30 Mar

Posted at 08:26h in culture, photography & video by
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I like to walk around Funchal. Stroll the boulevard or sit down on a bench at the ocean side to watch people doing their thing: I love it. My favorite part of Funchal is old town. The authentic old buildings and architecture, the vibe, people and the bustle: there's much to see here and it's never boring. Old town is like its own little village in a big city. Fortunately, big touristic hotels haven't spoiled this part of the city (yet). I wandered around old town during 'golden...

01 Aug

Posted at 14:43h in culture, madeiramade by
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Summer is here! While most people en masse throw a bunch of burgers and sausages on the barbecue, in Madeira they eat espetada. Espetada is a traditional Madeiran dish, not to be confused with that other popular Madeira dish ‘espada’! Although these two dishes are very similar in name, they totally different. Espetada is a meat dish and espada is fish. SO WHAT IS ESPETADA? Espetada is a grilled beef skewer. It is very simple and very delicious! Traditionally the beef is skewerd on a laurel branch, but nowadays it's...

01 Jul

Posted at 14:44h in culture, madeiramade by
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The Portuguese have a sweet tooth. On Madeira you’ll find countless little bakery shops and all these shops have windows chock-full pastries and cakes. One of Madeira’s oldest delicacies is ‘bolo de mel de cana’ or ‘honey cake’. This cake is traditionally made with Christmas, but you can buy it all year round. Traditionally, when people make this cake for Christmas, they’ll make enough to last the whole year. Bolo de mel can easily be preserved that long. In fact, the cake gets even more delicious with time.  A...

21 Jan

Posted at 14:58h in culture, madeiramade by
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During our first visit to Madeira, our hotel served pastel de nata every other day at breakfast. It was love at first taste! After my first pastel de nata, my trip to the breakfast buffet was not complete without grabbing one, or two of these pastries. In my defense: they served mini pastel de nata. Unfortunately we were never again so lucky to have pastel de nata at hotel breakfast. However, you will find small bakeries on every corner of the street in Madeira, so getting a hold of...