Abandoned Olympic Pool Complex Madeira Architecture February 12, 2025 Given my penchant for ancient ruins, it's no surprise that I'm also fascinated by more modern abandoned places. Near the top of the hill that separates Machico from the airport, in the town of Agua de Pena, there's an abandoned swimming pool complex with an Olympic sized pool complete with diving towers. It was the towers that drew my attention to the place. Since I'm staying in Machico this time, I decided to check it out. They've done very little to keep people out, so it's easy to get into the buildings and pool area. The huge pool even had an underwater viewing area at the deep end that looks like it might have been a restaurant or food court. I couldn't find any useful history of the place, so I don't know when it was built or when it was abandoned. There's a relatively new municipal pool in Machico, so I suspect that was part of the reason this place fell out of favor. View from above the changing rooms looking towards the high dive towers. View of the pool with the ladders up the high dive towers in the foreground.
Spooky House The area where I'm staying west of central Funchal is very new, full of modern hotels and apartment blocks. But, as in almost any neighborhood around the world, there's always that one house. This place is probably close to 100 years old.
Proteas I'm back in Madeira again and staying in Machico, a town I discovered last time and fell in love with. On Saturdays they have a small farmers market in the plaza near the beach. One stall had buckets full of these flowers that I later found out were proteas.
Goodbye Madeira Welp, it's time for goodbyes, for now. It's been a great month, with some very memorable sights. The weather has also been so good it's almost too good to be true, but I can tell the seasons are changing. Temperatures are getting a little cooler, rain is more likely, although it remains sunny most of the time.
Cat III Along the Lido promenade, near the old coal warehouse, there's a feeding station for stray cats. Naturally, it's quite a popular place, and you'll find cats congregating around there in the morning, when the food is stocked up. Afterwards, the bushes behind the fence along the cliff ar full of cats soaking up the sun after eating.
Up Today didn't turn out as planned, but that's not a bad thing at all. The plan was to check out Caniçal, which is the next big town east of Machico. I liked Machico so much, I thought the city next door might be just as charming, and both have access to some good trails.