Fun in Funchal, Portugal

Clean, beautiful, modern, safe - how wonderful to be out of Africa and visiting the capital city of the Madeira archipelago! Funchal is located about 520 miles southwest of mainland Portugal. Jagged mountains completely surround the city like a giant amphitheater with the ocean at its base. It seems that everyone on the ship enjoyed it and several have said they would like to come back.

 

Funchal, Portugal with Vista in background

 

I had tried to sign us up for an excursion by tuk tuk but unfortunately it was full, so we settled for the "Highlights of Madeira" tour instead. And it turned out to be a good choice. We could not have asked for more perfect weather - sunny with a high of 72!

If anyone is looking for a beautiful place to get away, I can recommend Funchal as a destination. https://portugalgetaways.com/en-us/destination/madeira/general-articles/funchal 

 

Our first stop was Santa Catarina Park in the heart of the city. It seems that everything grows here! Not only are many of the plants and trees native, but many have been brought in from other places and thrived. Funchal enjoys a mild subtropical climate with warm, dry summers and comfortable but slightly wetter winters. It has a year-round average temperature of 68 degrees and an average rainfall of about 25 inches. That would suit me just fine!

I've never seen so many agapanthus in bloom anywhere - both purple and white varieties and all around the city in large beds. From the park in the middle of the city, we took a cable car and rode to the hilltop village of Monte. The view on the way up was incredible. We could see the tops of the orange tile roofs covering white stucco houses that seemed to spread out for miles. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we reached the top, we had about 200 steps to climb to visit Our Lady of Monte Church. Again, what a view! And the church itself was gorgeous, as pictured below. All the flowers across the altar and in the side alcoves were fresh and smelled heavenly.

Our Lady of Monte Church

 

After our church visit, we could have taken a Monte toboggan ride back down the mountain but opted not to. The toboggans are 2-person wicker-like sleds pushed by 2 men dressed in white. These sleds were formally used to move wine down the mountain. We slowly made our way back down a rocky, uneven path to our bus. These are some of the neat patterns of the hand "paved" stone paths. Some were random sizes of various sizes, making it more difficult to walk on.

re-purposed toboggans

 

After everyone got back to the bus, we headed for Funchal's main garden - the Madeira Botanical Garden. Again, there was lots of climbing and rocky, uneven and sometimes even painful underfoot paths to navigate. But the trees and flowers were amazing. Of course I took many more than I'm posting!

 

 

 

  

Our last stop was for wine tasting at Universal Store Madeira. We were greeted with glasses of Madeira wine or a yummy sparkling passion fruit drink for non-drinkers. Of course they made sure we had time to shop. The store had many beautiful things and I was very tempted to buy an all-cork cross-body purse but decided I didn't really need it so came away with only a Madeira thimble for my travel collection. Click the link - you'll see (and they ship anywhere in the world!). https://www.universalstoremadeira.com/en/ 

An embroidery shop was also included in our itinerary but our excursion had already run overtime so that visit got scratched. The city is beautiful but oh-so-hilly and we had already gotten plenty of steps in for the day, much of them on incline. Had I been younger with more energy, I would have been dropped off in town as some did and enjoyed spending the rest of the afternoon browsing the stores and eating locally. But we were dragging and happy to come back to the ship for snacks and a nap! Funchal is a beautiful city that is definitely worth a visit.

   

Random Weekend Snaps

We've lost an hour over each of the past 2 nights as we've headed for Funchal, Portugal. Between our laptops, watches, phones and ship time, it's easy to get mixed up about what time it is! This is what we call clock management. Anyway, we've had a very nice and peaceful weekend. 

 

this morning's ocean sunrise

 

One of the guys in our Bible study group invited us to a 90th birthday celebration in the owner's suite on Friday night. I didn't want to go empty handed, but what do you give a 90 year old woman who has everything? Chocolate, of course. 

I'm posting a few photos I took (with permission) of the central area of the suite (dining/bar/butler's pantry) but I also took photos in the bath, master, living room and deck. Every room has its own ocean view.  

 

suite entrance

 

no party is complete without a string quartet

horderves?

cheese cake/brownie with edible gold leaf flakes

 

I won't post the "birthday girl's" photo here without permission - but I'm still having a hard time believing she is 90. One would NEVER guess! She's a former model and still a beauty. Most impressive of all, she still wears high heels at age 90! 

This morning we had our "church" service - a group of us who gather to watch a week-delay sermon from Eagle Brook Church in Minneapolis. Afterwards, we enjoyed visiting with some from the group at a Super Brunch in the Grand Dining Hall. I snapped a few quick photos.

 

entrance to Grand Dining Hall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am spoiled rotten on this ship! If I don't get off soon, I won't remember how to cook, clean or do laundry! Anyway, these are some random photos from the weekend.

 

Porto Grande, Cape Verde

Porto Grande (Mindelo Bay) is a massive natural harbor on the island of São Vicente in Cape Verde. “Cap-Vert” comes from the Portuguese language. Cabo Verde (green cape) was named by Portuguese explorers in 1444. You would think by its name that everything would be lush and green, but in reality the mountains are extremely barren volcanic rock.

Our ship docked at Mindelo Bay on the north coast of the island of Sao Vincente. On our previous visit to Porto Grande, we were driven up a winding mountain road to the very top of Monte Verde. We remembered the ride up being long, narrow, rocky and gray. We also remembered it being cold, extremely windy and quite foggy at the top, so it took us no time to rule out another trip to the top of the mountain. We decided instead to just get off the ship and wander some of the streets of Mindelo within easy walking distance of the port.

Porto Grande (Vista docked in background)

boats of various kinds docked in the harbor

Mindelo, today the second largest city in the country, was the last of 9 islands to become inhabited. Today it is the second largest city in the country. It is also one of the most developed and democratic countries in Africa.

 

local fishermen sell their catch

   

...and fish drying

lots of dried fish

...and fish being caught

The woman featured on the buildings (below) is Cesária Évora, Cape Verde's greatest musical icon. Évora (“the Barefoot Diva”) was globally famous for singing Morna—the melancholic, soulful national music of the islands. She always performed without shoes to show solidarity with the poor.

 

Cesária Évora

mural on building at the port

 

Here are a few fun facts about Cape Verde.

• No one lived in Cape Verde Islands until 1456.
• Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau were once one country.
• People in Cape Verde are either African or Portuguese.
• The long-eared bat is the only native animal to the islands.
• Sugar cane liquor is the national drink.
• Only 10% of the land is suitable for agriculture.
• There are more Cape Verdeans living abroad than there are in the country.
• It is estimated that there is one goat for every 2 people on the island.
• Cape Verde is the 3rd largest nesting site for Loggerhead turtles.
• It is rude to eat in public without sharing your food. 

 https://our-ancestories.com/blogs/news/10-fun-facts-about-cape-verde-islands

I wouldn't be me if I didn't love an open air market and snapping "people pictures." I will say that these are not the easiest type of photography to be successful with for several reasons. Street photography takes some skill which I sometimes have success with and just as often do not. Of course, it's easy to grab a shot of someone who is preoccupied and not aware that a camera is even near, much less being pointed at them. 

But I much prefer to engage with a person and it thrills me if they will actually look into the camera. But in order to achieve that, it is only polite to first ask permission before taking their picture, especially if it is going to be more than a "sneak" shot. Then there is the language barrier, but usually if I point at my phone and then at them, they understand that I am asking permission. This is where I may - or may not have success. Some will give me an adamant "NO" and at that, I smile, shake my head (up and down) and move along. Then occasionally someone is ok with it and will even smile (like the lady with the baby on her back in my last post). It doesn't matter to me if they smile or not - my goal is to try to capture the essence of the person. 

Today I got lucky - 2 older ladies and (I assume) a granddaughter gave me a nod. I also caught an older man looking down the sidewalk, unaware of my camera. Most of the photos I take (and share on this blog) are nothing more than an attempt to document a place. So capturing a couple of "people photos" that aren't blurry or have some other issue makes for a really good day. One other thing I've started doing - when someone gives me permission to take their picture, I do it quickly, then show it to them. Most of the time they seem very happy to see it. I figure that's the least I can do in exchange for the privilege of getting to capture their image.

 

Sao Vincente local

the granddaughter?

closer in

and my favorite