Funchal, Madeira

Though we had done the research, we weren’t sure what was open, as it was a Sunday. Wishing to avoid the cruise crowds, we grabbed a cab to the cable car and arrived just as it was about to open at 10. A guide stopped us and proceeded to tell us why we should hire him. He was very persuasive and we ended up with what turned out to be a much better itinerary.

Instead of taking the gondola up the mountain, then walking partway back down to the sledge ride, he drove us directly there. As a result, we were 3rd in line and coasted down the mountain on this strange toboggan manned by 2 drivers. Fun! Our driver met us at the bottom and then drove us to our second stop, the Botanical Garden. We agreed on a 90 minute visit where upon he would meet us at the exit. Again, we missed the crowds and had a leisurely stroll though a wide variety of plants, flowers, trees etc. Lovely.

Our final stop was a drive to the top, where the cable car took us down. We walked right on, again ahead of the hordes. It was a pleasant, scenic trip to the bottom, where we saw dozens of tourist waiting in line. It would take them all day to do what we had accomplished in 2.5 hours.

We took our guides advice and walked around the old town with its many unique artistic
doors. Meandering back, we took in a 30 minute film on the history of the Canary Islands.
The couples parted way, then, with Tory and Roger returning to the ship and Brian and Christine lunching at a restaurant they had spied earlier, advertising Cataplana, a delicious fish stew they had enjoyed in Portugal.Read more