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An aggregator keeps track of your links to favorite blogs, much like the bookmarks section of your browser. It’s different than a bookmarks section, because the aggregator can alert you to the frequent updates to blogs …. which your browser can’t do …. well … not yet!

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How to follow Madeira on Twitter.

For those who do not have a Twitter account … no problem … just go to http://twitter.com/madeira and you can follow without having to log in.

For those who uses feeds … just click here for the RSS Feed.

For Tweeples and Tweeps … just follow @Madeira

One of the most popular religious (folk) festivals of Madeira will take place … the Monte Festival -A Nossa Senhora do Monte (Our Lady of the Mount).

With this festival Funchal commemorates the deliverance of the people from hunger and plague. Celebrations consists of a city fair which lasts through the night, with braziers and all sorts of wonderful Madeirense delicacies to feed the both inhabitants and tourists. There is no need to get up early the next day as it is a national holiday. People head to church to celebrate Mass, which is followed by a procession from the church in which the devout pilgrims of the Senhora do Monte thank their saint for all the blessings they have received over the year.

The Church of Our Lady of the Mount, patron saint of Madeira, is also very popular with pilgrims who come here to pray or fulfill vows by the tomb of Emperor Karl I of Austria. Karl I died in 1922 at Quinta do Monte, now called Quinta Jardins do Imperador or Quinta of the Emperor´s Gardens. It is a lively celebration lasting two days and transforms the romantic, picturesque parish of Monte into one of the busiest places in Madeira, full of food and drink stalls and plenty of music. (source: Turismo da Madeira)

Crossing the Atlantic under sail has captured the imagination of mariners and “landlubbers” for centuries. It still does so today, despite the advent of faster and more convenient means of travel. Such a feat had remained the preserve of a few, until 2006 when Solent-based company ONDECK Sailing launched its TRANSATLANTIC ADVENTURE RALLY to offer an unrivalled opportunity for amateurs of all abilities to crew a race-proven yacht across the Atlantic.

Such a feat has remained the preserve of a few, until 2006, when Solent-based company Ondeck Sailing launched its Transatlantic Adventure to offer an unrivalled opportunity for amateurs of all abilities to crew a race-proven yacht across the Atlantic.

The 2006 inaugural edition went very well and based on very positive feedback from 2006 “crew” Ondeck has decided to make the event an annual occurrence.

THE 2007 TRANSATLANTIC ADVENTURE. Taking place in October through to late November, the 2007 Transatlantic Adventure will comprise a 3,600nm voyage split into 3 Legs. It includes the traditional southerly trade wind route across the Atlantic, a route followed by sailors since the Christopher Columbus on his third voyage in 1498.

ROUTE: Starting from the port of Cascais on the Estoril coast, near Lisbon, on 11th October 2007, the first leg takes the boats to Funchal, Madeira arriving on the 16th October. The second leg takes the boats south from Madeira into tropical waters and the penultimate stop in Mindelo, Sāo Vicente, in the Cape Verde Islands. The final leg is the Transatlantic crossing to Barbados in the West Indies, leaving Mindelo on 10th November and making landfall around 23rd November 2007.

The aim is for the TransAtlantic crossing to be completed in two weeks, bringing it within the scope of an annual vacation.

(Source: ONDECK Sailing)

This blog has daily an average of 350 unique visits (not including the search bots and spiders) from all over the world. Top countries are United Sates, Portugal, Great Britain, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Thailand, China, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Australia, Finland, Spain, Brazil and more. You could say that this blog has a lot of readers from various culture and origins (and still growing).

Therefore I would like to do an interview with you (the visitor of my blog). Do not be frightened … it is only a so called One-Question Interview. Just one question that you can answer it with one or two lines …. or an essay …. any way you wish.

The question is:

According to you, what are the most important differences between your country and the island of Madeira?

Tell us in comments below or write your own post and think leave a URL below. Your feedback will be published separately on this blog under the heading Madeira One-Question Interview.

I hope to read your comments and answers. To learn more about your country and your experience on Madeira the island, its culture, the people, nature etc.

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Your e-mail address
Your e-mail address will not be used for any other purpose than to send you posts of this blog. We do not send you other unsolicited mail, trade or sell your email address or any other personal information. See also FeedBurner’s Privacy Statement

What are RSS Feeds?
RSS Feed is the element that makes a blog different from the (old-style) static website. RSS stands for ‘Really Simple Syndication‘. What it does is announcing changes that were made on the website by creating a “feed” …. that can be read by an aggregator such as Bloglines or NewsGator.

An aggregator keeps track of your links to favorite blogs, much like the bookmarks section of your browser. It’s different than a bookmarks section, because the aggregator can alert you to the frequent updates to blogs …. which your browser can’t do …. well … not yet!

This means for example that this blog content can be read using an the aggregator …. or the readers can choose to visit the site. Our feed is available to anyone who uses an aggregator …. so you can be alerted automatically each time we update. There are already a few million people using aggregators. My favourite one is Bloglines.

The following are tags used in the del.icio.us/madeira bookmarks: (more…)

Blog Thoughts Madeira is a blog where I share my thoughts and impressions of Madeira Islands (a Portuguese autonomous archipelago in the north Atlantic Ocean).

The information that I provide and its promotion is focused on Madeira. This is done without any funding or aid of regional government, promotional organizations, tourism board or any other business or organization.

This blog is done with love and admiration for the islands, its nature, culture, history and beauty.

The objective is to share with you what I have learned and discovered. Hoping that it provides you with information and recommendations that can be useful when you come and visit / stay on Madeira and that you respect it the same way I do.

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