Friday, December 28, 2007

Here is the second entry in Parker's and my review of islands of the world that we would like to visit:

Madeira is a volcanic island in the North Atlantic owned by Portugal. It's shoreline is composed primarily of rugged cliff faces, with roads carved into the face and occasionally through it. On the northwest side of the island lies Porta Moniz, a resort with a giant swimming pool carved out of normal rock pools. The island has a subtropical temperature, and the farms of the island produce bananas, mangoes, pineapples, sugar cane, avocados, passionflowers, and coffee.

The interior of the island is just as rugged, with the architecture alternating between Mediterranean and Alpine (there is a great deal of German and Austrian immigrants to the island).

One of the most unique features of the island are the levadas, a series of stone aqueducts and tunnels created by the original Portuguese settlers to bring water from the north side of the island to the south. These stone troughs are often wide enough to allow for hiking along the edge. In some places the levadas are in level territory, but in others the aqueducts go high into the mountains, and walking them becomes a delicate balancing act, particularly is one suffers from vertigo. I'd like to think I could walk on one of these, but if the photos I've seen are any indication, some of them are probably a little too agoraphobia-inducing for my tastes.

The New Years' fireworks celebration holds the Guinness Record for being the world's largest. Parker is eager to see that, as am I.

Labels: Homeschooling, Parker, Sheer Awesome, Where in the World

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deposited by Jeff at 9:22 AM | Permalink
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