What a gorgeous sunny day!! And what a lovely picturesque island, Madeira. Madeira’s mystery begins in beauty, but the enigma is enhanced by suggestions that it may be the remains of the “lost continent” Atlantis. Famous for its Madeira wines, as well as delicate embroideries and laces, Madeira has a fascinating and rich history. It is the site of remains of 16th and 17th century forts and the 15th century Cathedral of Santa Clara. Grapevines were introduced in 1419. Madeira wine is one of the oldest of all fortified wines. The British occupied here in 1801 and 1807 and became enamored of the wine. It is said that the Duke of Clarence actually drowned in a vat of it!
We have no scheduled tour here and take our time leaving the ship to go into town. We get lucky and share a cab with two crew members into the town center. From there we walk down a few blocks and purchase tickets for the HOHO bus. Climbing on we head to the upper open deck and find seats at the very front for an unobstructed view. This bus will take us all over Funchal proper and up to the fishing village of Camara’ de Lobos on the eastern end of the island. Starting in town we zig zag back and forth, up and down and around seeing ancient buildings, monasteries, nunneries, the embroidery factory, world famous Blandy’s Wine Lodge, and the cable cars to Monte. Up and out of the city we head into the countryside along the coast to Camara’ de Lobos. On the way we are treated to the site of banana farms, grape arbors, and persimmon trees interspersed together and terraced into the side of steep rocky mountains. In fact almost everything more than a few blocks back from the coast is chiseled and terraces into the rocks. Verdant, lush, green with splashes of bright colored blooms this is almost like a tropical setting in the Carribean. We ride the HOHO one complete circuit then get off to buy tickets for the cable car to Monte.
Monte is only 4 miles from Funchal, but nearly 2000 feet higher up. Islanders enjoy their “life in the slow lane”. Hiking and swimming are popular sports, but the high mountains are also used for an unusual sport (originally, the wicker sled ride was a necessary form of transportation). Utilizing traditional craft, wicker “sleds” are used for joy riding down the islands steep terrain. We ride the cable car round trip, hop back on the HOHO and head straight for the famous Blandy’s Wine Lodge, where we buy several bottles of really good, really cheap wine.
Earlier in the day we had asked several different locals for recommendations for a local place to have dinner and unanimously the answer was Santo Antonio in Camera‘ de Lobos. At 6:30 the four of us hail a taxi and head for the food! We are not disappointed! With a nod to the Brazilian Bar-B-Q we experienced in Rio last spring the food is served family style and the meat hangs on long spits from hooks built into the table. We indulge in chicken, beef, and T-bone steak served up with fries and something similar but tastier than polenta, a corn mixture fried and cut into bit sized squares that is like eating cream style corn as finger food. Local Sangria is our beverage choice and the guys order two different desserts to share. At the end of the meal our bill for everything totaled E55. And our taxi driver waited for us for 2hrs and charged E45 for the round trip from the ship. We are now fortified for our seven day crossing beginning day after tomorrow afternoon.
The next day we hop back on the HOHO and buy several more bottles of wine to sustain us on our crossing.
Ah ...homeward bound.
We love to travel. People tell me I should be a travel agent because of all the things we do,the places we go, and the money we save. Our grandaughter,Sophia,tells everyone that we are on a "field trip" while we are gone, thus the name. I hope you find helpful, interesting information about different locales, ideas on how to get the most for your money, and be entertained in the process. Welcome. Connie
No comments:
Post a Comment