Dublin & Canaries Xmas Cruise - 17/12/2014 - Funchal, Madiera Page

The tour did not start until 09:35 in practise &, because Avis was ill, I sat next to Joyce for an acting girl-friend, widowed 14 years & about 81. We went through the Western suburbs of Funchal, where quite a lot of the terraces are still cultivated. We stopped at a viewpoint over the city.

Gisela the guide said 50% of people are in tourism, which is much lower than the Canaries but I don’t think either count infrastructure that would not be so big without the tourists. We went up Cabo Girào, the World’s second highest cliff & the canny Madeirans have built a platform out from the top with a glass floor for the brave. The weather was rather dull but the view still impressive.

The path to the viewpoint	Viewpoint sideways	Viewpoint straight down one mile
Towards Funchal	Cliffs to the East	Cliff to the West

Then, we went down to a little fishing port, Câmara de Lobos, their selling point being that Winston Churchill painted there. So what? It is a cute village but lots of the fishing boats were drawn up & the fishermen hanging about. One was slapping resin & fibreglass on his upturned dinghy. I walked up steep alleys to the top of the town but, lacking a map, did not know how to get to the newer church, the old one being very old & was running out of time.

Câmara de Lobos harbour West mole	Behind & West of the village	Main street down
Main Street up with the church	Church from the beach	Church from the Hard
Above & right: On the Hard
From the Hard to the West end hill	Repairing a boat with fibreglass	The new Church
Above: What is this? Right: View from the West end hill

From there, we were driven into Funchal Centre to Blandy’s wine cellar (the English put this place on the map) for wine tasting. As I had the rum, I could not buy any as I would not be able to carry it but it was very good. This was wine, not “Madeira”. I explored a bit where I had not been before & then, we were driven back to the ship.