Levada walk and King cake

This morning we had a coffee at Petits Fours and Sat where we could see the bakery, they were preparing Bolo-rei (king cakes) a traditional cake for Epiphany or Kings Day, (extra) it’s a yeast dough packed with fruit and nuts and decorated with glacé fruit.  Hidden inside is a fava bean which is meant to represent the baby Jesus. Whoever gets the piece with the bean in it has to buy next years cake!
This afternoon we had a levada walk with our guide Rita, finishing at her tea house. The pictures show where the levada goes into a tunnel hewn out of the rock (we didn’t have to walk through thankfully) and what Rita referred to a the first Madeiran washing machine.  She was an excellent guide and could tell us a lot about the history of the island and the life of her grandparents and parents - not an easy one living and working on this steep terrain.
We had a good view of the airport from high up on the hills.
Once back we called in and bought a king cake to eat over the next few days.