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Madeira: Funchal, Monte,
Botanical Garden & Levada Walk
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After a rather grey
and sometimes wet day yesterday, today was the complete
opposite and we had a full programme of events to help make
the most of it. Our beautiful ship was docked in the perfect
location to enable us to get out of the port in the shortest
possible time. |
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After driving from the
port up to Monte, we were dropped outside the old Monte
Railway Station, which is now a museum. |
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The trackbed of the Monte
railway that was a steam-hauled rack-and-pinion railway. |
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What a way to travel!
A photo from the first decade of the 20th century. A steam
train up the hill, and a toboggan for the way down. |
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Nice piece of railway
architecture in the form of the old viaduct that took the
railway into Monte station. |
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How the viaduct in the
previous photo would have looked in the days when the railway
was operating. There is a plan to rebuild it, but that would
be such a massive effort as most of the trackbed has now
been turned into roads. |
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Facade of the twin-towered
church referred to in today's itinerary. We were not due
to visit it, but we were told that it is well known on the
island. |
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We walked past the entrance
to the Monte Palace Gardens which we had visited yesterday.
We also walked past the cable car station which brought
us up here yesterday... |
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...and
continued for about two or three hundred metres... |
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...until we came to
another cable car station, from where we would be taken
on a quite spectacular ride to the Madeira Botanical Garden
(not to be confused with the Monte Palace Tropical Garden). |
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The viewing
point at the lower cable car station, close to the Madeira Botanical
Garden. |
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A zoomed-in
view of our ship in the harbour, dwarfed by the other vessels in
the port. |
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We spent
a couple of hours happily re-exploring the gardens, which we had
previously visited in 2004. |
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From the gardens we
were taken to the Blandy's Wine Lodge in central Funchal.
We chose not to go inside for the sampling visit, but to
walk back to the ship, which was only a short walk away. |
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We were delighted to
hear that the chef had been out to find some local sardines,
which he prepared for our lunch. They were delicious! |
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We didn't
have time for a long lunch. There were more adventures ahead! |
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Our route
today |
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Opposite
the place where we stopped for refreshments, there was some interesting
produce for sale. |
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The fruit of the Monstera
plant - related to the Swiss cheese plant. Lovely flavour.
We bought one after tasting it. |
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At the end of the walk,
our coach was awaiting us. We returned to the ship for a
late afternoon tea and a sit on our balcony in the warm
sunshine. |
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We could
see the famous Reids Hotel from where we sat. One day we would like
to stay there. |
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After
dinner, Neil entertained us. He is a talented musician as well as
being an excellent cruise director. |
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Late
in the evening, we departed from Funchal for the short crossing
to Porto Santo. |
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The beautiful
lights of Funchal as we left. |
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