Madeira Island Favorite Tips by cachaseiro

An excellent little book about Madeira.

Favorite thing: When you are in Madeira i recommend that you head down to the Madeir astory center as it's very interesting, but on top of that you should purchase a little booklet they are selling there called "Madeira a short illustrated history".
It has a little grey cover that is mabye not the most catching and you might think that 10 euros is a bit much to pay for it, but it's really an excellent little book about the history of Madeira written in a very nice way.
This is not a dry history lesson but a lot of nice stories from Madeira and very much about all the colorful people who have been past the island over the past 600 years like Napoleon, Winston Churcill, Charles the 1st of Austria and many more and also nice stories about the other aspects of the island such as wine production, levadas and other things.
Really an interesting and entertaining read about the island and a great introduction to the place if you are there for the first time.
Buy it.
You won't regret.

Espada.

Favorite thing: The espada is the most famous fish on Madeira.
It´s caught with line in great depts in the atlantic ocean, mostly as far down as 6-700 meters.
The fish is long and mostly black and has big eyes and looks rather scary, but it tastes absolutely fantastic and i really recommmend that you try this fish while on the island.
I grew up in a fashing village myself and has been eating fish thoudans of times over the years andi must say that Espada, together with Turbot is my favorite fish in this world.
The meat is extremely tender and a true joy.
You mostly get it fried and if you want it the lo´cal Madeira way then you should get it with fried bananas.

The local and good tasting soda of Madeira.

Favorite thing: On Madeira you can of course have your coke and your pepsi like everywhere else, but why not try the local stuff now that you are there and it´s even better tasting than the more known brands.
The local Madeira comapnay "Brisa" makes a really good tasting soda called "Brisa Maracuja" which is a passion fruit soda that you can get in just about all supermarkets and cafes.
It comes in a nice big glass bottle and tastes very refreshing and exotic compared to the carbonated drinks you normally get around the world.
You might not like it as much as i do, but you should certainly try it while you are there and i think you will agree with me that this is a very good alternative to your ordinary Coke.

Charles I of Austria fled to Madeira.

Favorite thing: Charles I of Austria was after the end of the first world war forced to flee Austria and ended up on Madeira island after a long sea voyage.
He ended up living here until the 1st of april 1922 where he died from Pneumonia.
He first lived in Funchal with his wife and children, but later moved up to the little mountain town Monte where he spend the rest of his life and was buried inside the church when he passed away.
His coffin is standing on display inside the church and can be visited and outside the church there is a statue of him.