FUN IN FUNCHAL, ISLAND OF MADEIRA, PORTUGAL

Friday, December 6, 2013
Island of Madeira, off the coast of Morocco / southeast of the Azores
5 p.m. Atlantic / Noon Erie / Sunny, 70s

The Port of Funchal on the Island of Madeira seems so cosmopolitan, almost like Monte Carlo East! Madeira is a volcanic island that suffered bad mudslides two years ago. It is 286 square miles, 35 miles in length and 14 miles wide, with 280,000 inhabitants. According to Princess literature, Madeira was probably discovered by the ancient Phoenicians. The Portuguese settled in after the early 1400s. Madeira means “wooded.”  Trees, fruit, flowers, and vegetables of every variety flourish here in the volcanic soil and sunny climate. The wine trade has been very important since the 1600s. 

Young Christopher Columbus was sent to Madeira in 1479 to buy a cargo of sugar for a Portuguese merchant. He decided to stay there and married the daughter of the islands’ first governor. Formulating many ideas about using the trade winds to sail westward, Columbus moved back to Spain when she died and his travels started from there.   

TK and I left the ship about 8:30 a.m. and took the quick shuttle into Funchal. We agreed to a 2 hour taxi tour with Diogo from center city for 50 € for just the two of us.

After we saw a small fishing village with narrow cobbled streets and older fishing boats moored, we drove to the top of Cabo Girao, the world’s second highest sea cliff that plunges over 1500 feet to the waves of the Atlantic below.  A glass tiled platform extends out over the cliff so people can see straight down. Walking onto that platform was quite a challenge for me, no problem for a firefighter! Anything for a photo!

Cabo Girao looking down through the glass tiles 1500 ft.

On this drive we noted so many beautiful flowers, like poinsettia, fragrant roses, hydrangea, poker plants, cacti, and so many more we did not know.  We saw other vistas along the shore then headed back to the city.

Funchal is noted for hand-stitched embroidery so we stopped at the factory to see the exquisite work done there, intricate tablecloths, placemats, napkin rings, table runners, and more.  Beautiful hand knitted sweaters were in other shops.

The produce and fish markets were worth visiting---vendors cut the fruit for public tasting, so sweet and exotic, fruits I had never seen before, too. I will have to research some of these fruits. One was called “delicious fruit” and I doubt that was the Latin name. J  Carrots were the size of cucumbers. On our drive we also saw gardens with cauliflower, corn, grapes, tomatoes, bananas, potatoes, all growing prolifically.

Funchal streets are decorated for Christmas.  I loved the huge snowmen in a park and poinsettias hanging in baskets along street lights.  I wondered if Erie weather is bad, the bustle of Christmas shoppers,  and how Denise is doing at DOTS this season.

We enjoyed lunch at Golden Gate, a restaurant rooted in the early 1800s. We sat on a balcony on the 2^nd floor overlooking the street and sidewalk. Live music played below us. Hamburgers and fries were on the menu for 6.8 € with a liter of natural water (as opposed to bubbly water) and cost us 20 €, including tip.  The burger was thick and juicy with lettuce and tomato. The cheese was interesting, white and tasty. There was a salad of very fresh lettuce, cherry tomatoes, green and black olives, drizzled with an excellent olive oil dressing. The fries were more than up to my standard, crisp and hot.

A few blocks away at the Ritz I had mixed berry gelato and TK had lemon and mango scoops. The gelato was good, but more like ice cream.

I bought some souvenirs family and friends and now it will be very interesting to see what the suitcases will weigh. I cannot resist.

When we leave port in about two hours, it will be 7 ½ days before we see land again, Fort Lauderdale, Florida—December 14, 2013.

Note: When I tried to post this before we left port, Google.it appeared and wanted a mysterious password. I hope the post goes on smoothly now at 9:30 p.m. Europe/Atlantic. Tonight we turn the clock back another hour.  After dinner Tim went to the “Movies Under the Stars” to see Star Trek Under Darkness while I went to the Wheelhouse Bar to listen to live music while I read.

 

I miss my family.

TK’s Take: The fish market was different here, a special area just for selling fish. The knives used to skin and fillet the fish are very sharp. The vendors are very skilled with their knives. He just returned to the stateroom from the pools and says it is 85 F.