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Madeira: Funchal, Monte
Palace Tropical Garden & Eira do Serrado
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We were scheduled to
arrive in the port of Funchal at around lunchtime, so for
the first time since we embarked, we were able to have a
late breakfast and a generally relaxed morning. We really
enjoyed that. By late morning, we saw the silhouette of
Madeira starting to appear on the horizon. |
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Bypassing
Ilhas Desertas, we made straight for Funchal. In a couple of days,
we would visit Porto Santo too. |
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The order of the tour
was indeed reversed for our group. We started off with a
short drive to the Cable Car station, from where we went
up to Monte. |
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The entrance to the
Monte Palace Tropical Garden is directly opposite the exit
from the cable car. It was raining softly, but penetratingly,
so we had a look around the museum until it stopped. We
had visited the garden with our friends Ros and Adrian back
in 2004, but it was still good to see it again and the dampness
made it seem all the more atmospheric. |
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We were treated to a
tasting of Madeira wine at the cafe within the garden. Neil
went on ahead to "keep us a table". Would he have
been able to hold that tray so steady if he really had consumed
all those drinks? No, of course not, haha! |
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At the end of the visit
to the garden, we walked a short distance to where our coach
had driven up to meet us and close to the street where brave
people subject themselves to toboggan rides downhill at
speed. When asked if this was included in our excursion,
we were told no, "the risk assessment forms indicated
that it was not a good idea". Bruce was slightly disappointed;
Geoff wasn't! |
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A couple
of views from the coach as we made our way to our next stop. In
some parts the route was precipitous! |
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Arriving
at Eira do Serrado, we wondered how much of the valley of the nuns
we would actually see. |
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The answer
was not much at first, but we were treated to chestnut liqueur and
chestnut cake. |
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Then,
amazingly, the clouds began to lift, revealing a dramatic scene
around and below us. |
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Curral
das Freiras. In 2004, we visited the village itself (when the roads
were not as good as they are today!) |
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Time
to return to the ship. |
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| This isn't our photo. We "borrowed"
it from cruise director and friend, Neil. He and his team
went out for a meal in town in the evening (to get away from
all of us!) What a lovely bunch they are - left to right,
Neil, Kevin, Isabel, Wendy and Fiona. |
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