Madeira News Blog

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Jon … sunset & flowers (or is it sunrise?)

Good Morning Madeira! and anyone else reading this.

On the official day of São João I am feeling particularly invigorated after the traditional midnight swim last night. Eshoo! I hope nobody got stung by the jellyfish, as there was a report in yesterday’s newspaper about there still being a problem in Ribeira Brava, where the swimmers were out in force last night.

Anyone have any photos of their local celebrations? … I will do a dedicated page if there are enough.

I found this website quite interesting, not just the photos, but the lots of comments made too. I would agree with most, because I really wouldn’t want to land in Funchal : MADEIRA AIRPORT

I have no idea what Hayden Panettiere does (it seems she is a celebrity), but she managed to collect 163,525 signatures to present to the International Whaling Commission, in her ‘Save The Whales’ campaign. Great stuff Hayden, but I just hope you turned up in the right country to present your petition : IWC MADEIRA

Don’t forget that news / articles will be posted at various times during the day – Check back regularly and keep yourself up to date.

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions or comments.

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TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Alan … Sunset. (Come back Alan, all is forgiven!)

Not much for me to rattle on about today, but I would mention something that might interest students of the Portuguese language … I finally understand (I think 100%) how and when to use the verbs ‘ser’ and ‘estar’, that in English are represented by just one verb ‘to be’. It might not sound much, but believe me it was a hard slog to get to grips with. Anyway I hope that it will encourage some that it is actually possible, because I often hear that it causes more problems than anything else.

Some of my school pals turned up late for the lesson yesterday, with the excuse to the teacher of traffic problems in Lugar de Baixo, due to a landslide. You can do better than that I thought, but sure enough there is a picture in the Diário, and the road was closed for a hour and a half. It seemed to be right in the area where they have been securing the rockface since time began, so fat lot of good that did!

Don’t forget that news / articles will be posted at various times during the day – Check back regularly and keep yourself up to date.

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions or comments.

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TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to ??? … it may be one of my better efforts before I was stuck with a camera phone, but I am not sure. It’s Ribeira Brava I decided anyway.

I popped into our ‘Junta de Freguesia’ yesterday, to ask about where to go to vote on Sunday, and was surprised to find 4 employees, and that is just for the town of Ribeira Brava. I was on a parish council with twice the population of Ribeira Brava, and more that ten times the geographical area of responsibility, and we just had one clerk. I don’t know exactly what the difference is in duties, but it can’t be that great. These ‘government’ jobs are highly prized on Madeira, and everyone here aspires to a very well paid ‘job for life’ like these. I would hate to think what unemployment would be like here if they sifted out all the bureaucracy and excess staff in government and council offices.

If you like European athletics don’t forget the 10,000 metre cup race is being run today in Ribeira Brava, at the Madeira Sports Stadium (take the road to São Vicente, about a kilometre out of Ribeira Brava town). Timetable and entrant details in English here : EUROPEAN 10,000M CUP  RELATED UK ARTICLE

Anyone into the popular Madeira dish Vinho Alhos can find recipes here on CHOWHOUND

Please don’t forget that news articles will be posted at various times during the day – Check back regularly and keep yourself up to date.

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions or comments.

(more…)