Mt. Pico which is a dormant volcano and Portugal’s highest mountain (2,351 m). It last erupted in 1718 producing lava flows which reached the sea. The summit is often shrouded in cloud but on this November day it revealed itself with upper slopes covered in snow.I resisted the temptation to try and climb it.
Madalena is a quiet, sleepy town where about 6,000 of the island’s 15,000 people live. At its centre stands the Church of Santa Maria Magdalena with its ornate gilded altar.
Pico is a wine producing island and grapes somehow thrive in the soilless but fertile volcanic landscape. The vines have to be protected from prevailing winds and sea spray and to do this a unique method has developed over 500 years whereby long stone walls divide up vineyards into small protected plots. These walls were built by collecting up the volcanic boulders in the fields and stacking them up. This distinctive viniculture landscape has been recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage site.
The Museu do Vinho at Madalena has examples of these stone walls although the actual UNESCO site is some way out of town. At the museum there are some fine dragon trees (dracaena draco, linnaeus) which are typical of the Macaronesian archipelago (the term Macaronesia refers to Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands and Cape Verde). These trees were used to produce a red dye known as dragons’ blood.
At the sea front is a public sea water pool which must be pleasant in summer with great views looking back towards Faial Island.
I’d like to see more of Pico Island if I’m back that way in the future.
The second island visited on our Azores trip was Faial which is a 50 minute flight westwards from São Miguel. It’s a small island with an area of around 170 sq km and a population of just 15,000. We stayed there for six days and hired a car and by the end of it we felt we’d seen pretty much everything there is to see. I’ve marked the main attractions on the island on this map:
Here are a few of the highlights.
Faial is a lovely, picturesque island with rolling green pastures, lots of cows, and hedgerows filled with hydrangeas and other colourful blooms. It is reminiscent of the English county of Devon in parts except that the hills and coastal cliffs are higher. Oh, and there are volcanoes!
The charming main town of Horta is as pretty as a postcard with a surprising number of significant buildings and churches considering that it only has 10,000 inhabitants.
We stayed in the historic Pousada Forte da Horta hotel which is housed in the 16th century Fort of Santa Cruz on the harbour front with spectacular views of neighbouring Pico Island.
Café Sport, also known as Peter Café, is famed among the transatlantic yachting community as the best place in mid-Atlantic to eat, drink and be merry. Actually in November it is one of only half a dozen places open in Horta which pretty much shuts down for the winter. Above the bar is the Scrimshaw Museum, scrimshaw being the art of engraving pictures on ivory or bone, formerly popular among sailors. In the Azores, scrimshaw is traditionally carved on whales’ teeth which used to be common in the days when Faial was a commercial whaling centre. Since whaling was banned in 1986, whales’ teeth have become as rare as hens’ teeth.
Visitors to Horta don’t have to go far to see a volcanic caldera as there is the remnant of one jutting out into the ocean just on the edge of town. There is a nice trail skirting the caldera, known as Monte da Guia, providing great views of the town. There is an aquarium here where rare fish are bred for supply to major aquaria around the world. There is also a former whaling station (closed during my visit) and a small museum called Casa dos Dabney which was the beach house of a prominent American family who lived in the Azores during the 16th and 17th centuries.
In the town there is the Horta Museum and a number of grand churches and civic buildings to admire and a handful of restaurants and cafes. Shopping is limited with only one medium sized supermarket and a number of small family owned shops. There are none of the international high street brands and almost no tourist tat which, in my view, adds to the charm of the place.
In the centre of Faial is the island’s highest point, Cabeço Gordo, at just over 1,000 m. Here too is a massive caldera, two km wide and 400 metres deep. You can drive right up to the rim from where there is a hiking trail all the way round the rim of the crater. Descent into the caldera is not permitted. For the super keen hiker there is a coast to coast east/west hike of 36 km which cuts right across the centre of the island and includes the caldera rim hike. According to the information board this hike should take 12 hours. Next time perhaps!
A shorter and easier hike covers some of the volcanic cones of the Capelo area on the west of the island. It starts at Cabeço Verde from where there is a spectacular view over the entire western half of the island.
At the westernmost point of Faial is the Ponta Dos Capelinhos Lighthouse which used to stand on the shoreline until 1957 when a volcano suddenly rose from the ocean, spewing rocks and ash over the area and effectively added a couple of square kilometres of new land to the island. The lighthouse still stands surrounded by volcanic ash. An underground museum known as the Interpretation Centre of the Capelinhos Volcano has been built here with EU money.
At the eastern extreme of Faial are the remains of another lighthouse, Ponta da Ribeirinha, which was ruined by an earthquake in 1998. As you can gather, Faial is a hotspot of seismic and volcanic activity which is worth bearing in mind if you are planning to buy a retirement home here.
There are a couple of good beaches on the island, the best of which is probably Praia do Almoxarife (black sand) but there are also a number of rocky inlets where pools, naturally replenished and washed by crashing waves, provide sheltered bathing during the summer months.
Back in town, Horta Marina is a pleasant place for an amble. The breakwater is covered in graffiti –nautical murals painted mainly by long distance yachtsmen. It has become tradition for cross-atlantic mariners to leave their mark here as a commemoration and for good luck in the remainder of their voyage.
Hope this gives you a flavour of Faial Island. In my next Azores blog I’ll post something about Pico Island.
The Azores are a group of nine islands in the Atlantic Ocean. They are administered as an autonomous region of Portugal and the regional capital is Ponta Delgada on the island of São Miguel which is about 1500km west of Lisbon. On my recent trip I visited three of the nine islands, namely São Miguel, Faial and Pico. This post is about the first of these.
São Miguel island is the largest in the archipelago but is still only 63km long and 16km wide at its broadest point. Around 150,000 people live on the island, more than all the other islands put together.
A 15th century mariner, explorer and monk called Gonçalo Velho Cabral is credited with having discovered the uninhabited São Miguel in 1432 and settlement of the island began a decade or so later. On his first visit he brought a herd of cows to release on the island. Their descendants are still there!
Being in mid-Atlantic, the Azores are affected by the gulf stream, producing a mild but changeable climate with temperatures seldom exceeding 25°C in summer or dipping below 11°C in winter (record high 28, record low 3). It rains all year round with more in winter.
The islands are of volcanic origin and the landscape is peppered with craters or calderas evidencing the explosive eruptions which formed the islands.
Sete Cidades, in the western part of São Miguel, is the name given to a parish and village located inside a massive caldera containing two adjoining lakes known as the Blue Lake and the Green Lake. There is a hiking trail around the rim of the crater and footpaths through forest and fields at the water’s edge.
Another spectacular caldera is at Furnas towards the east of the island where a major dormant volcano slumbers inside a massive 8 x 6 km crater. It has erupted twice since São Miguel was settled; in 1444 and in 1630. On the edge of the small town of Furnas, bubbling mud pools, boiling hot springs and fumaroles emit steam and sulphurous, rotten egg gasses.
In the town’s beautiful Terra Nostra park there is a thermal pool where you can take a relaxing warm soak in the rather muddy mineral waters said to bring health benefits.
With a write-up like that how could I resist a soak in the pool? What the park’s management don’t say is that the water will stain your swimming trunks a rusty iron colour!
The Azores are reckoned to be one of the best places in the world to go whale and dolphin watching, though with unpredictable weather and frequently rough seas, the whale watching tour boats may not always be able to sail, especially outside the summer months.
The town of Ponta Delgada is by far the biggest settlement in the Azores although small by world standards with a population of around 50,000. The historic town centre contains many fine old buildings and churches, mostly in a uniform white and grey colour scheme.
Tourism to the Azores is picking up. There is an international airport at Ponta Delgada with flights to UK, Germany, USA and the Portuguese mainland among other places. Azores is also a convenient stopover for transatlantic cruise liners.
With no white sandy beaches (only black volcanic sand beaches) and a somewhat rainy climate, this place does not appeal to the sun-worshipping younger crowd. Nightlife is tame to non-existent. But for those more interested in cultural pursuits, hiking, parks, nature, volcanos, whales, superb scenery and some of the most unpolluted air in the world, Azores is hard to beat.