Funchal, Madeira,
Portugal
April 18, 2017 Last
Port of Call
Larry and I enjoyed a day of riding a little scooter into
the hillsides of the Island of Madeira .
We arrived before daybreak, finding
the hillside dotted with little tiny sparkling lights. After breakfast on the
back of the ship, we rode a shuttle into the city of Funchal and found a
car/scooter rental dealership.
For 29 Euros we had
the use of a scooter to explore the island until 6:00pm. We rode outside of the
city, sticking to the narrow curvy roads that ran along the ocean front. 
The roads were rugged in some places and they often meandered into dead ends....oh, but what a ride!
Let’s just say that Larry had some challenging situations with very steep terrain and hairpin turns.
Flowers were blooming everywhere!
Madeira sits atop a massive volcanic shield…all hardened
lava…the last volcanic activity was seen more than 6,000 years ago….this has
made the soil extremely rich.
Gardens were layered up the hillsides with stone walls
helping to tier the mountainsides.
Flowering blooms covered many hillsides
Rich soil and temperate climate provided the gardeners with perfect conditions to grow spectacular vegetables.
Banana groves and grape arbors covered hillsides.
Every inch of the hillsides were hand plowed and cared for….The tiered mountainsides made it impossible to use tractors and plows.
It was an unbelievable love of labor because the mountainsides were covered with splendid little gardens.
It was nice weather....cool when riding making a jacket necessary, yet warm causing us to peel it off when we stopped.
Rich soil and temperate climate provided the gardeners with perfect conditions to grow spectacular vegetables.
Banana groves and grape arbors covered hillsides.
Every inch of the hillsides were hand plowed and cared for….The tiered mountainsides made it impossible to use tractors and plows.
It was an unbelievable love of labor because the mountainsides were covered with splendid little gardens.
What spectacular
views! Red roofs dotted the hillsides looking over the ocean. It was an
incredible ride with all this scenery.
Three years ago we visited Funchal on foot. After walking
about the old cobblestone streets, we rode the gondola to the little town of
Monte which is up above Funchal. From there we rode the famous baskets down the
hillside. We enjoyed the walk back to town visiting a gorgeous city park and
the beautiful Portuguese black and white tiled sidewalks. Larry and I fell in
love with Portugal from that day on.
Today is just a continuation of how incredible Portugal
is…one of our favorite countries to visit.
This morning we stopped at Winston Churchill’s old haunt
where he painted during his leisure years.... Camara de Lobos.
A quaint little fishing village….Camara de Lobos….just plain lovely!
A quaint little fishing village….Camara de Lobos….just plain lovely!
This was really very, very scenic with fantastic views of water and mountains.
Then we meandered up some more steep mountains and curvy roads reaching the second highest sea cliff in the world….Cabo Girao.
We decided to just sit and enjoy a Portuguese coffee and the internet…. waiting for the sun to come back. The sun finally came back after lunch.
We jumped back on the scooter and found a different route to follow back toward Funchal….another incredible ride with awesome views along the way!
Arriving back to Funchal an hour early we decided to ride through the city taking in some of the
sights!
Part of the old fortress wall in Funchal
We turned the scooter back in at 6:00pm giving us a half an hour to get back to the ship.
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