It's only a number..

I witnessed a rather surreal event the other day while out walking, someone who was clearly having a birthday party in their back garden (accidentally?) let loose some of those big "numbers balloons" used to mark the age of the person. 

They floated up into the sky and tumbled over and over occasionally becoming readable, which looked weird, rather like some 60's sci-fi TV series. The numbers were a four and two zeros, I'm guessing that 400 wasn't the memorable date being celebrated but that there were perhaps two 40's leaving the poor organizer with a remaining solitary 4 with which to do something, could be worse I suppose. I did have visions of the numbers floating up into the path of some unsuspecting flight landing at Heathrow, I can just imagine the air traffic control conversation, worthy of a two Ronnie's sketch.

Research

Of course we couldn't go to Madeira and not try the local wine, in the photo above we're doing a tour around Blandy's which is an old English Madeira lodge founded in 1811 by a young chap from Dorset called John Blandy and has remained in the same family ever since. The wine is fortified to around 20% ABV and allowed to slowly oxidise in barrels over a number of years, it comes in dry, medium and sweet versions dictated by the type of grapes used. It's a delicious drink and ages well gaining complexity and layers over time, the oldest wine we drank was twenty years old but still tasted as fresh as a daisy. In the world of fortified wines and my opinions I'd say that Madeira sits somewhere in between Sherry and Port, I like it more than Sherry but it's not quite as good as Port in my view, clearly more research is needed!

Friendly adicts

Some of the wildlife in Madeira is pretty friendly, here's a little Chaffinch taking crumbs from our hands. Of course the crumbs were from some Pastel da Nata, a Portuguese delicacy (essentially a custard tart) that we became addicted to while staying on the island. I liked the way that the colouring of these little birds was slightly different to the ones we see at home, isn't evolution an amazing sculptor of animals.

In the photo above is the entrance to the "Funchal Taproom", one of my favourite little bars in the city. Many craft beers on offer, mainly from Spain and Portugal but a few local ones too. A much welcome contrast to the otherwise fairly bland beers from the incumbent brewer on the Island, a brewery called "Coral", whose lager was pretty indistinct from any other mass-produced offering you'd find at these latitudes.

Sea Dwellers

Snapped this photo in the main fish market in Funchal, Madeira, it's a bunch of Black Scabbardfish a very popular eating fish in those parts. As you can see the fish have huge eye's and fearsome teeth, a classic deep water species being mainly caught between 180 and 1700 meters depth in the Atlantic Ocean. We had some while visiting Madeira, it's not my favourite but was OK, quite firm with a fairly bland taste, but nice enough with a decent sauce and some carbs!

Departures

We left this place this morning, it's and island in the Atlantic Ocean called Madeira, famed for it's fortified wine, sugar cane, rum and amazing mountains. My wife and I just spent a fabulous week there and we were sorry to leave, it's a magical place with uber friendly people and magnificent scenery, we will be back and I'll create a few posts over the coming days to share the highlights..

Stinky relics

Now I've walked past this spot a thousand times and only today did I notice this rather odd looking pipe sticking out of the pavement (slightly left of the street lamp). It looks to me like an old fashioned Victorian "stink pipe" it's very robust looking, cast Iron with a fancy ornate cap. 

Stink pipes were used to vent noxious gas from sewer systems high enough above the ground so that the foul odours couldn't be detected by passers by or residents, modern sewage treatment and routing has rendered them obsolete, but clearly this example has survived into the 21st Century. No doubt someone will want it to be listed next..

Saturday Smirk

Jesus and Mo pointing out the rather bizarre way in which our religious brothers and sisters always seem to feel unsatisfied with their myths and stories. You would think that if you had a personal relationship with the creator of the universe and were party to "the truth" about everything then you'd be happy, but many people who claim this aren't happy at all, until everyone else around them believes the same myths too.