Surprises everywhere - that is Madeira - part four

Surprises everywhere - that is Madeira - part four

Today, I am going to share another part about what surprised me in Madeira. Are you a sport lover? Do you like running? If the answer is yes, today's article could be very interesting and could give you an idea of what to do in April in Madeira. If not, you can still find this article interesting, especially if you like drinking coffee.

Picture Let us begin!

MIUT

There are many people in Madeira who fell in love with running. Many of these enthusiastic runners enjoy running in the mountains of Madeira – up, down, up, down. They do something that is called trail. Some of them do it just for “fun” once in a while but there are plenty of Madeirenses who train really hard so they can improve their physical conditions and run every time faster and faster. Obviously, many of them take part in races which are hold quite often in Madeira.

Even though every race is special, there is one which is very special and very specific. It is called MIUT. MIUT is so famous that people from all over the world travel to Madeira to take part in it. The most difficult race goes across the island. It starts in Porto Moniz and it goes the whole way to Machico! It is 115 kilometres long. And it is still not everything that is so unique about this race. Imagine that the race starts at midnight, so the runners have to start running with lights put on their forehead.

MIUT is very popular even among Madeirenses who are not that interested in running. They usually stay awake and go to Ribeiro da Jenela to see a beautiful scenery which all the runners create. As they have got the lights on their forehead, and run one behind another, they create a line full of lights which is something totally astonishing for those who just came to observe and support the runners. When I was there this year, I could not stop clapping. I just felt like supporting everyone. I cannot understand (till today I keep wondering) how that is possible that these runners run 115 kilometres. Ad what more? The fastest runner of the 115-kilometer distance (2019) finished the race after 13 hours 49 minutes and 36 seconds! Can you imagine? It took him almost only half of the day. There are also many runners who do not finish the race but still, I believe they are amazing.

There are also runners who do not know Madeira, they just arrive in, adapt a bit and run the race without knowing the nature of Madeira. When the sun rises, they realise in what beauties they run. Though, as the race leads also to Pico Ruivo, the highest peak of Madeira, I believe it is nice to see the nature but is also super difficult to climb up and descend down and repeat and repeat.

Picture: Madeira is full of mountains.

They also run through Fanal which is incredibly cold. When I was there, I wished nothing but turning back and going back home where it was warm. Simply, everyone who takes part in MIUT should be respected. I mean, MIUT (which means Madeira Island Ultra-Trail) is not only about one race of those 115 kilometres. It is also about other races like 85 km, 60 km, 42km and 16 kilometres. So if you are a huge fan of running, you might apply and take part. It happens every year in April, but you have to enrol yourself a long time before the race starts. If you are not going to take part as a runner but still going to be in Madeira, you might still go and support the runners. It is a unique experience which Madeira offers.

I was so happy that a young runner (from Madeira) has taken me there this year. No matter where I was during the days after MIUT happened, everyone was talking about that. And as you might know, I was living in SASUMA dormitory on the floor where mostly Portuguese students were. So when they started to talk about MIUT with enthusiasm, I proudly joined the conversation and made our relationships opener.

Picture: Machico - even there are many peaks.

Coffee, please!

Well, what can I write about this topic? If you are in Funchal, you have probably noticed that there are little cafés almost everywhere. If you travel around Madeira, you have probably noticed the same thing. Simply, Madeirenses drink coffee probably every day. And as I had a chance to see, not only they drink it daily, they have a cup of coffee even four times just in a day.

It is a social kind of thing. When they want to meet their friends, they simply “combinam” coffee – so they meet and go to a café.

I, personally, do not like coffee and it was not a problem for anyone. It was all right. But when I was asked what type of coffee we wanted (when I went to a café with my parents or when I was there with someone who wanted me to order coffee whil that person went to a bathroom), I got always lost. I am not going to search the correct names which are used in Madeira, I will just describe what I remember. So, there was something called somehow like “bicho” and “chinesa”. One of them was smaller than the other, if I am not mistaken.

Coffee in Madeira is not that expensive. But when you pay four times sixty cents every day, it would be cheaper to buy the whole jar of coffee and drink it at home. This is what we do in our Czech village. People go either to a pub (the only one we have) or they just invite a friend or friends to their house or outside and bring coffee which they prepared at home.

The nice part is that you can get something sweet when you are in a café. Do you remember the article about sweet kind of food from Madeira? Do you remember queijada? How much I miss queijada! Well, now, I want to share what I experienced with one local family. I expect other families from Madeira doing the same. When they decide to eat out, they usually stop somewhere in a café before they get to a restaurant. They drink coffee and after they get to the place where they want to eat. Of course that they drink something while eating. When they finish their lunch, they leave the restaurant and instead of heading back home, they stop in other two or three cafés! I am not joking, I am as serious as I can.

Picture: You can find even very special cofés and bars.

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