Spring in Madeira - Hike from Terreiro da Luta to Poiso & Party

The plot
In the penultimate video of this series we hike on well-known paths. We hike from where we left off in the last part: In Terreiro da Luta. From there we hike through the, this time blossoming, Parque Ecologico do Funchal to Poiso. After strengthening ourselves with Cortado and Poncha, we return by bus to Funchal, where after a rich meal, we conclude the day with party time. Some of you will like this party part and others will ask: "Is this really necessary?". Should I, one day, realize that a predominant part of my little audience does not like such party excesses, I will take this into account and will not include such stuff in my videos anymore. The customer is king ;)

Why did it take so long again?
I am sorry, of course, that you had to wait such a long time for a new video. Once again personal and private problems were responsible for this. You can believe me, if I say, that this is getting on my nerves too. So if you are annoyed by it, you are not alone. However, also I have to spend some time for creating music. Currently, the new alionsonny album "Phoenix" is in the works, and I have worked a lot of my working time during the past 2 months on it.

The soundtrack
Here is something special this time: This video is the first in which the final versions of songs of the recently released "Madeira" album by Cimelium can be heard. In previous videos you could hear some pre-release-versions already. But these are not comparable with the album versions. Here I would like to announce a small, but important, change: For various reasons I will not present unfinished, so-called pre-release, versions in videos in the future. From now on only finished versions will be included in the videos. So it may take some time until you will hear new music in the videos. However, my portfolio is now so extensive that it is unlikely, if at all, that boredom will arise. Here is the soundtrack of the current video in detail:

00:00 - Ribeiro Frio
05:05 - Poiso
09:26 - Pico Ruivo
14:26 - Queimadas
19:04 - Pico Ruivo Tunnel

The album is, as always, available in all well-stocked online shops for music. Just for example I link here to the album on GooglePlay (CLICK!) and iTunes (CLICK!). Also, the album is available on all well-known streaming platforms, e.g. Spotify (CLICK!).

What's next?
I hope that this time the next video will be uploaded not just a little faster. However, I will wait for a certain time until the current video has received a sufficient number of views. This is still going too slow ;). Next, we conclude the current 2014 Madeira series with a last and short part . Then I can finally start the series about the 2015 bike ride to the North Sea. I'm really looking forward to it. It may also happen that I will alternately upload parts of the the 2015 series about our trip to Madeira in 2015 already . But let's see ...

And now I wish you much fun with the current video. And thank you again for your patience. I even got some new subscribers, despite the lack of new video uploads,. Thank you also for this, because new subscribers offer, of course, a certain stimulation to continue, no matter how the personal condition is. And here, finally, is the video:

Spring in Madeira 2014 - On we go!

Oh, how am I supposed to start this post? There is a LITTLE something to explain. My friends on Facebook already know for the most part what happened. But there are not just a few who are not on Facebook and I owe them, I think so, a brief explanation. As many people have noticed, no new video has been uploaded for over 1 1/2 years. Many people feared that I would be sick, or that I would no longer dwell among the living. Well, I live and my health is currently also quite good.

What happened?
Life has happened. I do not want to publicly spread the details here for a variety of reasons and also to protect the privacy of a particular person. What happened to me is certainly not something that anyone, somewhere in the world would be proud to tell. It is also not that something like that just happens to me, but it happens to people around the world at any time. Only, the way HOW it happened to me was so hard for me to take, that it killed my complete creative energy. You could say, it killed my life power. From autumn 2015 to the end of 2016, I was in a state of unbelievable emptiness and futility. Nothing was important or interesting for me. My soul was dead. Reads bad? It was bad!

How are things now?
Much better. It was quite difficult, but I would say that I am at least 50% restored. And it goes on. At present, I think that the best I can do is simply continue to work on my dreams - harder than I have ever done - to achieve my goals. There is a lot of stuff that stacked up on my todo list. Much has been badly damaged eg. ceased to exist during the short period of my "absence". So there is a lot to do. And I notice with every step back to normality, I am getting better.

New video?
Well, you have not subscribed to the channel? Otherwise you must have already received a notification 2 days ago in the evening. The video was uploaded already 2 days ago. However, Youtube again changed something nice at the process of publishing videos and until yesterday evening, I was busy to grasp the whole thing and to put it to use. With the video below, we are continuing the ETERNAL "Madeira 2014" series. This time we are hiking again through the outskirts of Funchal, from Curral dos Romeiros to Terreiro da Luta. There is, of course, a lot of nature to see, a breathtaking panorama view of Funchal and a sacral monumental work, the "Nossa Senhora do Paz". Here is the video:

Soundtrack:
The soundtrack this time is again from a alionsonny classic album. It is the album "Reggae?" from 2009. If you like it, you can buy it on all online music sites like iTunes (CLICK!) or GooglePlay (CLICK!). Of cause it is also available on all streaming services, such as Spotify (CLICK!). Here's the track list:

00:00 - Life goes ON!
05:19 - Springtime 2009
11:06 - Aquatic Dub
16:45 - Summertime 2008

What's next?
We actually still have a full part of this eternal series. Then comes the traditional aftermath in the form of another part. Then this series is FINALLY finished. After that? Oh, don't ask. There is still so much to show. What did I say about "a lot to do"? ;) So: First after finishing the Madeira 2014 series comes the, long promised, bike trip to the North Sea. Then we were already back to Madeira in 2015 and then we recently visited Cyprus for 2 weeks. We have so much video material that it is enough for at least one year, even if I would solely produce videos ... but I can't do this.

Ok, I apologize again for the long time of nothingness. Was not my choice. I will do my best to keep you provided with new videos in the future.

New Madeira 2014 Video: Hiking the Levada dos Tornos!

It is a T and not a P ;)

No, this video is not really new, at least for my friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter. It has been uploaded already almost a week ago. However, a personal problem  kept me from writing the usual blogs and promote the video properly. And then there was also Christmas, when I, like every year, tried unsuccessfully not to participate ;). Anyway: If you missed the video, this blog is certainly a welcome reminder.

Somewhere on the Levada

The Plot

This is the second part of three on the penultimate full day in 2014 on Madeira. After we hiked from Aguas Mansas south to the Levada dos Tornos in the last part, this time we hike for quite a time along it. As already in the last part I was extremly silly, which probably was due to two rather strong ponchas and also because of our generally great mood on that day. The silliness is already noticeable in the intro. I really thought for some time about whether I should leave the bad joke about the "Levada dos Pornos" in the video at all. Yes I am indeed a friend bad jokes. But contrary to an overwhelming number of other Youtubers I spare my audience usually with sexual jokes and innuendo. Just not my style ... usually. So don't panic: This will not become a habit ;). On the Levada we hiked through a countless number of smaller and larger tunnels. The highlight here is a small cave vault, whose former purpose will probably remain a secret forever. Also some "banned ceans" have been consumed again and, quite irresponsible, we also had a beer on the Levada. The shaky camera is also prominently present again. So, dear viewers with inclination to dizziness: Better not watch this, or just turn off / fast forward when the shaky cam parts start. At the end we end up in Camacha, where we didn't really wanted to go. There I placed the thematically appropriate end of this episode, because Camacha is where we left the Levada dos Tornos and started the descent to the coast.

At work in the mysterious cave vault

The Soundtrack

... comes as as in the last part from the alionsonny album "Dub Antiquities". I apologize specifically to everyone who generally does not like Reggae, or my special flavor of it. I do this, as already mentioned in the last blog, at the request of some viewers. And the desire of my audience is my command. And besides this, I at least try to present the works of my three music projects equally in the videos. But if you are one of those who like those dusty early works of yours truly, and if you do not already have "Dub Antiquities", I would be exorbitantly happy, if you would buy it on iTunes (CLICK HERE!) or Google Play (CLICK HERE!). Each and every cent will be invested in new equipment and / or tasty beer. Big promise! Oh yes, of course the album is not only available on the two platforms mentioned above, but also in any well-stocked shop for music. It is also available on streaming services. Since the revenue, for example, from Spotify, unfortunately is a bad joke, I would personally recommend to purchase a download. So, enough talk, here as always, the soundtrack in detail:

• 00:00 Mountain Biking on Mars
• 04:05 Fya Pon Everything
• 09:25 Revolution NOW!
• 14:16 Versionist Dub
• 18:25 Drunken Joe In Space

alionsonny - Dub Antiquities cover art

What's next?

Because of the forementioned personal problems, we will not be able to finish the series "Spring on Madeira" this year still. I'm sorry - I planned that differently. But before the third part of the day 13, it is again the Schaalsee bike ride's turn. And I shiver when I think about editing the next part of it, because this last part of the series is very text heavy. And this means, I have to write plenty of subtitles. In this final part we ride from Mölln via Trittau right back to Hamburg. Since the fore mentioned personal problem is anything but over, it may take a while before the next video is uploaded. I'll do my best! But for now have lots of fun with the current video.

Spring in Madeira (2014) - Hike from Aguas Mansas to the Levada dos Tornos!

Why do I almost always have to blink when somebody takes a photo of me?

Here is the latest video from the series "Spring in Madeira" from 2014. And yes, we are approaching the end of the series. Maybe we can scratch it off the list this year still ;). In the ending text of the video I unfortunately wrote accidentally, that I would have already mentioned the reason why the video footage of day 13 is divided into 3 short parts on this blog. In fact I explained it only on the AlionLive Facebook page. I beg your pardon for any confusion and will, before I tell the plot of the video as always, catch up on the explanation now. The whole unedited material of day 13 is about 1 hour 20 minutes long. Initially I wanted to divide it into two parts. However, I would have had to place a very unpleasant episode cut in the middle of a hike along the Levada dos Tornos if I did this. But I like my episode cuts neatly on thematic boundaries. And this is only possible if I divide the material into three parts, namely:

• Part 1 - From Aguas Mansas to Levada dos Tornos
• Part 2 - Along the Levada dos Tornos to Camacha
• Part 3 - From Camacha to Garajau

And before anyone assumes again, I would do this to drive my small Youtube advertising revenue to immeasurable heights: No, it would not be worth it. I just say this: My monthly advertising revenue on YouTube is not even enough to pay the beer I drink during an AlionLive episode. And dividing the video into three instead of two parts doesn't change this significantly ;).

Lunch!

The Plot
Late in the morning of the 13th and penultimate full day of our trip we took the bus in the direction of Santo da Serra and planned to hop off somewhere between Camacha and Santo da Serra and then hike down to the coast in a southwesterly direction. The hike to the Levada dos Tornos had not yet been planned at this point, but it was a quite welcome addition. We left the bus in a small village called Aguas Mansas. Next to the bus stop we found a cozy Poncha bar with a very friendly owner, who didn't speak a word of English, but basic communication was possible. So we had lunch in the form of two very strong Ponchas. Then we started our hike, on which we experienced a real Flower-O-Rama. Therefore, this video consists to a large extent from recordings of many colorful flowers. The view from the road towards the Levada dos Tornos was impressive. Despite the quite foggy weather one could see all the way to the Ponta de Sao Lourenco and have a great view on the airport and the ocean. Due to the "Poncha mood" we were also not just a bit up for a lot of nonsense and discussed interesting topics such as "Beak Sauce" and insidious frogs, which lure unsuspecting goats into the Levadas, by imitating their bleating. A vocally gifted sheep and another one, which mastered "the art of not to be seen" as described by Monty Python perfectly, made everything just perfect.

A great view on the Ponta de Sao Lourenco, the airport and the ocean.

The Soundtrack
Because one or the other viewer asked me to once again use my special flavor of Reggae as the soundtrack, I did exactly this. And because I am a bit grumpy about  the contempt for the Willma Poppen Project works, I used the most ancient and dusty chestnuts from the album "Dub Antiquities". That's what comes of it! If there's anyone who should like what he / she hears, I deliver the usual buying links on GooglePlay (CLICK HERE!) And iTunes (CLICK HERE!). The rest of the links can be found on the official website of the album. The soundtrack in detail:

• 00:00 - Individuality
• 06:09 - Terra
• 11:47 - Malina Dub
• 18:14 - mountain biking on Mars

What's next?
First with the penultimate episode of "Bike ride on the Schaalsee" series. I owe this to the lovers of the bike ride videos. After that comes the nice long walk along the Levada dos Tornos.

But now I wish you, as always exorbitantly good entertainment with the current video!

Spring in Madeira - Hike from the Eira do Serrado to Curral das Freiras - New video

Some random tourist in cammo outfit in the mountains.

Yes, it took a while again, but that's not so bad, since the number of viewers of the last video kept within narrow limits ;). Unexpected complications and events in the private sector caused that I could not be as productive as I wanted to for a while. Now everything has stabilized a bit, and we go on. Here is the second part of day 12 of the 2014 Madeira series!

The Plot
After we hiked to the Eira do Serrado in the last part and spent quite some time there, this part is about the descent into the valley of Curral das Freiras. After what people told me about this route, I was surpised how relatively easy this hike was. There was not a single place where I had the feeling that my latent fear of heights would force me to turn back. Don't get me wrong: I would not recommend this route to everybody. It is not really a prime example of a well-maintained trail. You will experience one or the another unpleasant surprise if you think that this trail is your everyday hiking trail. At some places the path is very steep, there are reasonably narrow passages, rolling stones, crumbling edges etc. Madeira as we know it ;). Also one should not be fooled by the impression one has when looking down into the valley from the Eira do Serrado. It is easy to think "Oh, that's not far!". As almost always in Madeira one should be aware of the fact that there is never a straight route from one point to the other on this island. And that's a damn good thing, because you do not want a direct and straight path into the valley. You really do not want that... ;). No the trail goes nicely downwards in zigzags. Still I was positively surprised by how quickly we arrived in Curral das Freiras. I had planned about 2 hours more. Once we arrived in Curral das Freiras, we first did what we didn't in 2011: We visited the picturesque mountain village more in detail. While doing this we came across a very cozy restaurant with a extremely friendly service and the best Espetada that I had on the island so far. And we already had quite a lot. Really: Not one of them was as tasty as this one. After we had strengthened ourselves, we took the bus back to Funchal unusually early and there we just fell into the bed, tired but happy.
 

As always, there's lots of flowers in this video also.

The Soundtrack
Because it was absolutely impossible to showcase the whole new Willma Poppen album in the last video, we continue with the remaining tracks of the album in this video. And also this time all of the remaining tracks could not be showcased due to lack of time. So we have to continue some time soon. Sorry to those who can not stand the Willma Poppen Sound. Yes, I know you're out there ;). As always the obligatory links to where you can buy the album should not miss. Make me rich! You can buy the album on iTunes (CLICK HERE!), Google Play (CLICK HERE!) and all other well-stocked music sites. Here's the soundtrack in detail:

Album: Willma Poppen - Willma im Wunderland

• 00:00 - Madeira
• 05:12 - Karussell
• 10:04 - Liebe
• 14:54 - Blauer Montag
• 19:30 - Nachtwanderer

An interesting "transition moment" in the video. I find it quite funny.

What's next?
Next will be again a bike ride video, namely the fourth part / day of the bike ride to the Schaalsee. And after that comes the first of two parts about day 13 of "Spring in Madeira". On the 13th day we hiked from near Camacha along the Levada dos Tornos for a while and then all the way down to Garajau. I will still not reveal too much about the plot right now, because there will be a little surprise and I would also have nothing to write in the blogs about those videos. The cut will this time not be so well-placed, because there is simply no thematic "breakpoint" in the video material. And so the next Madeira video will abpruptly end in the middle of the Levada dos Tornos.

Well, but now, as always, have fun with the video!

Spring in Madeira - Eira do Serrado

Some random tourist on the Eira do Serrado

It is done! In just two days, I soldered this video together. I owed you that, after the mishap with the last video. I decided to divide the approximately 50 minutes of day 12 in two parts. Yes, I know: Some want their video 'en bloc'. For others, 50 minutes is too long. This time the decision was quite easy, because the video should be available on Youtube as soon as possible. Editing twice the amount of video footage would have taken at least twice as long. And also the cut in the video is quite appropriate, because after about 25 minutes we started our descent to Curral das Freiras.

The Plot
After the heavy party day we were not absolutely fit, and because of that we did not easily get out of bed. Late in the morning we took the bus in the direction of Curral das Freiras. As luck would have it, no bus with a stop on the Eira do Serrado was going at this time. So we left the bus at the stop just before the tunnel before Curral das Freiras and went on foot on the easy ascent to the Eira do Serrado. What is the Eira do Serrado? It is a small plateau south of Curral das Freiras, from where you can enjoy breathtaking views of the little mountain village and the surrounding picturesque countryside. And so this video largely consists of exactly this: Views of fantastic nature. Of course there are also plenty of beautiful flowers again, a cat and during the ascent we also had a little lizzard feeding again with cheese. I'm not talking very much in this video, but you'll see me quite often on Malina's photos. Do not be surprised that I have used so many photos of me in this video. Malina simply shot so many good pictures of me on that day that, in my opinion, it would have been a shame not to show them.

View on Curral das Freiras from the Eira do Serrado

The Soundtrack
Actually, the new Willma Poppen album was supposed to be presented in the lost episode. The music style would have also fit much better. But what happened, happened. So the album will be presented most probably entirely in this and the next episode. There will, as always, be people who do not think that the music fits with the video. To those I recommend to turn off the video sound and listen to classical music ;). If you like the album, you can buy it in all major online stores. Just for example I link here to iTunes (CLICK HERE) and Google Play (CLICK HERE). And now, as always, the soundtrack in detail:

• 00:00 - Willma im Wunderland
• 05:03 - Apokalypso
• 09:57 - RaumReise
• 13:30 - Himmelswiese
• 18:28 - RaumZeit
• 23:25 - Madeira

Without any doubt: A valley! ;)

What's next?
In the next part we accomplish the medium hard descent to Curral das Freiras, where we have a delicious Espetada in the evening and then catch our bus to Funchal quite early. I have to ask the friends of the bike rides for a bit of patience, because "Spring in Madeira" currently has priority. Of course the Schaalsee series will be continued soon. But for now, as always, have fun with the video:

KML: From Moinhos up on the Eagle Rock (Penha d' Aguia)

Length:	3,38 Km
Alt. Lowest:	58 m
Alt. Highest:	558 m
Max. Ascent:	70,7%
Avg. Ascent:	25,9%

This is a hiking trail, which I, after a gone-wrong ascent to the Penha d' Aguia, composed out of several route decriptions and publicly available KMLs from the Internet. The trail goes from Moinhos (easily accessible by car or bus) on the easiest way up to the Penha d' Aguia. I never hiked that route myself, so I take no reponsibility for the correctness of the route, but I can assure you, that I have done my best.

Links:

• Download the KML ->

ATTENTION: BEFORE USING THE KMLs, PLEASE READ THE TERMS OF USE FOR ALIONLIVE KML'S!

Spring in Madeira - From the Caldeirao Verde to Queimadas - The end of day 10

This is the fourth and final part of the mega hike. Now that I have watched the whole thing several times while editing, I am somewhat proud of our performance. To surpass this is going to be somewhat difficult, but we'll see what we do on this year's trip.

The Plot
Well rested after a reasonably long rest at the Caldeirão do Inferno, we went surprisingly rested on our hike to Queimadas. We had long abandoned any hope to somehow still reach a bus. This was not just slightly having an impact on our mood. However, here you will experience a little twist: Where I was the one in the previous part, who was rather worried and Malina had to cheer me up, Malina was now recognizable frustrated by the length of the remaining distance. Thus, it was now up to me to take care of encouragement and to calm things down. We hike across steep stairs, along a spectacular Levadas, and of course through more and darker TUNNELS. We stopped only briefly at the Caldeirão Verde and there was no time to visit it in detail. After a long time we finally arrived in Queimadas. And as already announced, we encountered a nice surprise in terms of our return to Funchal. What exactly? No, I will not tell that here ;).

This is the whole route, retraced in Google Earth.

Soundtrack
Again, the soundtrack consists of songs from Cimelium's album "Mesopotamia" ...with one exception: I couldn't resist to integrate the preliminary version of the track "Queimadas" from the album "Madeira by "Cimelium, which is still in production. Do you still need the link to the album "Mesopotamia"? Okay, better safe than sorry. This time I link again to iTunes. And also the link to the homepage of the album with other sources should not miss. And here is the soundtrack in detail:

• 00:00 Lilith (Mesopotamia)
• 06:06 Dagon (Mesopotamia)
• 16:57 Queimadas (Madeira)
• 22:00 Enki (Mesopotamia)

The height profile of the hike. NOTE: Some important information about this is in the video.

What's next?
After such a long hike we had truly earned a day off. This was spent in Camara de Lobos and here we, to put it crudely, drank alot. In this video there will be a musical premiere of historic proportions ;).

And now have fun with the video!

Spring in Madeira - Caldeirão do Inferno - New Video

I am sorry to say that the camera, during this third of four parts, unfortunately is even shakier and inaccurate, than you already know it, because of increasing fatigue. However, there are beautiful views of nature around the Caldeirão do Inferno.

The Plot
After we had passed the long and dark Pico Ruivo tunnel, we made a (for myself) surprising decision. Time was running out. If we went straight back through the tunnel, we would have reached the bus back to Funchal probably. But Malina was simply not up for hiking again through the tunnel and suddenly wanted to see the Caldeirão do Inferno. The Lady's wish is my command, and so I agreed, with not just a bit of a doubt. The past, quite strenuous, hike was reflected by increased fatigue. And so we crossed a fairly large number of additional tunnels to be rewarded with a magnificent spectacle of nature: the Caldeirão do Inferno. This is a deep valley surrounded by impressive cliffs, from which water is flowing everywhere. Here we had the first real rest of the day and drank at last the only beer we had brought. Then we went, surprisingly well rested, on the rest of the hike, towards the Caldeirão Verde and Queimadas. And with us leaving the Caldeirão do Inferno this part ends.

I think there is no place with more spectacular and vertigo-causing views anywhere in Madeira than near the Caldeirão do Inferno

 Soundtrack
Just as the previous two parts, also this is one accompanied by Cimeliums album "Mesopotamia". And also this time I find the music choice more than suitable. Here is the track list:

• 00:00 Babylon
• 05:54 Akkadia
• 11:38 Sumeria
• 17:34 Lilith

And now again only the purchase link for the album is missing. One can buy the album anywhere else, but I simply prefer iTunes. This link goes directly to the album. Also, the link to the homepage of the album on alionmind.com should not be missing here. There you'll find more sources.

All hail our mighty hiking boots ;)

 What's next?
Well rested, we go on our very long hike to Queimadas. We visit, very briefly, the Caldeirão Verde. Time was not only running out, but we were long overdue.

And now have fun with the video!

Hiking along the Levada do Pico Ruivo to the Pico Ruivo tunnel - New Video

There's really is not much to say about the second of four parts for day 10. With 16 minutes it is slightly shorter than the other parts and this is so because the the cut did just fit.

The Plot
We hike nicely for a long time along the Levada do Pico Ruivo. We pass many small and smaller tunnels. The hike offers us breathtaking views and I do quite a lot of nonsense. This is due to the fact that I was actually a little annoyed by the unexpectedly long distance, and had to cheer myself up. Initially my jokes, with which I more or less convincing tried to fool the audience with with false Pico Ruivo tunnels, were still funny. But with each false Pico Ruivo tunnel it became less funny. At the end we had to find that the Pico Ruivo tunnel was divided in two by a ravine. The first part was indeed somewhat long and very dark, but it was not the 2.5 km monster that awaited us. Speaking of darkness: The darkness was additionally supported by the fact that my beloved flashlight suddenly had a power shortage, despite previously inserted new batteries. This part ends before the long section of the tunnel.

Always on duty, here in one of the many small tunnels.

 Soundtrack
As the last part, this one is also accompanied by Cimeliums album "Mesopotamia". I think the choice of music fits very well with the images. The soundtrack of this part in detail:

• 00:00 Ishtar
• 05:06 Enlil
• 10:14 Assyria
• 15:25 Babylon

What is missing is the obligatory link to the album. This time, I recommend buying it at the GooglePlay store, which can be wonderfully accessed via this link. More buy links can of cause be found on the homepage of the album on alionmind.com.

The entrance to the first part of the Pico Ruivo tunnel.

 What's next?
Because of the darkness in the tunnel it made no sense to film. And so the next part starts right after the tunnel, where we were rewarded for the long hike with amazing natural spectacles. The absolute highlight here is the Caldeirão do Inferno, where we can finally drink our Coral Tonica. No AlionLive without beer!

And now have fun with the video!

Hiking from Cruzinhas to the hydroelectric plant and the Levada do Pico Ruivo

On day 10 we started the longest hike of this journey and longest to date at all. We knew that this would be not a short hike, but then were somewhat surpised how long it took to reach the Pico Ruivo tunnel. Yes, Madeira is in this respect, because of the mountains, always good for a surprise. But it should get even better: We came to a daring decision, which again extended the hike considerably. Since the video and photo material was accordingly extensive, and I've recently introduced the "20 minutes +/- 5 per episode' rule, there will be a total of 4 parts for day 10.

Each hike starts somewhere. And this was our start for the day, near Cruzinhas.

The Plot

We started very early in the morning, after a long bus ride, in Cruzinhas, near Faial. From there we hiked the unexpectedly long gravel road to the hydroelectric power plant of Nogueira and even catched a glance at the Balcoes, from where we had already examined the route the day before. The sight of the height difference gave us a general idea of ​​the ascent to the Levada do Pico Ruivo. Behind the hydroelectric plant, quite well hidden, is the path to the ascension. As we already known from Madeira, we hiked in snake lines on the really hard ascent to the Levada. I must say here, because people told me different, that this route does not pose any danger. Arrived at the Levada we had a wonderful view. Since the trail was quite wide, this route was, contrary to some warnings from friends, quite harmless. However, the hike to the Pico Ruivo tunnel was, as already mentioned, unexpectedly long. There were also a lot of tunnels on that route. So we thought a few times that we had already reached our destination, and it wasn't the case. And so this part ends in the middle of the Levada do Pico Ruivo.

The hydroelectric power plant of Nogueira. From here we always went uphill.

The Soundtrack

Since the new Cimelium album "Madeira" still awaits completion, I have decided to use the album "Mesopotamia" for the videos of day 10 again. This album has served well already in several Madeira videos. In this video, the following songs are used:

• 00:00 Innana
• 05:58 Dumuzi
• 10:58 Marduk
• 16:03 Ishtar

What is missing is the mandatory purchase link for the album if one or the other likes the music. The easiest and most profitable way for me ;) is to buy the album on iTunes. Links to other sources can be found on the official website of the album.

On this hike, we saw the mountains of Madeira yet from a different angle again.

Thank you "Can"

I met Can on the Portugal forum and he was so kind to provide me with a KML file with the GPS coordinates of the trail to the Pico Ruivo tunnel. This not only helped to find the entrance to the gravel road to the hydroelectric plant, but also to deal with the ascent to the Levada. A very big thank you for this! Can has a nice blog on which he presents his wonderful travel photos to the world. Check it out!

Gues who's this ;) This is the closing picture of this part.

What is next?

In the next part we complete the other (approximately) half of the hike along the Levada and finally reach the Pico Ruivo tunnel. Here we walk even through the first section of it, where it is interrupted by a ravine.

And now have fun with the video!

First Hike 2015 - North-East Hamburg!

The first hiking video of this year is very short but crisp. What? This guy constantly uploads Madeira videos! Yes, that's true, but the material is from spring 2014, and so it is almost one year old. This video, however, is brand new. Why does Sonny write a whole blog post for a 7 minute video? Because I can and because there is actually something to say about it.

The occasion of this little 35 km hike was the first day of this year with really nice spring weather. In addition, I decided to acquire a head lamp for some travel (mystical undertone), to avoid having to stumble with the fat Maglite flashlight through slippery tunnels again. That flashlight has indeed let me down during the last time in Madeira. The relevant video of the 2014 Series is not yet available, but will be the second to next one. And since Malina's head lamp, a Petzl Tikka, performed very well, I wanted one of those too. The only shop nearby that sells something nice like that is the Globetrotter in Barmbek. So it made sense to do the first hike of the year to there, of course only through green areas and this is more than just possible in our nice green Hamburg.

Another reason why it was a good idea to do a hike again was that I feared that my old bones were so rusty after the long winter, that I would badly fail during a upcoming travel (mystical undertone). This fear, however, has proven to be 100% unfounded. Legs and feet were quite tired after the hike, but the next day everything was alright again. Works!

Another reason for the hike was provided by the fortunate circumstance that I call my own a beautiful new camera and wanted to test it in detail. First reactions on the video embedded below say, that the purchase was definitely worth it. I agree. The video looks much sharper and generally better. The capacity of the built-in battery seems to be as specified by the manufacturer and is therefore suitable for very long hikes. I didn't like cameras with built-in batteries, because these batteries usually had a rather laughable capacity. I will do a detailed review of the camera soon, because I have some surprises in store for you, I don't want to spoil (again mystical undertone).

The soundtrack consists of two pre-release versions (unfinnished) from the soon released album "Madeira" of my music project "Cimelium":

00:00 - Poiso
04:41 - Santo da Serra 

Finally, I can only say that this little hike in all aspects fulfilled its purpose and has provided the desired results, including the tiny little video that I hereby present to you. Have fun!

Spring in Madeira continues: The Balcões and a hike to Faial!

Well, that was fast this time, eh? I told you that the new strategy with the video length of 20 minutes will work. And just as I mentioned earlier, I have to "put the pedal to the metal" a bit to complete this series for "specific reasons". Also, I have just missed to meet my "promise" to upload new videos if the most recent video has reached 50 views. When uploading the video, the previous one had 54 views. But what can I do, if you are so quick? ;)

The Plot
As promised, you will see the Balcões finally in this video. We start where we left off the last time: The entrance to the Balcões. And yes, I was a little annoyed by the very loud French tourists and their crying baby ;). It was much louder than it sounds in the video. Well, anyway the panoramic view from the Balcões was filmed extensively. For some, perhaps a bit too extensively. As I mention in the video, the view was impressive but not so overwhelming as I remembered it from the photos and videos on the Internet. But, and this I mention also, maybe I simply saw another lookout point. The one on the pictures and videos had the typical wooden railing. The Balcões have, as you can see in the video, a simple green metal railing. The time on the Balcões was definitely nice and it was a unique experience. After the extensive stay we actually did not know what to do next, because it was still early in the day. So we went back to Ribeiro Frio first and refreshed ourselves with a Cortado (coffee with Madeira wine). Here we took the bold decision to hike further to Faial and go from there back to Funchal by bus. Just FYI: The distance from Ribeiro Frio to Faial is almost half the distance from the south to the north coast. After a nice hike, two additional Coral Tonica and 2 Poncha we arrived in Faial in the early evening and caught, once again, the bus back to Funchal just in time.

The Soundtrack
...is this time, with one exception, from the current alionsonny album "Continuity". The exception to this is the pre-release version of a new alionsonny track.

What's next?
I had already announced that I still have A one-hour bus ride for you, and that comes as the next part. It will show the bus ride from Faial to Monte.

And now have lots of fun with the new video!

Spring in Madeira - Day 9 Part 1 is here!

This part is already one that is a little shorter than the announced 20 minutes. This starts good. You will agree that the timing for the cut at the end of the part is an absolutely perfect choice.

The Plot
A little later than planned on the day we start a hike from Ribeiro Frio to the world famous lookout point Balcões. To my greatest surprise and joy, this time I met Ribeiro Frio in bright sunshine. I was far more used the opposite in Ribeiro Frio, for example, on day 3, day 7 and day 8 of my trip in 2012. There was an accordingly immense tourism going on, and so I sometimes had a few problems to navigate my world famous shaky camera through the masses. However, there are wonderful views of nature, a little surprise in the form of an unexpectedly strong Poncha and accordingly much nonsense. You will not see the Balcões in this part, because I viciously placed the end-of-part cut right on the entrance to the Balcões. This is certainly not a highlight of the AlionLive entertainment, but you can not always top yourself ;). Again about the cliffhanger at the end: It was just the right place for the cut. If you watch the second part (probably with extra length), you will realize that an end-of-part cut wouldn't fit anywhere else. Nasty, but necessary.

The Soundtrack
...comes this time once more from older to ancient alionsonny albums. The titles have a strange resemblance. I do not know how this could happen. Why old music again? Because the new is not finished yet. I do not want to use the pre-release versions of the albums in progress again. Therefore I use older material. But soon, for a certain, very special, *giggle* episode, I'll present the new Willma Poppen album, maybe in full length.

What's Next
Of course you'll see the Balcões in the next part and, due to the nice weather, also spectacular views of it. Then we simply hike down to Faial... because we can. The next episode is, as already indicated, probably a little longer than 20 minutes.">

But now have fun with this video:

Spring in Madeira - Day 8-1 - Ponta de São Lourenço

Also for day 8 I decided to split the video into two parts. The most obvious reason for this is that about half shows a hike on the Ponta de São Lourenço and the other half a bus ride. But more on that later. In addition, the whole in one block would have become a little too long.

The Plot
Late in the morning we went on a one-hour bus ride to the eastern tip of Madeira, the Ponta de São Lourenço. Once there, we decided to strengthen ourselves with a hearty meal of bread with cheese and sausage. The numerous crowd of local reptiles showed a clear interest in both, cheese and sausage. So seven minutes of the video footage shows a lizard show. Then we went, in perfect weather, on the spectacular hike to the Cais do Sardinha and back. Unlike my hike in the same area in 2012, I had this time my hiking boots (instead of sandals) with me, and the weather was, as I said, much better. I did not find this hike to be so challenging this time. People with latent fear of heights should maybe not watch this video ;). For all lovers of exceptional natural sites and beautiful views, this video is highly recommended.

In the next part you see the bus ride from the Ponta de São Lourenço back to Funchal. And if anyone complains about unnecessary bus ride videos: Just look at the views of these videos on Youtube ;)

Spring in Madeira Day 6 - Santana, Queimadas, Pico das Pedras!

The tourism side of Santana ;)

 Also on this blog I must apologize for the slight delay. Not only that nearly a month passed between the last and the current video. This blog entry also comes five days after uploading the video. I can not stress enough how much of an advantage it is to like the AlionLive Facebook page or follow me on Twitter. The reason for the current delay is simple: Two albums are currently rapidly approaching completion and there is plenty to do. It is therefore to be feared that in the near future the AlionLive project will not make much progress for some time. But this will also end one day again ;).

Yeah, exactly!

For the video: Well rested from our quiet day in Funchal we wanted to do something bigger and decided to take an early morning bus to Santana at the north coast. From there we hiked towards Queimadas. This place is familiar to me from many, many of my Facebook friends photos and was high on the list of places to be visited. We did not expect the rather long and somewhat unspectacular ascent to Queimadas. It has also been reported by many, that there would be no motorable road to Queimadas, which turned out to be absolute nonsense. So notice: No matter what they tell you on the internet: You can drive by car to Queimadas and the road is very well developed. However, we completed the 800-900 meter ascent on foot of course. Once there, we were somewhat exhausted. After a rest with good cheese bread and Coral Tonica were fit again soon.

Yay! Now I have also some photos of Queimadas! :)

We had to abandon the original plan, to hike on to the Caldeirao Verde and Caldeirao do Inferno, due to the advanced time of day. So we decided to hike further to the Pico das Pedras. After a short rest in a cozy cafe on the Pico das Pedras we hiked towards Faial.

On the Pico das Pedras

Actually, we were making good time, but then we walked around a mountain on the wrong side, which dissuaded us far from the path. Only by a lucky chance, we caught the last bus to Funchal.

Breathtaking vista on Faial, Porto da Cruz, the eagle Rock and more

The soundtrack consists once again from pre-release versions of songs that are destined for the soon to be released album "Madeira" by Cimelium. By the way: Only 2 songs to go, then the album is complete :). Among the featured songs appropriately also is the latest addition "Queimadas". The soundtrack in detail:

00:00 Santana
05:00 Poiso
09:36 Queimadas
14:38 Santo da Serra
19:33 Câmara de Lobos
24:19 Rabacal
29:23 Parque do Lido 6:30 am

And now have fun with the video!

Spring in Madeira - Day 4 - A short Levada hike

This video is probably one of the shortest of the series. The reason for this was that we went very late to Camacha and the Paradise Valley and somehow I also didn't film very much on that day. Our hike took us along the Levada dos Tornos, which we then left to head north towards the Parque Ecologico do Funchal. On our way, we had an extensive rest at the Abrigo do Pastor, I already visited on day 10 of my trip in 2012. However, I did not notice back then that the Abrigo do Pastor has an impressive restaurant with an unique ambience. After that it was rather late and we did our best to catch the last bus at the Parque Ecologico do Funchal. That did not work at all and so we hiked in complete darkness in the direction of Monte. We were lucky, because on the route a very nice person stopped his car and offered us to drive us to the nearest bus stop, from which a bus was still going. You see again: The people of Madeira are just fantastic. But the footage of this video shows only the part until shortly after our stay at the Abrigo do Pastor. This is due to the rapidly falling darkness and the fact that we were in a hurry to catch that bus.

The soundtrack this time is entirely from the album "Mesopotamia" by the Cimelium project. The soundtrack in detail:

This album is available on iTunes, Amazon, Emusic, Routenote and Spotify. This link takes you to a page, where you find all the links to the album in the shops. And now have fun with this pretty short video, which still offers some beautiful views. The next video will be much longer.

Spring in Madeira - Day 3 - Hiking from Santo da Serra to Faial

From the intro ;)

Currently it is going blow upon blow with the videos :). Just a week ago I uploaded the last video, and here's already the new one. While we are on the subject: From time to time I am asked why I am not, like My Let's Play colleagues, able to upload at least one video a day. This is simply impossible, because the editing of the video takes as long as it does. I have, for example, never seen a Let's Play with hundreds of cuts, transitions, and certainly none with subtitles. Ok, so this should be clarified ;).

The latest video, as the title suggests, is part of the series about our this year's trip to Madeira. In this third part the regular viewers will once again see many familiar places. Somewhat late we took a bus to Santo da Serra, where I was already on day 8 of the 2012 series. Initially we planned to hike the Levada do Furado to Ribeiro Frio. Fortunately we met two nice hikers who told us that this Levada is still closed. How long is that supposed to take? I mean: It is closed since early 2013 already. The information given by the nice hikers saved us hiking half the Levada and then have to hike back. But now we were absolutely clueless about where we should hike to. So we decided to hike north and to see where we end up. So we hiked through valleys and mountains in almost uncomfortably burning sun to Portela. There we rested a while and then made our way towards Faial via Referta. Those who have seen the 2012 series, will remember this route from the video of day 12. However, we missed a turnoff somewhere near Referta, which should lead us to the path of my 2012 hike. Due to extensive breaks and filming, we were already very late and the missed turnoff caused that we actually went to Porto da Cruz. There we found out that at least from there no buses were going anymore. So we went on a forced march to Faial, where we arrived after 8 pm. At this time really no buses are going to Funchal from there anymore. So we decided, after some daring plan games, to burden our small travel fund with the cost of a taxi ride to Funchal. Not nice, but still better than having to spend a night on the north side of the island or to do a nightly hike across the island ;).

The route

The soundtrack also this time consists not only from the works of the house of alionmind, but there are again two guest musicians presented. This time it is DecibelAlex and Anthony Charretier, two nice fellow musicians whom I met on Facebook. At this point I would like to say thanks for providing their wonderful pieces of music. The rest of the soundtrack consists of 3 tracks from the recently released alionsonny album "Continuity". But first I want to introduce the guest musicians properly:

Decibel Alex:

• SoundCloud
• Facebook
• Youtube

Anthony Charretier:

• SoundCloud
• Facebook
• Anthony's Blog

The soundtrack in detail:

• 00:00 - DecibelAlex - Sunset Dub
• 03:55 - Anthony Charretier - Poznan
• 09:02 - alionsonny - Brain Forest Chapter III
• 13:47 - alionsonny - Bulletproof
• 18:54 - alionsonny - Going Bonkers

The alionsonny album "Continuity" is available on

• iTunes
• Amazon
• Spotify

 And now: Have fun with the video!

AlionLive - Spring in Madeira - The second part is here!

And on we go with the second part of the current series about our trip to Madeira. We start slow and easy in this part, but we already start with the hiking. The route will however be familiar to those, who have followed the series from 2012. We hike from the Parque Ecologico do Funchal up the plateau north of Funchal and then to Poiso. Afterwards, we still hiked further, but unfortunately no video material of this exists. Why the repetition? In fact I hiked that route one time alone and once again together with Beatrice in 2012. The repetition has two reasons:

1. 1 We were pretty exhausted still from the early arrival the day before and wanted to start things slowly. Therefore, a not too strenuous route was chosen, which I knew well already.
2. 2 Malina of cause had viewed the videos of 2012 and of course wanted to see the views of Funchal and especially the plateau herself.

In addition, one and the same place on Madeira looks completely different in different seasons and in fact it was a totally different feeling to walk this route in spring. Initially, it even looked as if we would hike this route this time in bright sunshine. But only until the wind pushed some cloud banks against the mountainside. It did not come to a weather apocalypso like 2012, when I had to leave the plateau quite hastily, but it was quite foggy.
This part of the series is also, with a little over 22 minutes, quite short. After the long winter break, I had first to get myself rolling again. Also, I had already told you beforehand that I film less when I have company than when I'm traveling alone. However, I believe that this video will be quite entertaining. Have fun!