Madeira, Portugal

Today’s port stop was our first since leaving Malaga on Monday. We tied up to the dock in Funchal, Madeira at about 7:00 am. After having our breakfast in the buffet, we went back to the cabin and loaded up our backpacks for the day ashore. We had a little difficulty finding the deck and location to depart the ship, something else to “learn” when taking a voyage on an unfamiliar cruise ship. Once we found our way to the gangway, we left the ship about 8:00 am and hailed a taxi for the ride into town. We had not wanted to take the shuttle bus offered by the cruise line at $10 per person, round trip, mainly because it did not start running until 8:30 am, and we did not want to waste any time waiting for it to start operating.

We took the next taxi in line and started into the city. First thing we noticed was the the meter was not running, a clear sign of trouble. We took the mile and a half ride into the central city area, and when we asked about the fare, we were told it was a flat rate of 10 euros. We questioned this amount, and were again told it was that rate for all taxis from the ship. Guess we should have asked first, although I doubt any of the taxi drivers would have asked for less, they all work together. The driver was nice, and did speak very good English, and had actually lived in Ocala, Florida for two years. He had told us he liked living in Funchal, and that the crime rate was very low, less than 2%. Stephanie and I believe that the taxi drivers must be responsible for some of the 2% crime rate, we sure felt taken for the 10 euro ride. However, we were in the City, and it was time to go on with the plan for the day.

Our first visit was to the Mercado (market) to see all of the fresh flowers, fresh fruit and fresh fish vendors. There are a lot of tropical flowers grown here for export, and there were several vendors with some beautiful birds of paradise. There were also several fruit merchants, and one lady had us taste a local fruit that tastes like it is both banana and pineapple. It had a strange texture, sort of soft and seedy. It was different, that was all we could say. There was also one section of the market just for selling fish. People here in Madeira eat a lot of fish, and there were several varieties that were different from any fish we had ever seen. One of the local favorites is a long, black, skinny fish with very large teeth called“Espada Preta”, which is a Black Scabbard fish. It had the look of a long eel. Apparently it is caught in very deep water, at least 3,000 ft. It is supposed to be very good, but it did not look that way raw in the market. they also had two different types of dried, salted fish. One was darker, and may have also been smoked. One was lighter in color. Both were very fishy smelling.

We proceeded to walk over to the cable car that goes up the mountain to an area called Monte. The cable cars were just starting to run, so there were no lines. We almost got to ride in a car all by ourselves, but a tour bus full of Germans got there right after us, and by the time our car came around to load, they were in line with us. As we got into the car, three of the German tourists got on with us, much to our disappointment. We rode up with a German couple, and their local German speaking tour guide. Of course, they were a little loud, and we were disappointed that we did not get to ride quietly up by ourselves. However, the scenery was beautiful. We could see our ship in the harbor, and the houses we went over while ascending were very nice. It was interesting to see that almost all of the houses had solar water heaters on their roofs.

We got out at the top, and took a few more pictures before heading over to an old pilgrimage church, the Nossa Senhora do Monte .

The church was an old building made out of a white material, and the wooden ceiling inside was painted with decorative scenes. There were a lot of people there with us, there were also two other small cruise ships in port with ours.

There were several trails going around the garden areas at the top by the cathedral and there were many pretty flowers growing on the various bushes. One was sort of a soft orange color, and the very large blossoms looked like trumpets, and hung straight down.

After we wandered around the gardens, we decided to take the famous Monte toboggan down the mountain road. It is a large wicker basket, and two men sort of steer it from the back by braking with their shoes. It was about a 2.5 km. ride down, and was pretty interesting. A lot of the time, you are sideways as the drivers are trying to steer you around bends in the road. It lasted about 10 minutes or so, not a bad experience, a little touristy, but not bad.

We then needed to take a city bus to the bottom of the mountain, near to the center of town. It was still a long way to the bottom after riding the toboggan, and down some pretty steep roads. We waited at a city bus stop with several others for at least 25 minutes, and when the bus finally came down the street, it passed right by the stop, without even braking. We were all left standing there with puzzled looks on our faces. We happened to be standing by another couple for some time before this happened, and they overheard us talking about now having to take a taxi down. They asked us if we wanted to split the fare, and we agreed. Then we got our second dose of taxi theft when a taxi driver informed us it would be 18 euros for the four of us to ride to the market area at the bottom of the mountain. Although we knew it was another “special fare”, we really had no choice, we did not want to risk waiting another 30 minutes for a city bus and have him go by again. We rode down with the couple, they were from Sweden, and could talk very good English. They had been visiting Funchal for a week and were heading home to Sweden the next day. They were very nice. We gave the driver his money, but certainly no tip, and parted ways.

We then walked around looking for a grocery store to try and purchase some local wines, or at least some inexpensive P0rtugese wines. We walked into a small mall area, and Stephanie asked a vendor that was set up by a rail overlooking the lower lever, if she knew where a grocery store was. She could not speak any English, and we could not speak Portuguese, so it was no help. We saw someone with what looked like a grocery bag walk by, so we headed in the direction that he came from. We just walked about 20 feet from the vendor we had just asked, and saw an escalator going down to the second level, where there was a large grocery store. It was funny because it was right below where the vendor was set up, but the language barrier was too much to overcome, even something that obvious.

We shopped and actually found some canned Ginger Ale (f0r refreshment mixer), and also bought some Diet Coke. We purchased three bottles of wine, one of them being Madeira Wine, and the others being “expensive” reds at about 1.95 euros each. We loaded down our backpacks, and then headed to the deli area in the supermarket for lunch. There was a nice cafeteria where you could purchase hot food, but we opted for some good sandwiches, and a desert, all for about 3 euro. There were a lot of locals eating there, so we knew it must have been good, and inexpensive.

After eating, we walked around and looked into a few shops. Some were closing for the “siesta”, normally everyday from about 1:30 to 4:30. After shopping, we headed down to the harbor to take some pictures of the ship. There were many outdoor restaurants along the harbor and in the marina area. We decided to sit at one and have a beer, well, maybe two beers.

The restaurant we picked was pretty crowded, most likely because of the band of Ecuadorian pipe instrument players that was performing outside. Their music was very relaxing, and we stayed for two beers. Apparently, they had a deal with the restaurant, they apparently played for some food, possibly more, but we did see them eat food that was brought from the resturant during one of their breaks. They were also selling CD’s of their music, but at 10 euros, this seemed a little steep. After the beers, we started the long walk back to the ship.

We stopped in one area along the way, an elevated walking park, and took some more pictures of the ship, and a few of us and the ship in the background. Then we completed the walk back to the ship.

Upon boarding, they did identify that we had some alcohol in our backpack, and told us to check it in with the attendant. We had hoped they would let us on with it, since this was a transatlantic cruise, but they would not. Stephanie was quick enough to realize that the person reading the security x-ray did not indicate how many bottles we had, so she only gave them two, and kept one. Just not quick enough to only think to give them one bottle, and keep two. However, that gave us an idea on how to do it next time, have a “sacrificial” bottle of the cheapest wine we can find (we saw some today for as low as euro 0.98, and yes, that is less than 1 euro, and not a typo). When they flag us for alcohol next time, we will just check that “cheap” bottle in, and never claim it at the end of the cruise. They are really particular on this cruise line, they actually make you get your alcohol from them on the last day before you arrive home, and you have to go and pick it up. Normal practice is that they deliver it to your cabin on the last night so you can at least pack it in your luggage. That is the reason we do not care about picking any of the confiscated wine up, too much hassle.

After sitting in the hot tub to relax, we went back to the cabin and got ready for dinner. We decided to opt for the buffet, we just were too tired to sit through the long dinner in the dining room, plus, they serve the same items in the buffet as is served in the dining room, with a lot less hassle.

We spent a little time in the ship’s shops, and then headed off to retire. We have another early and long port day tomorrow in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands.