Thursday Thoughts – Levada do Norte

/ Leya / 20 kommentarer

A levada is an irrigation channel or aqueduct specific to the Portuguese Atlantic region of Madeira. In the 16th century the Portuguese started building levadas to carry water to the agricultural regions in the south. Over 2,170 km (1,350 mi) of levadas were built and later provided a network of walking paths.

Due to the dangerously mountainous landscape, building levadas was often tasked to criminals and convicts from continental Portugal. Today levadas supply water and also provide hydro-electric power.

These are some scenes from a lovely levada along the south coast of Madeira. We walked this city border levada first, and later in the week returned to our favourite mountain levada. They are totally different. Ready? Let’s go!

We jumped off the local bus at Estreito de Camara de Lobos. The walk starts in a vineyard. We were grateful for the shadow!

The whole walk presented splendid views over the landscapes and the ocean.

Every now and then we met a local farmer on the path.

And – curious little friends peeping out for a closer look at us.

This is a very mountainous landscape, and the levada was sometimes redirected to another path because of overhanging cliffs and stones.

Workers in the heat of the day, a singing levada, fruits and berries among the flowers. And…lizards en masse!

Paths can provide easy and relaxing walks through the countryside, while others are narrow, crumbling ledges where a slip could result in injury or death. We walked the most dangerous ones in the 1980’s – today we would not take the risk.

Children played with the water of course – this little guy had built a boat for the levada – and as we passed him, we found his shoes too.

Animals are kept in little sheds – palheiros – I feel so sorry for them. Living in the mountains means not many places for grazing, and they could also slip and fall. I was so happy to find this beautiful goat in a massive field of lush grass! But, look closely at his horns – they are tied together.

Lens-Artists Challenge #356 -Quiet Hours

/ Leya / 45 kommentarer

SH is our new guest host this week. He has chosen Quiet hours – and how we can show them in pictures. For me, I agree with Christina:

When I get up early, I appreciate the quiet time to enjoy a coffee or water my plants.

– Christina Tosi

I have picked my quiet hours from Madeira, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Ecuador, England and Japan. But, with this topic, it is hard to stop delivering pictures. I guess we all have lots of fitting photos for this challenge!

Fog and mist – and snow – make for quiet hours. I often go out for a walk, long or short, in those weather conditions.

Sunrise and sunset – I try to catch both. A lonely boat and a quiet sea…both attract me.

Iceland easily provides quiet hours – as many as you need. And not only because there are few people…

Mornings and evenings glow in the clear and fresh air and the hot springs never forget to send their messages.

Over to Norway, Lofoten. Quiet beauty – I understand why painters want to live there. Our famous water colour artist Lars Lerin was one of them. He lived there for several years.

The blue hour seems even more blue in Lofoten…

Let’s go to the Southern Hemisphere for another kind of quiet. In Ecuador and the Amazon – the quiet hours are filled with the sounds of the jungle. I loved it. I have never slept like a baby since I was… a baby…but now I did.

I love to spend some quiet hours walking in cemeteries. This one in Yorkshire, England. The Brontë’s are buried here. I could feel their stories with every step.


Japan is a busy country and the cities are as busy as ever. But, after the rain the streets were empty and there was not a sound…

In the mountains of Southern Japan – I was caught by the quiet beauty of wisteria in the misty morning hours.

With that I’ll close this week’s post with thanks to SH for joining us as Guest Host this week, using this lovely topic to give us all moments of peace. Be sure to visit his original here and to use the Lens-Artists Tag to help us find you. I also want to thank all of you who responded to my looking back challenge on Creativity. So many creative (!) examples! And there will be more of looking back soon. From another Lens Artist.

Finally, we hope you’ll join us next week when Egidio leads us once again on his Through Brazilian Eyes site. Until then, as always please stay safe, be kind and enjoy your week.

Thursday Thoughts – More Madeira!

/ Leya / 26 kommentarer

Welcome back to Madeira, and something new to us – a rundown area had been neatly decorated by talented local artists. Rua de Santa Maria in downtown Funchal. We had walked here before, but this year we did with open eyes, savouring the varied door paintings.

They made the area shine! The street came alive with tourists visiting the galleries, the little restaurants and cafees. No tourists in my pictures though…

Colourful,

scary or fun – we found all sorts of painted doors. And sometimes we got a glimpse of the inside too –

– or what might be on the inside…

A walk to be recommended if you ever visit Funchal. There were many more doors than these, and I saw the whole menue vividly painted on one restaurant door!

Lovely Madeira to be continued next week!