As expected, last night the state of emergency was declared in Portugal, including the autonomous regions of Madeira and Açores. Today, we really were expecting heavy measures and further restrictions, but fortunately, for now, there haven’t been any that weren’t already in place. Compulsory quarantine for people disembarking from abroad, including the Portuguese mainland, stays…
Author: Peter Groen
Peter was born in Amsterdam in 1949. He has a history in PR and copywriting. Now, part time resident of the Island of Madeira of over 10 years, he writes about Madeira, its culture, its overwhelming nature, its food and drink, and about everything concerning travel to and on this beautiful island.
Madeira free of Coronavirus
Update of june 12, 2020 Since this article was first published on March 5th, a lot has happened. Of course, with the first signs of covid-19 arriving on the Island, we all were very worried. If the virus would have had free range here, it would have ended in an uncontrollable disaster. Health care is…
Walking the Levada do Norte: from Boa Morte to Serra de Agua
Living in Madeira, albeit part-time, from November through April, is a lovely experience. But there are some days that are extra special, like yesterday when we did ‘one of these walks’. Now, we have posted many stories about our walks already, especially in the Dutch pages and I had reached a point where I thought…
fire in Madeira
The last two days were somewhat scary. Criminals have – for the umpteenth time – started forest fires in Madeira. Little can be said about the motives. But angry tongues do say that there are companies on Madeira that make a lot of money by repairing damage caused by fire. And when they say to…
Levadas: one of Madeira’s best-known features.
Anyone who has ever visited the Portuguese Island Madeira knows that one of the best-known features of the island is the network of levadas. But there aren’t many sites that explain what these levadas are for, how and when they were built, how their maintenance is done and by whom, and what their significance is…
Christmas Lights in Funchal
If we, in the North, are already excited if Christmas decorations appear before the first of Decembeer, here in Madeira decorations of houses and gardens start early November, and in the city of Funchal and elsewhere the first work teams of the municipality appear to put on Christmas lights. We always wait until very close…
Happy 2020 with the Funchal Fireworks!
With the spectacular Funchal fireworks of last night, we wish you all a fantastic 2020. May it bring you everything you hope for! Like last year and many years before, we like to celebrate New Years Eve en the arrival of the new year with a nice dinner with friends in Reataurante Miradouro, well positioned…
Madeiran migrants
If you’re a bit familiar with Madeira, you know that a lot of old houses are empty, slowly decaying, collapsing and falling into ruin eventually. Especially if you come a bit further from the capital Funchal. There are reasons for that. Until the nineteenth century, one of the pillars of the island economy was sugar…
Madeira Flight Cancellations
Of course, everyone who frequently has to fly to an island destination like Madeira knows that there is such a thing as Madeira Flight Cancellations. Not pleasant, but this is a mountainous island and, coming from the wrong direction, it takes only about 18 knots, that is a low Force 5, to prevent planes from…
Exotic vegetables and fruits: the market is the place to go
Like most Sundays, we went to the market in the village of Prazeres, which is about seven minutes away from our house, pretty early yesterday morning (yuck!). Fruit and vegetables are definitely best bought on the market. Not only because of the price, but also because of the degree of freshness. There is always a…
