Madeira- Part 2

Hi kids,

The next day, we rented a car and struck out on our own. Dad had read about a basket ride down the mountains, and the Seibold’s were game to do it, so we headed that direction. We took a tram to the top of the mountain.

This pretty little church was at the top. We see small churches out in the middle of nowhere and wonder who goes to them…

We toured some gardens

The we walked on to the basket ride. We happened to walk up just as they were unloading the baskets collected from below.  The basket is made of wicker with wooden runners on the bottom. The “drivers” each stand on a runner and lean in the direction that they want to go, and put their feet down to brake. We asked the guy at the ticket booth about their shoes. He said that there’s a place in Porto that specially makes them with tire tread sewn on for the soles. He said that they have to replace the soles every month!

There were a couple of level parts where the guys pulled us.

When the street got steep again, they hopped on and we were off!

After our ride, we stopped in a small marketplace. Then caught a taxi back up the mountain to ride the tram back down the other side to our car.  I’d read about a street in town called Portes com Arte (Doors with Art), where a lot of the doors are painted, so we went there next.

I thought of Ellory and Evelyn when I saw the mermaid paintings….

The Portuguese version of Dad and I

They even painted the water valve.

The cobble street had restaurants all along it. This guy found a clever way to deliver ice to one of them.

As I took his picture, I noticed this boy conked out on the table. The Portuguese are night owls!  We see little kids out with their parents at 10 or 11:00 pm at night.

More guys playing cards outside, so I think drinking tiny espressos and playing cards are the pastimes here. :)

We had another yummy dinner and flew out the next day. Loved Madeira!  

On Sunday, I offered to do Primary alone, so the other women could attend the 5th Sunday lesson. I’ve done it before, but this time it was a BIG mistake. I kept them busy for about 10 seconds. Ok, it was more like 15 minutes, but the other 45 minutes was just damage control.

The couple doing the presentation have two kids and they came in too. See the adorable 2 year old on the left? She was a terror!  She bit and pinched the other kids and pulled the chair out from under her older brother while he was coloring.  I took this picture with the Hugo’s daughter, Julia. She is the happiest little girl. I didn’t realize that the two year old was getting primed to clopper her about two minutes after I took the picture. 

They had a lunch afterward because the couple had traveled down from Porto. We offered to help, Pres. Hugo and his wife, Kaline, did it all. They’re so good for the branch!

The ping-pong table that’s never used for ping-pong. Ha! But it comes in handy for branch meals!

After lunch, we gave a ride home to Sis. Fernandes. Despite our protests, she always has to give us something. Today, she gave dad another tie.

Later that day, we called Rockwell for his birthday. He and Grant showed us all their critters and we watched Grant catch flies in the backyard and feed them to Spike, the toad. Those flies never had a chance.  Spike’s quick! It was very entertaining!! 

That’s it!! I said a prayer that the email wouldn’t crash, and it looks like it gonna work, so I’m going to send this quick!

Sure love you all!!

 Mom