Imagine a valley so isolated that until the last 50 years or so, people who were born there seldom left the place. That’s Curral des Freiras, Valley of the Nuns. 

Located in the center of Madeira, the valley was once home to an order of sisters who hid here to escape pirates, or so legend has it. The location does make an excellent hiding place, perhaps a little too excellent.

We saw it on a cool morning, with clouds hovering over the mountain tops. We didn’t hike down (though we did a similar downhill later in the day), but you can do it if you have the time and the knees.

I’m just as glad I saw it from the peaks, the lack of easy entry or exit giving the place an ethereal quality, like it isn’t quite there at all.