Madeira
Madeira was the second leg of our trip to Portugal. We originally weren't going to go here, but while researching the trip we heard glowing reviews and we were surprised by how quick and affordable the flight actually was.
I'm glad we did it.
We stayed in downtown Funchal, did the peak to peak hike and had some of the best food of our entire trip here—fresh seafood, bolo do caco, poncha, beef skewers and gelato.
Madi and I also met up with the wedding couple, Whitney and Tom, at the natural pools which was great because the guys got to do a lot more cliff jumping than we otherwise would have.
The driving here is a bit crazy, but otherwise, it's an 80. Above are my 10 favorite photos from the island.
1 — This is one of our earlier photos from the PR1 - Vereda do Areeiro hike. It takes you from the highest peak on the island to the second highest. We were above the clouds for most of the hike, which was about 4 miles and took us around 4 hours.
2 — The PR1 hike took you through a number of tunnels, which was cool. Here's an attempt at shooting one.
3 — Madi and I walking around downtown Funchal at sunset.
4 — Another shot of Madi on our PR1 hike. I like the lighting of this pic.
5 — This is a picture near the end of the PR1 hike. You can see the ocean in the background as well as another island on the right.
6 — Final shot of the PR1 hike. You can tell it was one of the highlights of Madeira for us. This was after we climbed the second peak at the end of the hike.
7 — An island-side shot of the Porto Moniz Natural Swimming pools. We spent an afternoon here just hanging out by the water. Madi even did one cliff jump—which is a big deal. Tom and I did plenty more.
8 — One of our favorite meals was at Bela 5 Snack Bar in Funchal. I got tuna (pictured here) and Madi got seafood rice. Maybe the best fish I've ever had, and the portion size was insane. Madi's favorite meal as well.
9 — We did the PR8 hike, Vereda da Ponta de São Lourenço, on the east side of Madeira on one of our last days. This beach access was one of the highlights from that hike. (We were too tired to do the entire thing.)
10 — Selfie at the PR8 hike beach, with a few sailboats anchored in the background.