TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Samantha (sent in by Karen) … "a picture my niece took of a lizard on our terrace grabbing a biscuit". Great pic and it looks love he bit off a bit  more than he could gnaw there Karen. I am also told they like crisps. It’s no wonder some of them seem so darn fat.

"During last year’s Trans-Atlantic cruise on board the Celebrity Summit we enjoyed a fantastic day on the friendly beautiful peninsula of Madeira. When we visited last year we truly did not expect to ever have a opportunity to return to this remote and exotic island except our upcoming cruise will bring us there again for a second chance to receive in the unique scenery and culture of the island". NICE STORY

Madeira for £198 -Seven nights at Dom Pedro Garajau from London Gatwick are available for £198 with breakfast included. The same vacantion is available from Bristol airport for £217. BEAT THAT

Road stretch linked to ER101 closed starting from 19th October – First stage of the road variant of Madalena do Mar forces the diversion of traffic to alternative routes. The first stage of construction starts this month and will see the closure of the road between Madalena do Mar and Arco da Calheta. The alternative routes will be through Caminho do Torreão and the Regional Roads 222 and 225. The first phase works will continue until 30th November. The corporation ‘Estradas Via Expresso da Madeira’ has appealed to road users for understanding.

Another case of Gripe A was confirmed in the last week on Madeira taking the total since day one to 41. 8 further cases tested proved negative.

Study in Ponta doSol – Elderly have show obesity and do little physical exercise. The research was developed by two nurses like part of a master’s degree with a specialization in Community Nursing. The elderly of Ponta do Sol have high body mass indexes and low patterns of exercise. These are the main conclusions of a study conducted by two nurses as part of a master’s degree with a specialization in Community Nursing. Kids certainly old people as well and also those in-between. The Der observation study through 6 years supports these nurses and extends the obesity theory to all age groups on Madeira. Madeira is getting fat and doing my politically correct bit not everyone of course. Jeez I go to the gym almost every day of the week and often in the hour and a half I am there I don’t see another soul. The poor gym instructor is practically champing at the dumbbells out of boredom.

MADS brings ‘Sound of Music’ to the Theatre Baltazar Dias – Musical premiered last night. The adventure of Maria and the Von Trapp family took to the stage last night at 9 pm courtesy of the Madeira Amateur Dramatic Society. The musical will run every day until 23rd October with sessions at 9 pm on weekdays 4 pm on Saturdays and 6 pm on Sundays. Tickets cost between €15 and €25. I wish them well but at that cost that’s killed off the chance of most of the population here making a family visit then. Lets hope the tourists have a bit of dosh these days.

The large big big game tonight is on TVI channel 4 at 7.45 pm. Portugal take on Malta in the final group game in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. Win and Portugal go to the play-off games. Don’t win and god only knows. If you don’t watch it you should be capable to job out the result if you stick your head out of your window at round 9.40 pm.

A couple of headline news stories from today’s front page :

PSP Officer leaving since of Jardim – The police officer from the continent working on Madeira felt offended with the presidential ´bocas’ and has already requested a transfer. Referring to Jardim’s unpleasant attacks on the police for not taking his side in various election campaign protests.

Sé closed for luncheon hour annoys the faithful – It is impossible to contemplate the image / icon of Fátima between the hours of midday and 3 pm. Sé cathedral hosting the touring statue of Fátima for a few days before it moves on takes a 3 hour lunch rest depriving the faithful of a visit. So Madeira’s clergy get 3 hours for lunch eh? Mind you I don’t scold them for locking the cathedral whilst they lunch. The statue is very beautiful but in a dream I had last night a French tourist said to her husband inside Sé "take a picture of me with that nice statue lurve". She then put her arm around the Fátima in a pose when a bit of holy dust was passing her nose … I can’t continue the story it just hurts too much but the final word from the French tourist behind her massive sneeze was ooooops! and then a very large dustpan and brush was needed.

Some of the top stories from yesterday’s Diário provided by Elaine :

Câmara de Lobos academy not performing very well. Carmo Basic and Secondary School  in Câmara de Lobos was the worst average public school and both public schools in Ponta do Sol also fared badly. Jamie Moniz High School did well fifth at mathematics and often has good sciences teaching. The best ten schools are privately run five in Lisbon.

Sanitation pipe on the old bridge over the river in Ribeira Brava spoils the landscape. Although not classified as a historically important monument the old bridge is a focal spot in the village. A sanitation pipe has been affixed to the outside and to make matters worse painted dark red. The archaeologist Elvio Sousa says it is ‘insensitive’ to the cultural heritage and wants DRAC to intervene. But Joao Silva from DRAC (Cultural Heritage Department) says it is a local decision and mostly an aesthetic problem as the bridge has not been historically classified. —-Der does it look as bad as it sounds?

I can’t trust that this story had a entire page in yesterday’s printed edition Elaine and why the fuss now as it has been there for ages? It’s not attractive I comply but it certainly doesn’t enter into my list of the ‘Top Ten Eyesores of Ribeira Brava’. Number one on that list remains and always will be those two dreadful mounds of specific dumped in the sea in the name of coastal protection.

Reminder that next Sunday is the XXXVI Regional Meeting of Regional Bands of Madeira in Ribeira Brava. Starting at 16.00 with more than 24 bands. Closes at 20.00 with the Wind Orchestra and Xarabanda.

Crisis redirects help to self-construction of houses rather than structure of social housing. Plots of land owned by public authorities are to be used in the regime of ’surface rights’ for families to construct their own homes. This is a more flexible option for families with some financial competence especially in rural areas. It was used for self-build houses in Feiteirinhas in Caniçal. This method is not frequently used as single houses take up a lot of space and there is little council land available to be disposed of in this way. It is also an option as construction companies cannot obtain bank loans to construct affordable social housing and as such was used in Porto Santo. Plots will be available in Figueirinhas and Feiteirinhas.

Logs drop from a lorry onto the road in Calheta. This happened on Monday afternoon on the roundabout to the expressway towards Ponta do Sol. It probably occurred as the logs were not safely fastened and some rolled a few yards down a slight slope. They had to be recovered by a specialist tractor.

‘Yards’ Elaine? What would they be?

‘Treacherous’ grid on the Rua 5 de Outobro left for a month.

Post-Election News:

No change in the PSD team in Funchal. Miguel Albuquerque says he will not change the winning team. Speculations after Jardim’s ‘reflection’ report yesterday as to whether he will continue after 2011.

Difficult times in Santa Cruz. Jose Gonçalves has a hard time ahead as although the PSD won with 41.88% of the vote the JPP won 32% and both parties have three members on the board. The boss of the JPP Filipe Sousa says there can be no partnership as the two parties had different election programs. PS have one councillor so have a casting-vote when there is a tie between the two main parties.

In the Diário printed edition yesterday they published a table showing the position of the PSD JPP and PS on 5 major issues in Santa Cruz and the only one they all agreed on was the construction of a Biomass plant. However between the JPP and PS there were no issues they disagreed on although a couple were ‘to be discussed’. I see a pattern forming … Der

On the same point a story on the Diário front page today says that the PSD at are already looking at mid-term elections in Santa Cruz to try and resolve it’s power problems there. Not had time to read it yet but no distrust some dirty tricks involved here.

Race for leader of the Socialist Party in Madeira. Victor Freitas has entered the race. His candidacy is supported by former Secretary General Jaime Leandro. He says they need to woo back deserted voters get both internal and external credibility and show they can lead rather than just be an opposition party. He has previously had a dispute with the former president of the PS Jacinto Serrâo who resigned and took office in Lisbon. Jacinto Serrâo is also thought to run for the leadership.

The importance of gardens as niche tourism. The Madeiran Raimundo Quintal will be speaking at the II International Seminar on Tourism and Territory Planning at Lisbon University. Mike Robinson Director of the Centre for Tourism and Culture University of Leeds will bc0also be speaking.

‘Mercado de Oportunidades’. 48 stalls mainly clothing footwear and household items. 23 – 29 October Avenida Arriaga Funchal.

French trip agents and journalists very keen on Madeira. Hope to bring over more French than originally expected and a second weekly flight might be announced by the end of the year. The initiative cost over 300000 Euros and the French market is the fourth most important. The contract with the airline Aigle Azur is for three years. —-So did the ‘charm offensive’ pay-off? We will find out over the next 3 years. They are hoping to bring in an supplementary French tourists 9000 a year.

Climate is warmer. In July August and September the average air temperatures in Madeira were above the average between 1971 and 2000 and there was less rain. Porto Santo weather was nearer the normal averages.

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