Madeira Notes continued (from a 1.5 year old)

26 December 2011
I think the English call this Boxing Day. I’m not sure why. My day started out well with a shower (I like showers) and then a big surprise at breakfast. A nice English lady at the table next to us came over and handed me  ‘Stewart’. He is a very cute stuffed bear she won in a raffle and decided he would have a better home with me! At first I wasn’t convinced- I was starving! But after my bottle I was very happy to have a new friend. He is sleeping next to me tonight.

After the morning’s breakfast excitement, we went for a walk to the left of the hotel along the ocean walk to the ‘praia’. I think ‘praia’ which means ‘beach’ in Portuguese is a bit exaggerated because all I can see is big rocks. Some crazy people were even swimming. I preferred to watch the waves, fish and a pretty white bird.  Papa saw his first live starfish- a big one too! He told me there were lots of prickly see urchins next to it. We then walked up a BIG steep hill to see the view. I preferred the little barking ‘Wah wah’ (puppy) and kitty cats myself. There are lots of kitty cats here. When we got back to the hotel, I watched the scuba diving lesson in the pool with interest. Maybe one day I have to try that…

Then we thought we would see those fish Steven told us about. Trout! Up in the hills in the national forest. Apparently a UNESCO heritage site! Beautiful forest, lots of ferns and fish of every size up at Ribeiro Frio. I like fish. I hope Papa buys me some for Christmas when we get home… And then we had a yummy lunch. A cute almost cabin-like place with a grill and family run. All locals there. We had something really yummy and local that Mama and Papa kept spelling out ‘F I S H’ – why I don’t know… But it sure was good and talk about fresh! I ate it with potatoes, rice, tomatoes and more torta bread! Afterwards Mama bought me a poncho with a hood. It was quite cold up there in the mountains. Afterwards we tried to see some famous viewpoint but it was covered in fog. Maybe next time!

At dinner everyone was saying hello to me again. After dinner we listened to live music and I liked to clap with everybody else – which they seemed to find amusing. A couple ladies were even trying to line dance. Despite studying them with great interest, I’m not quite sure I got all the moves down!

And now it’s sleepy time again. We’ve done a lot in 2.5 days! Night night Doudou, Binkie Bear, Stewart, Mama and Papa! I really like Madeira!

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