Backblip
Madeira is famous for its flowers although in December there are relatively few but in the wild we did see poinsettias, passion flowers and agapanthus amongst others.  Monte Palace Gardens are well worth visiting to see the many plants, tiles depicting Portuguese history, statues and sculptures and collection of over 700 minerals in attractive settings. This shows one of the statues which depict a mother and daughter and also an ancient olive tree dating from 300BC which was transplanted when an enormous lake was constructed in Portugal.  Unfortunately due to the fog and heavy rain we did not spend as long as we would have liked before catching a local bus that was driven at speed down the steep narrow winding roads.