Monday, 7 March 2011

Escape to the sun.

England in late Februay, cold, wet and gloomy. So what do you do for some warm sunshine?

Answer! you book a late deal and fly off to the sun.


We did just that and after a four hour flight from London we arrived in the beautiful island of Madeira.

What a delight, warm sunshine, blue skies and Delicious Portuguese Custard tarts.



Anyone who knows me will be aware that I  'LOVE' these little sweet creations but I can only usually eat them on my trips to London. These were enjoyed sitting outside in a pavement cafe in the old town in Funchal near to the beautiful cathedral.

 This was on Sunday morning when the bells were ringing.

Next day I went inside.




 What a lovely calm space and stunning with gold everywhere.
The island is full of amazing flowers, lizards basking on the rocks and warm sunshine.


                                                        Flowering trees.                                   

                                           Bird of paradise by the road side.

Isn't this so pretty?

We took a bus tour to see more of the island up to 1600 metres above sea level where you can stand and look down on the clouds.

This is the view from the highest sea cliff in Europe, the second highest in the world.

                                     Pretty scary standing at the top.

We loved the Atlantic Oceon on the north side of the island.

The colour of the sea reminds me of our own North Cornish coastline.

Our last stop on the tour was in a pretty village with this stunning church in a beautiful courtyard.

Another highlight was the trip on the cable car. I have to admit my legs felt very strange hanging up in the air in a small box!
I feel wobbly just looking at these pictures, but it was a great experience. At the top a visit to the famous botanical gardens.

                                         A patchwork of succulents.

and Joes favourite an 'upside down Christmas tree'

On our way back to our hotel we just managed to get a picture of 'Columbuses ship' this is a replica built by a local man in the 1990's. it takes people for dolphin and whale watching  trips .

We had a wonderful holiday and Madreira is a must visit destination. I will be going back again when I need some winter sun.
It was one degree on landing at Gatwick' mmm... lovely'
Nevertheless I'm glad to be home and looking forward to an English summer.

xox Angela.

4 comments:

Julia @ Vintage with Laces said...

Hi Angela, What a wonderful vacation you had. The scenery and the vegetation look fantastic. Especially this patchwork garden is totally amazing. The custard tard looks just yummy. I would love to have one right now :-).
Have a great week!
Hugs to you,
Julia

Soggibottom said...

Catching up on your holiday pics... beautiful....
It does look like the Cornish coast in that pic.
Now why on earth you wanted to leave a cold, wet, damp Devon. I haven't a clue :-) Wish I could have come with you xxxxxxxxx

Lululiz said...

Fabulous photographs. It must have been such a thrill feeling warm sunshine on your skin and enjoying those marvelous views.

Tammy@T's Daily Treasures said...

Hi Angela! Hooray for you having a warm and sunny getaway! Gorgeous! It's nice to travel when the destination doesn't require too much air time. It was only a total of 5 hours flying time for us to Sri Lanka (through Dubai and one hour on the ground there) so not bad at all. We had a great time, our second trip to Sri Lanka, and now that hubby is starting a business there, we will be going more often. :) Hope you are having a great day. We had about 45 seconds of rain here. It's been such a dry winter. Toodles for now. xxx Tammy