Funchal, Madeira

Portal to a Nearly Tropical Portugal


A Vegetable Mosaic
Patterns and colors of the most photogenic attribute of the Funchal Botanical Garden.
Farmers Market
The eccentric facade of Funchal's Farmers' Market.
Fruit and More Fruit
A well-stocked fruit stand at Funchal's Mercado de Lavradores.
Pure French Oak
French oak barrels in the Blandys cellar.
A Beautiful Yellow Fort
The Fortress of São Tiago, on the seafront in Funchal's Old Town.
Monte Palace
Sharp roofs of the Monte Palace Hotel.
Cathedral & Cathedral
The mixed architecture of the Cathedral of Funchal, seen from its south side.
Mass Church of the Mount
The faithful attend a mass at the church of Nossa Senhora do Monte in Funchal.
Also tropical fruit
Fruits exhibited at the Mercado dos Lavradores, some of them tropical, such as the Madeiran banana pineapple.
Isabel
Flower seller in traditional Madeiran costumes.
St. James Summer
Bathers soak up the sun and have fun on São Tiago beach.
Blessed Municipal Square
Taxis Square at the base of the Church of St. John the Evangelist.
Cable car over Old Town
Cable car passes above one of the streets in Funchal's Old Town.
Cable car over Old Town II
Cable car about to arrive at its terminal station.
Monte Palace Garden
The challenging lines of the Monte Palace garden.
Cathedral
Figures humanize the façade of the Cathedral of Funchal.
Funchal in Fire
Funchal townhouse illuminated by artificial lights and the sunset from the west.
Madeira is located less than 1000km north of the Tropic of Cancer. And the luxuriant exuberance that earned it the nickname of the garden island of the Atlantic can be seen in every corner of its steep capital.

It becomes even more visible when the weather forces the always delicate landings on the runway at Cristiano Ronaldo Airport to be made from west to east, towards the Ponta de Sao Lourenco.

On these occasions, from the right side of the plane, the approach reveals the broad slope on which, over the centuries, Funchal has been extended.

Even dense, the town houses dot the surrounding green, with the necessary exceptions, more alive and intense the further up the island.

One of the emblematic and unmissable places in Funchal, Monte, perfectly illustrates the slope and the predominant tropicalism.

The Luxuriant but Landscaped Hillside of Monte Palace

There we ventured into the landscaped quasi-jungle of Monte Palace Madeira where, in an area of ​​70.000 m2 which are said to be concentrated and proliferate more than 100.000 plant species from the four corners of the World, of cocci and proteins of the South Africa to Scottish heather.

The assortment also includes the endemic plants that make up the complex Madeira Laurissilva forest: ferns, cedars, laurels, tiles, puffs, fig trees and many others.

From all of them, from the natives, the exuberant massarocos fill our measures.

Among foreigners, the elegant arboreal ferns (cyathea medullaris), natural from Australia, which have long since spread across the Earth and are part of the flora of the Azores, Canary Islands and, of course, the Garden Island.

Monte Palace Garden, Funchal, Madeira

Visitors admire a corner of the Monte Palace Garden.

From Charles Murray to Commander Berardo

The original owner of this stronghold, the British consul Charles Murray (1777-1801), decided to name the property he bought at the end of the XNUMXth century, “The Pleasure Estate” (Quinta do Prazer), quite out of step with the Catholic austerity imposed by the neighboring church of Nossa Senhora do Monte.

The haughtiness of the sanctuary did not intimidate the consul, and Murray decided to perfect it while he could. Murray died in 1808, in Lisbon.

In 1897, Alfredo Guilherme Rodrigues, a successful merchant, decided to reward himself with the acquisition of Murray's old farm.

Following a trip to the Paris International Exhibition in 1900, Alfredo Guilherme returned impressed by the refinement of the castles on the banks of the Rhine. Accordingly, he built his own palace, later transformed into the Monte Palace Hotel, a project that his family later discarded.

Monte Palace Garden Lake, Funchal, Madeira

The challenging lines of the Monte Palace garden.

Forty-four years later, the property ended up in the possession of the then-millionaire, now indebted, Madeiran José Berardo.

Berardo transformed the farm into a kind of tropical museum. It enriched it with the collection of tile panels that we examined, along a winding path and the great moments in the history of Portugal below.

He also endowed it with sculptures, some of Buddhas, and Buddhist lanterns. Of coats of arms, niches and lakes inhabited by ducks, swans and carp nishikigoi.

Despite this panoply of paraphernalia, the farm continues to star in the palace in its background, well integrated into the surrounding plant and cultural eccentricity.

Rooftops of Monte Palace, Monte Palace Garden, Funchal, Madeira

Sharp roofs of the Monte Palace Hotel.

Discovering the Highlands of Funchal: Monte

Instead of leaving the garden there, we explored it double, on the sloping back to the starting point. We leave it at the top that faces Rua Largo da Fonte. A few dozen meters to the left, we find ourselves at the foot of Igreja do Monte.

At this time, the movement at the base of the stairs is limited to that of a few children of God who are arguing at the door of the Belo Monte restaurant, in a Madeiran that is so closed that it almost makes us feel like foreigners.

We went up to the temple. When we peek inside the nave, a mass takes place. Ten faithful follow her, attentive to the word of the Lord, conveyed by the priest at the altar.

Monte Church, Funchal, Madeira

The faithful attend a mass at the church of Nossa Senhora do Monte in Funchal.

Two or three more enter, a nun leaves. Out of respect for our destiny and the time of light that was draining away, we followed their steps, down the steps.

In the middle of the Pandemic, the usual ups and downs of basket cars and their paths along the side of the Railway was suspended.

At the foot of the church, we find the baskets immobilized vertically in the covered parking lot dedicated to them.

A Botanical Garden Also Very Tropical

Unable to travel in them, we passed by Jardim Monte Palace's natural rival, the Madeira Botanical Garden Engº Rui Vieira. Far from the proclaimed 100.000 species of the Monte Palace, this garden claims 2000 exotic plants.

With no space in the photographic program to count them, we especially admire the splendor of its vegetable mosaic, which is currently cared for by two thoughtful gardeners.

Botanical Garden, Funchal, Madeira

Patterns and colors of the most photogenic attribute of the Funchal Botanical Garden.

Madeira is all a garden that, as the popular imagination confirms, floats in the Atlantic. As we descended to Funchal, almost at ocean level, we would continue to benefit from the city's reinforced chlorophyll.

We resumed its exploration in Praça do Município, Rua dos Ferreiros below, around the Cathedral and the statue of the nobleman João Gonçalves Zarco (1390-1471), elected by Infante D. Henrique to lead the settlement of Madeira and the Porto Santo.

The Municipal Garden and the Contiguous Forested Streets

Nearby, Funchal Municipal Garden, otherwise called Jardim Dona Amélia, once again gathers and displays trees, plants and flowers from the four corners of the world. Even though it's the third one we've crossed, in Funchal, the count of gardens always starts at the beginning.

Almost in the middle of the subtropical summer, the fruit stands in this area still sell cherries, suggesting custard apples, passion fruit and the unusual pineapple bananas. Compared to the abundance in the always frenetic and gaudy Mercado dos Lavradores, what they exhibit are mere samples.

Fruit Stand at the Farmers' Market, Funchal, Madeira

A well-stocked fruit stand at Funchal's Mercado de Lavradores.

Still on Av. Arriaga and on Rua do Aljube, a forest of jacarandas and flowering tipuanas perfumes the atmosphere and gives us a providential shade.

Cathedral of Funchal. Faith in All Its Insular Greatness

A architectural miscellany of the Cathedral, which D. Manuel built between 1510 and 1515, with predominantly Gothic features but also Baroque, Rococo, Mannerist, Mudejar, some also defined as Manueline, intrigues us.

Cathedral, Funchal, Madeira

Figures humanize the façade of the Cathedral of Funchal.

At the very least, as much as we marvel at the famous altarpiece in its chancel, complex, detailed in gold-plated carvings and filled with sculptures worked by meticulous hands, oil paintings on wood, under a ceiling entirely made of Madeira wood.

Enchanted, in particular, by the church's southern perspective, tropicalized by a palm tree projecting from an atrium, we insisted on finding an elevated point of view that would reveal the whole to us.

Cathedral, Funchal, Madeira

The mixed architecture of the Cathedral of Funchal, seen from its south side.

Persistence entices us with a visit to the building of the Geographical Information and Cadastral Services Directorate. There, Marlene Pereira guides us, “very used to visits by photographers and journalists working in Funchal”, as she assures us in a preamble to a chatter to which we indulge without reservation.

We photographed the cathedral and the roofs, at first perched on a terrace wall. Soon, from windows on the floors below.

Proud of her island, Marlene makes a point of giving us advice on the places she most admires and invites us to a short photo shoot of her, taken above all in the foggy north of Fanal. A few days later, we would get lost there and be dazzled on site.

Until then, we continue to walk along the traditional Madeiran sidewalk, made of black basalt pebbles, combined with white and even pink stones, combined with a slight relief, instead of a smooth surface, as is used on the mainland.

In such a way that, on one of the days, after 17.5 km of walking around Funchal, we realized that this tenuous roughness was also responsible for unexpected blisters on the feet.

The Madeira Wine Exclusive to the Blandy Family

In the process of its gestation, we enter the historic Blandy's winery, the only family on the island that boasts of, seven generations and more than two centuries later (1811), continuing to own the company's destinations and the production and export of its worldwide reputed Madeira wine.

There we surrendered to a generous tasting of Blandy's nectars, from the dry to the sweetest, a scale in which, surrendered to the piece of honey cake included, we ended up getting mixed up.

And there we enjoy the mournful atmosphere and the aroma of aged French oak and greens from the barrel and vats room.

Pipas Blandy Winery, Funchal, Madeira

French oak barrels in the Blandys cellar.

For a long time, apart from the extraplanetary fame of the CR7 phenomenon, Madeira wine has made the island's notoriety mature. However, in its popular sphere, the fortified conviviality depends on another drink.

The poncha is the result of an improved blend of sugarcane brandy, lemon peel and juice and sugar.

With time, it began to be consumed in a myriad of variants that were increasingly distant from the recipe with which the fishermen warmed up in the toils and cold nights.

And the Omnipresent Poncha in the Old Town and throughout Funchal

Today, the sector of Funchal with the highest concentration of bars, taverns and, of course, poncha jars, remains its Old Town, arranged around the place that welcomed the town in the city's genesis.

Old Town, Funchal, Madeira

Cable car passes above one of the streets in Funchal's Old Town.

It's in the Old Town that we meet a couple friends on vacation.

And it is in taverns and bars in the Old Town, around the religious heart of the secular Capela do Corpo Santo and back and forth on Rua de Santa Maria, that we celebrate such a reunion, with goals and toasts of ponchas.

Being old, this whole area has been rejuvenated with the panoply of street paintings that increasingly decorate it: Amália, the Principezinho, a Tuareg, Madeiran fishermen at tables in taverns, who knows where it is.

Chances are that mid-morning, with the terraces still closed, we'll go back through there.

Fortaleza and Praia de São Tiago

At a certain point, Rua de Santa Maria unveils Rua Portão de São Tiago. And this one, the gateway to a yellow fortress defended by four jalopies at the door.

We conquered the view from the adarves above.

Over a marine extension, sometimes made of cement slabs, sometimes on the natural pebbles of Praia São Tiago.

There we saw the people of Funchal surrendered to an Atlantic bathing blessing, a summer leisure that was not in keeping with the hardships experienced there throughout Funchal's history.

Fort and Beach of São Tiago, Funchal, Madeira

The Fortress of São Tiago, on the seafront in Funchal's Old Town.

Serious Setbacks in Funchal's History

More than any other setback, the Madeirans were frightened by the attack of 1566 French corsairs, carried out in XNUMX, following the sacking of the island of Porto Santo.

On that occasion, the Gauls met with an almost symbolic resistance. Without much effort, they took Funchal for a fortnight, dedicated themselves to plundering the village.

This is how the urgent construction of the beautiful yellow fort that we continued to examine is understood, inaugurated a few years later, in the middle of the Philippine dynasty, completed in 1614 and reinforced with the fortress above São João Baptista do Pico, which dominates Pico dos Frias.

And the island's first fort, São Lourenço, now transformed into a palace-museum.

A few dozen meters below and to the south, the harbor seafront around the marina was also endowed with new green and tropical spaces that Funchal residents take advantage of whenever they can.

There we pass them, given up on brisk runs and walks, some of which are so long that they use the long Pontinha jetty as an extension and point of return to firmer land.

On one of these days, it is from Pontinha that we boarded for the Porto Santo.

While the “Lobo Marinho” sailed out to the bay, we admired the art with which the sunset and the twilight transformed Funchal into a city green with fire.

Dusk over Funchal, Madeira

Funchal townhouse illuminated by artificial lights and the sunset from the west.

Pico do Arieiro - Pico Ruivo, Madeira, Portugal

Pico Arieiro to Pico Ruivo, Above a Sea of ​​Clouds

The journey begins with a resplendent dawn at 1818 m, high above the sea of ​​clouds that snuggles the Atlantic. This is followed by a winding, ups and downs walk that ends on the lush insular summit of Pico Ruivo, 1861 meters away.
Ponta de Sao Lourenco, Madeira, Portugal

The Eastern, Somehow Extraterrestrial, Madeira Tip

Unusual, with ocher tones and raw earth, Ponta de São Lourenço is often the first sight of Madeira. When we walk through it, we are fascinated, above all, with what the most tropical of the Portuguese islands is not.
Paul do Mar a Ponta do Pargo a Achadas da Cruz, Madeira, Portugal

Discovering the Madeira Finisterre

Curve after curve, tunnel after tunnel, we arrive at the sunny and festive south of Paul do Mar. We get goosebumps with the descent to the vertiginous retreat of Achadas da Cruz. We ascend again and marvel at the final cape of Ponta do Pargo. All this, in the western reaches of Madeira.
Ilhéu de Cima, Porto Santo, Portugal

The First Light of Who Navigates From Above

It is part of the group of six islets around the island of Porto Santo, but it is far from being just one more. Even though it is the eastern threshold of the Madeira archipelago, it is the island closest to Portosantenses. At night, it also makes the fanal that confirms the right course for ships coming from Europe.
Porto Santo, Portugal

Praised Be the Island of Porto Santo

Discovered during a stormy sea tour, Porto Santo remains a providential shelter. Countless planes that the weather diverts from neighboring Madeira guarantee their landing there. As thousands of vacationers do every year, they surrender to the softness and immensity of the golden beach and the exuberance of the volcanic sceneries.
Terra Chã and Pico Branco footpaths, Porto Santo

Pico Branco, Terra Chã and Other Whims of the Golden Island

In its northeast corner, Porto Santo is another thing. With its back facing south and its large beach, we unveil a mountainous, rugged and even wooded coastline, dotted with islets that dot an even bluer Atlantic.
Pico Island, Azores

Pico Island: the Azores Volcano with the Atlantic at its Feet

By a mere volcanic whim, the youngest Azorean patch projects itself into the rock and lava apogee of Portuguese territory. The island of Pico is home to its highest and sharpest mountain. But not only. It is a testament to the resilience and ingenuity of the Azoreans who tamed this stunning island and surrounding ocean.
São Miguel, Azores

São Miguel Island: Stunning Azores, By Nature

An immaculate biosphere that the Earth's entrails mold and soften is displayed, in São Miguel, in a panoramic format. São Miguel is the largest of the Portuguese islands. And it is a work of art of Nature and Man in the middle of the North Atlantic planted.
Santa Maria, Azores

Santa Maria: the Azores Mother Island

It was the first in the archipelago to emerge from the bottom of the sea, the first to be discovered, the first and only to receive Cristovão Colombo and a Concorde. These are some of the attributes that make Santa Maria special. When we visit it, we find many more.
Terceira Island, Azores

Terceira Island: Journey through a Unique Archipelago of the Azores

It was called the Island of Jesus Christ and has radiated, for a long time, the cult of the Holy Spirit. It houses Angra do Heroísmo, the oldest and most splendid city in the archipelago. These are just two examples. The attributes that make Terceira island unique are endless.
Flores Island, Azores

The Atlantic ends of the Azores and Portugal

Where, to the west, even on the map the Americas appear remote, the Ilha das Flores is home to the ultimate Azorean idyllic-dramatic domain and almost four thousand Florians surrendered to the dazzling end-of-the-world that welcomed them.
Horta, Azores

The City that Gives the North to the Atlantic

The world community of sailors is well aware of the relief and happiness of seeing the Pico Mountain, and then Faial and the welcoming of Horta Bay and Peter Café Sport. The rejoicing does not stop there. In and around the city, there are white houses and a green and volcanic outpouring that dazzles those who have come so far.
Castro Laboreiro, Portugal  

From Castro de Laboreiro to Raia da Serra Peneda - Gerês

We arrived at (i) the eminence of Galicia, at an altitude of 1000m and even more. Castro Laboreiro and the surrounding villages stand out against the granite monumentality of the mountains and the Planalto da Peneda and Laboreiro. As do its resilient people who, sometimes handed over to Brandas and sometimes to Inverneiras, still call these stunning places home.
Sistelo, Peneda-Gerês, Portugal

From the "Little Portuguese Tibet" to the Corn Presidia

We leave the cliffs of Srª da Peneda, heading for Arcos de ValdeVez and the villages that an erroneous imaginary dubbed Little Portuguese Tibet. From these terraced villages, we pass by others famous for guarding, as golden and sacred treasures, the ears they harvest. Whimsical, the route reveals the resplendent nature and green fertility of these lands in Peneda-Gerês.
Campos do GerêsTerras de Bouro, Portugal

Through the Campos do Gerês and the Terras de Bouro

We continue on a long, zigzag tour through the domains of Peneda-Gerês and Bouro, inside and outside our only National Park. In this one of the most worshiped areas in the north of Portugal.
Montalegre, Portugal

Through Alto do Barroso, Top of Trás-os-Montes

we moved from Terras de Bouro for those of Barroso. Based in Montalegre, we wander around the discovery of Paredes do Rio, Tourém, Pitões das Júnias and its monastery, stunning villages on the border of Portugal. If it is true that Barroso has had more inhabitants, visitors should not miss it.
Graciosa, Azores

Her Grace the Graciosa

Finally, we will disembark in Graciosa, our ninth island in the Azores. Even if less dramatic and verdant than its neighbors, Graciosa preserves an Atlantic charm that is its own. Those who have the privilege of living it, take from this island of the central group an esteem that remains forever.
Corvo, Azores

The Unlikely Atlantic Shelter on Corvo Island

17 km2 of a volcano sunk in a verdant caldera. A solitary village based on a fajã. Four hundred and thirty souls snuggled by the smallness of their land and the glimpse of their neighbor Flowers. Welcome to the most fearless of the Azorean islands.
São Jorge, Azores

From Fajã to Fajã

In the Azores, strips of habitable land at the foot of large cliffs abound. No other island has as many fajãs as the more than 70 in the slender and elevated São Jorge. It was in them that the jorgenses settled. Their busy Atlantic lives rest on them.
Vale das Furnas, São Miguel

The Azorean Heat of Vale das Furnas

We were surprised, on the biggest island of the Azores, with a caldera cut by small farms, massive and deep to the point of sheltering two volcanoes, a huge lagoon and almost two thousand people from São Miguel. Few places in the archipelago are, at the same time, as grand and welcoming as the green and steaming Vale das Furnas.
Believers greet each other in the Bukhara region.
City
Bukhara, Uzbequistan

Among the Minarets of Old Turkestan

Situated on the ancient Silk Road, Bukhara has developed for at least two thousand years as an essential commercial, cultural and religious hub in Central Asia. It was Buddhist and then Muslim. It was part of the great Arab empire and that of Genghis Khan, the Turko-Mongol kingdoms and the Soviet Union, until it settled in the still young and peculiar Uzbekistan.
Skipper of one of the bangkas at Raymen Beach Resort during a break from sailing
Beach
Islands Guimaras  e  Ave Maria, Philippines

Towards Ave Maria Island, in a Philippines full of Grace

Discovering the Western Visayas archipelago, we set aside a day to travel from Iloilo along the northwest coast of Guimaras. The beach tour along one of the Philippines’ countless pristine coastlines ends on the stunning Ave Maria Island.
The Zambezi River, PN Mana Pools
safari
Kanga Pan, Mana Pools NP, Zimbabwe

A Perennial Source of Wildlife

A depression located 15km southeast of the Zambezi River retains water and minerals throughout Zimbabwe's dry season. Kanga Pan, as it is known, nurtures one of the most prolific ecosystems in the immense and stunning Mana Pools National Park.
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 5th - Ngawal a BragaNepal

Towards the Nepalese Braga

We spent another morning of glorious weather discovering Ngawal. There is a short journey towards Manang, the main town on the way to the zenith of the Annapurna circuit. We stayed for Braga (Braka). The hamlet would soon prove to be one of its most unforgettable places.
Colonial Church of San Francisco de Assis, Taos, New Mexico, USA
Architecture & Design
Taos, USA

North America Ancestor of Taos

Traveling through New Mexico, we were dazzled by the two versions of Taos, that of the indigenous adobe hamlet of Taos Pueblo, one of the towns of the USA inhabited for longer and continuously. And that of Taos city that the Spanish conquerors bequeathed to the Mexico, Mexico gave in to United States and that a creative community of native descendants and migrated artists enhance and continue to praise.
Aventura
Boat Trips

For Those Becoming Internet Sick

Hop on and let yourself go on unmissable boat trips like the Philippine archipelago of Bacuit and the frozen sea of ​​the Finnish Gulf of Bothnia.
shadow of success
Ceremonies and Festivities
Champoton, Mexico

Rodeo Under Sombreros

Champoton, in Campeche, hosts a fair honored by the Virgén de La Concepción. O rodeo Mexican under local sombreros reveals the elegance and skill of the region's cowboys.
Fort São Filipe, Cidade Velha, Santiago Island, Cape Verde
Cities
Cidade Velha, Cape Verde

Cidade Velha: the Ancient of the Tropico-Colonial Cities

It was the first settlement founded by Europeans below the Tropic of Cancer. In crucial times for Portuguese expansion to Africa and South America and for the slave trade that accompanied it, Cidade Velha became a poignant but unavoidable legacy of Cape Verdean origins.

Obese resident of Tupola Tapaau, a small island in Western Samoa.
Lunch time
Tonga, Western Samoa, Polynesia

XXL Pacific

For centuries, the natives of the Polynesian islands subsisted on land and sea. Until the intrusion of colonial powers and the subsequent introduction of fatty pieces of meat, fast food and sugary drinks have spawned a plague of diabetes and obesity. Today, while much of Tonga's national GDP, Western Samoa and neighbors is wasted on these “western poisons”, fishermen barely manage to sell their fish.
Masked couple for the Kitacon convention.
Culture
Kemi, Finland

An Unconventional Finland

The authorities themselves describe Kemi as “a small, slightly crazy town in northern Finland”. When you visit, you find yourself in a Lapland that is not in keeping with the traditional ways of the region.
Swimming, Western Australia, Aussie Style, Sun rising in the eyes
Sport
Busselton, Australia

2000 meters in Aussie Style

In 1853, Busselton was equipped with one of the longest pontoons in the world. World. When the structure collapsed, the residents decided to turn the problem around. Since 1996 they have been doing it every year. Swimming.
Composition on Nine Arches Bridge, Ella, Sri Lanka
Traveling
Yala NPElla-Candia, Sri Lanka

Journey Through Sri Lanka's Tea Core

We leave the seafront of PN Yala towards Ella. On the way to Nanu Oya, we wind on rails through the jungle, among plantations in the famous Ceylon. Three hours later, again by car, we enter Kandy, the Buddhist capital that the Portuguese never managed to dominate.
Bride gets in car, traditional wedding, Meiji temple, Tokyo, Japan
Ethnic
Tokyo, Japan

A Matchmaking Sanctuary

Tokyo's Meiji Temple was erected to honor the deified spirits of one of the most influential couples in Japanese history. Over time, it specialized in celebrating traditional weddings.
View of Fa Island, Tonga, Last Polynesian Monarchy
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

Exotic Signs of Life

A Lost and Found City
History
Machu Picchu, Peru

The City Lost in the Mystery of the Incas

As we wander around Machu Picchu, we find meaning in the most accepted explanations for its foundation and abandonment. But whenever the complex is closed, the ruins are left to their enigmas.
Streymoy island, Faroe Islands, Tjornuvik, Giant and Witch
Islands
streymoy, Faroe Islands

Up Streymoy, drawn to the Island of Currents

We leave the capital Torshavn heading north. We crossed from Vestmanna to the east coast of Streymoy. Until we reach the northern end of Tjornuvík, we are dazzled again and again by the verdant eccentricity of the largest Faroese island.
Boats on ice, Hailuoto Island, Finland.
Winter White
Hailuoto, Finland

A Refuge in the Gulf of Bothnia

During winter, the island of Hailuoto is connected to the rest of Finland by the country's longest ice road. Most of its 986 inhabitants esteem, above all, the distance that the island grants them.
On the Crime and Punishment trail, St. Petersburg, Russia, Vladimirskaya
Literature
Saint Petersburg, Russia

On the Trail of "Crime and Punishment"

In St. Petersburg, we cannot resist investigating the inspiration for the base characters in Fyodor Dostoevsky's most famous novel: his own pities and the miseries of certain fellow citizens.
Kukenam reward
Nature
Mount Roraima, Venezuela

Time Travel to the Lost World of Mount Roraima

At the top of Mount Roraima, there are extraterrestrial scenarios that have resisted millions of years of erosion. Conan Doyle created, in "The Lost World", a fiction inspired by the place but never got to step on it.
Girl plays with leaves on the shore of the Great Lake at Catherine Palace
Autumn
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Golden Days Before the Storm

Aside from the political and military events precipitated by Russia, from mid-September onwards, autumn takes over the country. In previous years, when visiting Saint Petersburg, we witnessed how the cultural and northern capital was covered in a resplendent yellow-orange. A dazzling light that hardly matches the political and military gloom that had spread in the meantime.
Boat and helmsman, Cayo Los Pájaros, Los Haitises, Dominican Republic
Natural Parks
Samaná PeninsulaLos Haitises National Park Dominican Republic

From the Samaná Peninsula to the Dominican Haitises

In the northeast corner of the Dominican Republic, where Caribbean nature still triumphs, we face an Atlantic much more vigorous than expected in these parts. There we ride on a communal basis to the famous Limón waterfall, cross the bay of Samaná and penetrate the remote and exuberant “land of the mountains” that encloses it.
Guardian, Stalin Museum, Gori, Georgia
UNESCO World Heritage
Upplistsikhe e Gori, Georgia

From the Cradle of Georgia to Stalin's Childhood

In the discovery of the Caucasus, we explore Uplistsikhe, a troglodyte city that preceded Georgia. And just 10km away, in Gori, we find the place of the troubled childhood of Joseb Jughashvili, who would become the most famous and tyrant of Soviet leaders.
Zorro's mask on display at a dinner at the Pousada Hacienda del Hidalgo, El Fuerte, Sinaloa, Mexico
Characters
El Fuerte, Sinaloa, Mexico

Zorro's Cradle

El Fuerte is a colonial city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. In its history, the birth of Don Diego de La Vega will be recorded, it is said that in a mansion in the town. In his fight against the injustices of the Spanish yoke, Don Diego transformed himself into an elusive masked man. In El Fuerte, the legendary “El Zorro” will always take place.
conversation at sunset
Beaches
Boracay, Philippines

The Philippine Beach of All Dreams

It was revealed by Western backpackers and the film crew of “Thus Heroes are Born”. Hundreds of resorts and thousands of eastern vacationers followed, whiter than the chalky sand.
Rostov Veliky Kremlin, Russia
Religion
Rostov Veliky, Russia

Under the Domes of the Russian Soul

It is one of the oldest and most important medieval cities, founded during the still pagan origins of the nation of the tsars. At the end of the XNUMXth century, incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Moscow, it became an imposing center of orthodox religiosity. Today, only the splendor of kremlin Muscovite trumps the citadel of tranquil and picturesque Rostov Veliky.
Flam Railway composition below a waterfall, Norway.
On Rails
Nesbyen to Flam, Norway

Flam Railway: Sublime Norway from the First to the Last Station

By road and aboard the Flam Railway, on one of the steepest railway routes in the world, we reach Flam and the entrance to the Sognefjord, the largest, deepest and most revered of the Scandinavian fjords. From the starting point to the last station, this monumental Norway that we have unveiled is confirmed.
Beverage Machines, Japan
Society
Japan

The Beverage Machines Empire

There are more than 5 million ultra-tech light boxes spread across the country and many more exuberant cans and bottles of appealing drinks. The Japanese have long since stopped resisting them.
Busy intersection of Tokyo, Japan
Daily life
Tokyo, Japan

The Endless Night of the Rising Sun Capital

Say that Tokyo do not sleep is an understatement. In one of the largest and most sophisticated cities on the face of the Earth, twilight marks only the renewal of the frenetic daily life. And there are millions of souls that either find no place in the sun, or make more sense in the “dark” and obscure turns that follow.
Bwabwata National Park, Namibia, giraffes
Wildlife
PN Bwabwata, Namíbia

A Namibian Park Worth Three

Once Namibia's independence was consolidated in 1990, to simplify its management, the authorities grouped together a trio of parks and reserves on the Caprivi strip. The resulting PN Bwabwata hosts a stunning immensity of ecosystems and wildlife, on the banks of the Cubango (Okavango) and Cuando rivers.
Full Dog Mushing
Scenic Flights
Seward, Alaska

The Alaskan Dog Mushing Summer

It's almost 30 degrees and the glaciers are melting. In Alaska, entrepreneurs have little time to get rich. Until the end of August, dog mushing cannot stop.