Madeira: Funchal - September 14

There being no organized your today we had a leisurely breakfast then headed out on what would become 6 hours of sightseeing, mostly on foot.

 

We walked to the marina where we stopped at a coffee shop.   

Refreshed and having enjoyed watching the world go by, we continued on generally in the direction of the cathedral.

Yes - that is a real eagle

 

 

Silly us, of course the cathedral was closed on Sunday.  Actually it was open until noon so we had missed it by 30 minutes. 

We continued past the public market (also closed) and headed into the oldest part of the city.  (NOTE:  We had been told that Madeira shuts down on Sunday with most shops, museums, etc. closed, so other than the cathedral we were not surprised.)

Lady in traditional Madeira garb selling flowers outside public market

In the narrow streets of the old part of the city - Zona Velha - we were amused by the way in which doorways were decorated....

 

...some being a bit extreme (with a couple inappropriate for G rated blog).

The Madeira StoryMuseum, being the exception to the closed on Sunday rule, was open. We found it a well presented accounting of the island's history.

Leaving the museum we weighted the pros and cons of taking the cable car up to the Monte section of the city.  There is to be a group tour there later in our trip. On the other side of the equation, visibility was good. The photo op carried the decision.

We did not go to the botanical gardens that will be party of the upcoming organized tour, instead just wandering around.  We saw the departure point for the sled ride down the mountain (also part of the tour, so more on this later), visited the church and found a wonderful place called Quinta do Monte to have lunch while overlooking Funchal.

olive trees from Portugal planted by the Romans in 300 BC

 

We rode the cable car back down, walked as far as the Contemporary Museum (which we knew would be closed) and then back through some of Zona Velha before taking a taxi back to our hotel.

I was a   bit envious of their nap

The Contemporary Museum is housed in an old fort.

 

We had good dinner a short walk from our hotel at Lareira Portuguesa.  I had one of the featured dishes - steak on a stone.  I enjoyed every bite!

Madeira: Funchal - September 15

Although we got off to another leisurely start on breakfast, we decided not to linger at the hotel.  The forecast for the day was not good and the weather was already showing signs of fussing up.

Today was another day with no organized tour, so we boarded a hop on/off bus. 

We disembarked at the cathedral to see the inside since it was closed when we were there yesterday.  Even today we did not have much time before it was scheduled to close for several hours. When the time came they literally turned off the lights to motivate people to leave.

In a light rain we walked to the public market.

 

Limpets (sort of like a barnacle) are a delicacy...for some people

 

The rain was steadier when we left the market for the nearest hop on/off stop.  Buses run every 30 minutes. Fortuitously as we arrived at the stop so did a bus. We got seats at the front of the upper deck. These were covered so we had a great view while staying dry.  It was a good way to meander around the city on a rainy day.

 

 

 

The rain became heavier during the ride.

Disembarking across the street from our hotel, we got to our room just as the rain became a downpour with lightning and thunder arriving soon thereafter.  We agreed that in the absence on a marked improvement in the weather touring was done for the day. It did not. 

Madeira: outside Funchal - September 16

Today began with breakfast, grabbing our gear and boarding the bus.

Our first stop was Camara dos Lobos, a fishing village just west of Funchal. When we passed through this village yesterday on the hop on/off bus it was raining hard. Today was much better.  After being greeted by a brief rain shower, the skies cleared and a charming village appeared.   

 

Monument to Dos Lobos (sea lions) for which village is named

Although catering to tourists (or at least tourist Euros) this is a working fishing community. 

There appeared to be a lot of moorings in the harbor, but no boats on any of them. The buoys are for fishing nets which are left in the water before the boats are hauled out. 

The boats are hauled out using a cable run through one or more blocks moved to various attachment points depending on where the boat is being placed.  On the bow and stern of each boat is an attachment point for the hook at the end of the cable.  Steel bands protect the underside of the boat as it is dragged into position.

Back on the bus, we ascended to Pico dos Barcelos, a scenic vista (1000') overlooking Funchal to the east and Camara do Lobos to the west with the mountains to the north.  As we disembarked it once again began to rain. This seriously compromised the photo op.

Our next ascent was to Eira Do Serrado which overlooks the Valley of the Nuns.  The valley got its name from being the place nuns would hide when the area was under attack by pirates or corsairs. This climb took us up to 3600' on a steep road with numerous tight switchbacks bordered by sheer drops.  

 

 It was worth it.  While we were again hit by rain, it was fleeing and yielded some rainbows.  

From the top of the mountain, we looked down into several small communities nestled in the Valley of the Nuns.

 

 

We descended the mountain, returning to our hotel to conclude the half-day tour.

After leaving some gear in our room, Pam and I walked down to the shoreline, finding a nice café for lunch.  

 

 

 

 

We returned to our hotel for a leisurely latter half of the afternoon. 

We had a fun dinner with four new friends at Il Gallo d'Oro in the Cliff Bay Hotel, returning to our hotel at 11:15.  Among many interesting presentations of delicious food was the "Big Mac".  It was a macaroon delivered in a styrofoam hamburger container.  Beside the container was a conical container made of chocolate containing 'fries' which were golden colored ice cream sticks.  There were also ketchup and mustard dispensers, the former containing strawberry preserve and the latter some sort of thickened cream.  It was very clever.

Knowing that we needed to be at breakfast at 7:30, we went straight to bed.  We were on our way to being sound asleep when a power failure occurred.  When the power was restored a few minutes later, the TV came on.  I got up, shut it off and went back to bed.  Fifteen minutes later, the same sequence occurred.  Now we are awake waiting for it to happen again, which it did not, but the possibility of a good night's sleep had already been compromised.