Madeira - O Quarto Dia

We tend to family business, today, but still find time to share some sightseeing. The Miradouro da Eira do Serrado looks out over the village of Curral das Freiras. The ‘Corral of the Nuns’ is the sanctuary village that the islanders used to protect these chaste women from pirates. While it’s easy on the one hand to see how forts protect harbors, it’s just as easy to see how a non-violent population might take refuge within these remarkable mountains.

Take a close look at the access road leading up the valley to the “Curral”. The sides of the valley are obviously steep, but the serpentine "estrada" tells you that the floor of the valley rises sharply, at least in terms of cars.

 

 

Venturing into the valley we find the Paróquia de Nossa Senhora do Livramento, an enchanting church full of color and calm. It seem to have both the perfect scale and the right temperament for the job - you would not want to excite a populous in hiding with swirling columns and golden rays of salvation.

To the left, through a stone arch, there is an elegant side chapel, with a series of stained glass panel. These panels are at eye-level, and easily viewed, unlike most that are set so high you risk falling backwards trying to read them. The tones and hues from these panels fill the chapel, setting a different, perhaps more somber mood than the nave, especially when reflected on the furnishing.

 

Our last stop is the Pico do Arieiro, 1,818 meters (almost 6,000 feet) above sea level, an idiosyncratic tourist destination not only for the insane wind, but the presence of the Força Aérea’s radar dome. We could not be further from the Paróquia church, in elevation and exhilaration. The fury of the wind is hard to describe: it’s not a series of blasts pushing, then pausing, but a constant gale providing persistent pressure.

Hikers, dressed as if they’re headed for Everest dot the rocky trails - North Face nylon hoodies pulled tight.