My Memoirs - Citizen of the World

Tweet’s Restaurant in Bristol, when Ros Bosworth, who was also a
member of our club, stood up and said, “Can you imagine that Fred
was stopped by a cop in Portugal and said that he could not speak
Portuguese?” He told the entire story, which made all of our fellow
Rotarians laugh hysterically. Naturally, according to the rules of
Rotary, I had to pay a dollar fine for my adventure in Elvas,
Portugal…
Madeira Islands
One of our future trips will be to the island of Madeira, known as
the Pearl of the Atlantic, which used to be one of Sir Winston
Churchill’s favorite places. The archipelago is composed of the
islands of Madeira and Porto Santo and the desert island (not
populated) where environmentalists love to experience scuba
diving and see unique birds and fish. It is located 300 miles from
the coast of Africa and 600 miles from continental Portugal. My
wife and I have visited those beautiful islands many times. They
are full of 5-star deluxe hotels that provide the best service
anywhere in the world. The archipelago depends mostly on tourism
for its economy. The people receive the best training in the
country, so that the tourists will return again and again from all
corners of the world. The island of Madeira is very mountainous
with beautiful landscapes. It is famous for the world renowned
Madeira wine, a large variety of beautiful exotic flowers, handmade
embroideries; tropical fruit trees and breathtaking views that
tourists enjoy anywhere that they go on the island. They have a
wonderful Farmers Market in downtown Funchal where my wife
and I always purchase our favorite tropical fruits. There are
beautiful parks and a botanical garden with thousands of different
flowers and plants. The hand-made embroideries and wine
factories; museums, including my good friend and Portuguese
Army colleague, João Carlos Abreus’s museum that is full of
artifacts from all over the world, are just some of the attractions.
200