The road that leads to Câmara de Lobos runs through beautiful landscapes
One refuses to think about the impossibility of the plane touching down on that tiny runway that stubbornly looms over the Atlantic. Instead, he prefers to assume improbability, but what options are there. Not in vain, the pilots, among the most experienced in Europe, know the maneuver by heart.
In your mind it was complicated, but there you are, stepping on solid ground in Madeira, where there is no talk of the impossible, only the improbable.
The waters of the Atlantic have sculpted its rough coasts with blows on bad days
Madeira is more of a mountain than a beach, more of the green of a nature that cradles whoever dives into it than of the blue of some waters that have sculpted its rough coasts with blows on bad days. It is not that he denies the sea, far from it! In fact, sometimes she misses him so much that, in order not to forget that he's out there, makes its waves heard in the murmur of eucalyptus forests that, being pure tall and skinny, rather than enjoying the swing of the breeze, it seems that they resist it even at the risk of breaking down.
And it was not Madeira land of eucalyptus. They arrived around the 19th century, when the production of rum on the island triggered the demand for wood. The one that was introduced as an invasive species turns out to be ended up saving the laurel forest from felling. Impossible? No, just unlikely.
Laurisilva is the pretty girl of Madeira. Of the 740 square kilometers of the island, more than 20% are covered by this forest, either with moss, or with ferns and, above all, with trees of intricate shapes, whose branches extend scrawny and gnarled, like the fingers of a witch, until they intertwine with each other and make the sky disappear.
In 1999 it was declared a Natural Heritage of Humanity and, although it would have been fair that his magic and his aura of legend were the reasons for such appointment, UNESCO preferred to highlight its exceptional nature and the fact that it is the largest of the forests of this kind left in the world.
Madeira is more of a mountain than a beach, more of the green of nature than the blue of the ocean
It is traveled on foot, following the more than 3,000 kilometers of roads that run parallel to the levadas, canals that began to be built in the 16th century to transport water from the north to the south of the island. They have no loss, but if the fairies take you away from the path (remember, there are no impossible things here) to return you just have to let yourself be guided by the sound of the falling droplets.
In the end it will turn out that everything is reduced to water. To that of the Atlantic, which separates Madeira from Porto Santo and bathes the nine kilometers of white sand beach, very white, on an island only 11 kilometers long; to the water of the waterfall of the Véu da Noiva (Veil of the Bride) that falls directly into an ocean that returns it to Madeira to fill the volcanic lava pools of Porto Moniz. Yes, pools, because in one of those unlikely, Madeira hardly has any beaches.
We do not know if it could be considered as such that of Fajã dos Padres, a narrow, short, rocky strip of land. In any case, In Fajã dos Padres one goes to eat in that practically isolated beach bar in the south of the island.
Located at the foot of a cliff, You can only get there by funicular. In total, two minutes and 48 seconds of descent that culminate in a palm grove to cross to reach a table with views, of course, of the water. Here they prepare delicacies such as the pan-fried limpets, the bolo do caco (typical Madeiran bread), the essential swordfish with fried banana and a final party like cheesecake with mango from their garden.
In one of those improbable, Madeira is more natural pools than beaches
By the way, it is provided with strike out , an old fisherman's drink, based on sugar cane liquor, lemon and orange juice and honey. Not only at the table, also to start party nights in the Zona Velha of Funchal. In Madeira you don't get out of canes, you go to the poncha and they recommend taking two: one per leg.
Funchal is coquettish. was the project OPEN DOORS ART the one that promoted the revitalization of the old town, using the doors of houses and businesses as a canvas for street art. Nothing is thrown away. It is maintained, revitalized and resistant. Like that Two Farmers Market that has been selling since the 1940s the most beautiful flowers on the island and professing authentic devotion to vegetables and fruits, to their flavor and color.
He also knows a lot about adapting Belmond Reid's Palace Hotel, a five-star that counts its years by centuries, does not give up the five o'clock tea ceremony and boasts a subtropical garden with more than 500 varieties of plants distributed on terraces that, of course, reach the water.
Winston Churchill stayed in one of its presidential suites after World War II. A full-fledged marketing strategy that served to liven up a hotel that had dragged on for years at half gas and had to ask the wealthy English families of the island for the furniture to decorate the room. Impossible? No, it was just unlikely.
The Belmond Reid's Palace hotel boasts a subtropical garden with more than 500 varieties of plants
JOURNEY NOTEBOOK
HOW TO GET
TAP Air Portugal
TAP Air Portugal offers flights from different Spanish cities to Madeira and Porto Santo airports with a stopover in Lisbon.
Iberia
From June 2 to October 31, Iberia will have direct flights (operated by Air Nostrum) from Madrid to Funchal on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
AirNostrum
It will resume its charter flights to Funchal from Barcelona and Bilbao every Saturday between July 17 and September 11.
Views from a room at Quinta Jardins do Lago
HOW TO MOVE
by car
Once you have tried hiking and jeep tours, it remains to entrust yourself to the car to explore the island at your leisure. There are many rental companies, such as Funchaleasy.
WHERE TO SLEEP
Belmond Reid's Palace (Monumental Road, 139; Funchal)
They pay so much attention to detail that in 2016, when they changed the classic room keys for cards, they gave analog ones to their most loyal guests.
Quinta da Casa Branca (Rua da Casa Branca, 7; Funchal)
Rooms at ground level with views of a botanical garden with 280 species and suites in a 19th century estate. XIX, owned by the Leacock family (one of the first to dedicate themselves to wine on the island).
Quinta Jardins do Lago (Rua Dr. João Lemos Gomes, 29; Funchal)
Your house in Funchal, views of the sea and the mountains and a swimming pool that you always want to enter and never leave.
Porto Santo Hotel & Spa (Regional Road, 120 Campo de Baixo; Porto Santo)
Seventies aesthetics on the beach and a spa that has just been renovated to worship the body.
Seventies aesthetics on the beach and a spa that has just been renovated to worship the body
WHERE TO EAT
Villa Cipriani (Monumental Road, 143)
Italian cuisine with views of the Atlantic on a terrace from which to contemplate the cliff of Belmond Reid's Palace, the hotel to which it belongs.
William (Monumental Road, 139)
Making magic by pampering local produce has earned this restaurant, led by Luis Pestana, a Michelin star.
Adega da Quinta (Rua Jose Joaquim da Costa)
The meat is the protagonist. The pork is macerated in wine and garlic for three days. The de tenera is seasoned with garlic, bay leaf and salt.
Quinta do Furao (Road to Quinta do Furão, 6)
Madeira cuisine with international touches. Reserve a table on the terrace overlooking the landscapes of Santana.
Fajã dos Padres (Father Antônio Dinis Henrique Road, 1)
The pan-fried limpets will make you forget the vertigo of going down there by funicular.
One travels to the Portuguese archipelago to understand that it is always better to talk about the improbable than the impossible.
OF BARS
Castrinhos Bar (Caminho do Pinheiro das Voltas, 14)
To drink the best poncha, the typical drink of Madeira.
***This report was published in *number 145 of Condé Nast Traveler Magazine (Spring 2021) . Subscribe to the printed edition (€18.00, annual subscription, by calling 902 53 55 57 or from our website). The April issue of Condé Nast Traveler is available in its digital version to enjoy on your preferred device