Our weather  on the mainland was chilly and, in Lisbon and Porto, raining some of the time.  Nonetheless, our program included indoor as well as outdoor activities and we never needed more than a coat and umbrella to participate in everything!

As our guests marvelled at the baroque palaces, medieval castles and monasteries on the mainland, so they gained a new appreciation of the history of Portugal, thanks in good part to our wonderful private Guide, Valter Portugal and excellent planning input from our amazing Virtuoso on-site partner in Portugal, Tours for You.   Furthermore, our visit to a private wine estate,  in The Douro and our delicious local-cuisine meal in  Evora, also known as the Gastronomy capital of Portugal, were magnificent.

Our time in Madeira was more relaxed, still somewhat scheduled but not heavily.  In addition to staying at two very different hotels (The Vine – an award-winning Design Hotel and Quinta da Bela Vista, a Virtuoso, country manor house property owned and managed by a well-respected Madeiran family) our group sat in comfortable seats for two hours to watch the perfectly choreographed Flower Festival Parade – the final event of the world-famous Madeira Flower Festival.  It was a truly beautiful time in Madeira, with fresh flower carpets, flower shows, flower and anything else floral that the mind could imagine.  This week, the town of Funchal is quieter, although the cruise ships continue to stop for a day allowing their travellers to explore the narrow streets with their boutiques and kerbside cafes.  We also took a guided day trip to the North of the island where the grapes for the well known Madeira wines are grown and where the terrain is more rugged and the air somewhat cooler.  We had lunch in a small fishing village known for its excellent seafood and took photographs galore.  We took the cable-car to Monte, peering down at the houses below, some seemingly perched on the edge of the cliffs, and visited the Tropical Gardens at the top.  I would like to thank Cristina Gouveia at Travel My Way for her help with some of the Madeira details.

It takes a lot of time and attention from many people to make a tour like this successful, so I would like to pass along to all who participated in planning and running our tour, the words of one of the guests, echoed by others:  This trip truly exceeded my expectations.

I am happy.

Lisbon's trams - traditional city transportation

In just one week, I will fly from Madeira to Lisbon to meet our small group of Americans and Canadians for our two week private guided tour of Portugal.

In case you missed it, here is a whistle-stop outline of our trip.  First, we will spend time in and around Lisbon, taking in the baroque Palaces of Sintra and the Estoril Coastal town of Cascais.  We will visit a Fado Dinner Club and will take a full day to visit Evora and a private Wine Estate in the famous Alentejo region.  We will then make our way to Fatima, visiting the magnificent medieval town of Obidos and the incredible Monastery of Batalha, built between the 14th and 16th.

The Douro Valley is famous for its wine production

We will continue North to Porto, the second most important city of Portugal, where we will  take a full day to visit the wine-producing Douro Valley, stopping at a famous Wine Estate for education, tasting,  and lunch.

Bird of Paradise

Our second week will take us to Madeira Island, Portugal’s “pearl in the Atlantic” where we will take front row seats at the world-famous Flower Festival Parade, visit the ruggedly beautiful former-whaling town of Porto Moniz in the northern part of the island, visit farmers’ markets, enjoy foods grown locally, take an Art Walk, enjoy the traditional Afternoon Tea at Reid’s Palace Hotel, where Sir Winston Churchill used to spend his winter months, take the cable-car to the Monte Palace Tropical Gardens, and for those wanting to explore the wonderful outdoor hiking opportunities of Madeira, an optional morning levada walk.

I’m looking forward to introducing my clients to Portugal – from the inside.

My friend Isabel, a busy and successful Architect in Madeira, Portugal, made a delicious dessert for our farewell dinner in August.  She called it Chocolate Brownie.  You might call it Molten Chocolate Cake.  I call it scrumptious.  So, obrigada Isabel, obrigada Skype Chat for the recipe, reproduced here exactly as received.  Sorry, there are no pictures – we were too busy enjoying to think about finding a camera!

Chocolate Brownie Cake – courtesy of Isabel Correia Mendes

• 250gr dark chocolate
• 200gr butter
• 100gr flour
• 150gr sugar
• 8 egg yolks
• 5 egg whites

Melt chocolate with butter in a double boiler.  Stir the yolks with the sugar until a white dough. Stir the egg whites until stiff.  Join the butter dough with the chocolate dough. Involve egg whites gently. Mix together flour. Reserve in refrigerator. Bake for 7 minutes at 180 degrees in buttered ramekins.  This amount serves about 8 people.

Isabelle makes a batch to keep in her freezer so that she always has dessert on hand.  I made it to take to friends on Friday night and it was a huge success, so I hope you will enjoy it.  Tip:  don’t think about the calories or if you do, cut out sugar for a week afterwards.  I promise – this dessert experience will be worth the sacrifice!

Quinta Bela Vista, Madeira

Next Departure:  April 12 – 25 2012

Join Brenda and her husband Jon on this Lifestyle Luxury Tour of Portugal – our first with Vision2000 Travel Group, where you will feel the history as we visit medieval castles, baroque palaces, ancient monasteries, culture through art walks, music and dining experiences, partake in Afternoon Tea at the famous Reid’s Palace Hotel in Madeira, flowers through Madeira Island’s world-famous Flower Festival and wine through several special and privileged tastings.   We will stay in beautiful hotels, both contemporary and traditional, and our private Guides will share their in-depth knowledge of the different regions while your hosts will add their travel tips along the way.   Over a period of eight days, our small group will explore  mainland Portugal, spending the remaining 6 days on Madeira Island – Portugal’s semi-tropical garden in the Atlantic.  Your hosts will show you the island where they have set up their second home and welcome you to their home for a farewell evening of Fado and Food – a combination of traditional Portuguese music and locally sourced cheeses, seafood, meat, fruits and vegetables.

Tour price:  $4848 CAD per person sharing/1.393 Euro. Our route

Read more about our tour …

Porto Santo, a small island in the Atlantic, just about 25 miles northeast of Madeira and 62 miles from continental Portugal,  comprises about 16 square miles and has a natural landscape of arid hills in the north and a 6km long, flat sandy beach in the South.

A beach resort for residents of Funchal, Madeira – this non-touristy island also appeals to the well-heeled travellers of Italy, Germany, Holland and Lisbon.  To see why our friends travel for 2.5 hours by ferry from Funchal, Madeira to reach this island, with its 5,000 inhabitants, and to get a better idea of whether I should build this island into my itineraries, I decided it was on my must-see list.  I mentioned it to a friend and she immediately offered the keys to her family’s beach home for my exclusive use. It was going to happen. Another check mark on my list.  Nice.

First, I visited www.PortoSantoLine.com.pt and purchased walk-on tickets, First Class, for the ferry from Funchal.  Having asked my friends what was the difference between the two classes of travel, I quickly deduced that First Class was the only way to go:  a meal is included on both sailings (breakfast outbound, a dinner snack on return) there are complimentary espresso and other specialty coffees, wine and other alcohol beverages, free WiFi and a tastefully furnished, comfortable lounge setting.  Both classes also show a movie in a screening room shortly after departure.

Our ferry

Lobo Marinho left Funchal promptly at 7am. The oceanside views of Madeira were breathtaking, and places I had seen from the land looked even more spectacular.  Two minutes later, the buffet breakfast was ready:  scrambled eggs, bacon, frankfurters and beans, ham, cheese, fresh crusty rolls still warm, marmalade and, naturally, tea and coffee.  Basic, but tasty nonetheless.

Two and a half hours later the ferry docked at Porto Santo.  I told the taxi driver where ‘our’ place was, “close to a church”, he said he knew exactly but would show us another church first in case that was it.  It wasn’t, so we drove on for about another 3 kms and then he proclaimed that this was the church!  This was a lesson:  know the name of your church because all verbal directions are anchored by churches.

After settling in and a quick change of clothes, we walked to the beach and sat down at one of the many small cafes. Aromatic coffee, sea breeze, turquoise water, smiling faces. This was rustic heaven.

The boardwalk to the beach

We walked the long, flat sandy beach.  Not quite the 6kms it stretches, but definitely a couple!  The water was warm, about 23 degrees Celsius and adults and children frolicked in the shallow waters.  On the beach, families and lovers re-connected, laughing talking, hugging.  I didn’t see or hear anybody eating or drinking, other than a loud burp from a baby nursing beneath a large beach towel.  Cute.  On the whole, it seemed that beach time was separate from eating time.  Maybe this was why the beaches were completely litter-free.

Porto Santo beach

After a nap in the beautiful tropical garden of my friends’ house, we dressed for dinner and stepped outside the big gates of our home from home.  In the village, a huge round barbeque was alight with fragrant wood, obviously in its early stages, and in preparation for the night’s festivities celebrating the Festival of the Holy Spirit. I could hear the special service from the church, because the microphones were on and the doors were open.  Every so often a loud explosion would rock our silence – we later learned that these firecracker rockets were traditional and that some were single loud bangs, whereas others were seven smaller ones.  I never did learn the significance of either.  After the church service had ended, a procession formed outside the church, parallel with a beautiful pathway created from tropical flowers on the tarmac.  At the front, were parishioners wearing pale blue cotton shawls, men and women, and behind them was a brass band trying really hard to make music.  Then, the young priest, in a beautiful cream-coloured gilded outfit that reached the floor, was escorted at all sides as he walked under a ceremonial cover of sorts.  It reminded me of a carnival float without wheels.  Behind him, were many other parishioners wearing red satin capes.  Apparently, these were people who had reason to thank the Holy Spirit for something that had happened in their lives in the past twelve months.

The procession returns

The procession walked along the road for a while and then turned around.  As they returned, the procession was led by a little girl, about 11 years old, wearing all white and looking, to me, like a little angel.  Behind her, two choirboys shook incense as they walked either side of the road.  And, after the procession had ended, it was party time!  The village became a carnival with hot food vendors parking their wheels in an orderly fashion and offering all kinds of delights including bolo do caco, a traditional bread of Madeira with freshly made garlic butter, espiete, long skewers of lean, fresh beef – cut by the butcher in the van – which one would then cook on the wood-fired barbecue, and Coral beer at just 1 Euro a glass!  The music blared as young people took turns singing popular Portuguese songs with canned band accompaniment.   We performed cardio CPR with an ice-cream and then decided to go home to our Kindle.  There’s nothing like a good “book” to lure me to quieter places.

Cook your own espiete

Next morning we sourced a local caffe con leite and my favourite, pastis de nata (traditional egg custard tart), before setting off to visit the centre of Porto Santo.  Unfortunately, being Monday, the home of Christopher Colombus and his Porto Santo wife,  Filipa Moniz, was closed, but we took a peek through a door left open by gardeners, and the back yard was gorgeous and the stone house remarkably intact. Next time, I will time my visit for any day but a Monday.

The home of Christopher Colombus

As we walked around the area, my eye caught a chalk board with the words “pao d’uva grainha.”  Bread made with grape pits.  Curious, I wandered inside the freshly-decorated wine bar/restaurant.  The proprietor, a friendly woman called Fatima, made me feel at home right away.  We talked and she explained that she and her husband live in Funchal and also in Porto Santo and that they grow their own grapes, make their own wines, grow and cure their own olives as well as the lima beans they serve as petiscos, or tapas and which we were obliged to sample, along with the new, 10 year- and 20 year old wines she and her husband produce.  And we could not leave before we had finished our tastings with their own aguardente made from the wine sediment and liqueurs they make from white grapes, wine and black grapes.  My favourite was the wine liqueur, which had a distinct chocolate note.

After two hours of wining and petisco-dining, we bade our farewells and went home to pack.  Our 32 hours in Porto Santo were almost over and it was time to make our way to the Port. Sated and happy.

Despite a strong wine, our homebound sailing was smooth and we enjoyed our  included “snack” consisting of petiscos – croquettes of potato, fish and meat, fresh salad, olives, cheese, ham and again, those warm, fresh, crusty bread rolls.  And our travel companions at the next table?  Portuguese Canadians – from Toronto! Sharing stories, we agreed that Madeira and its neighbour, Porto Santo, are very special places with cultural experiences that more than compensate for what may be considered, by some, their lack of multiple historic sites.

There are several ways to get to Funchal.  From Vancouver, there are budget options via Gatwick and then direct to Funchal.  From Toronto, SATA and TAP, both Star Alliance members (so you can use and accumulate Aeroplan points) you can fly directly to Lisbon and readily connect to Funchal.  It is just 1.5 hours from Lisbon.  SATA

Personally, I have been very impressed with the service I have received from SATA in Portugal.  They speak perfect English, really understand what it means to give excellent customer service and their prices are excellent.  As a result I will always book directly with them in Portugal, and fly with them, given a choice.