Jayne Eckersall

🎶 “Ground Control to Major Tom…” 🎶
As David Bowie once sang in Space Oddity (1969):
“For here am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do.” 🚀

Well, not too far removed from that song, Jayne and I found ourselves this morning sitting in a tin-can cable car 🚡,
High above Funchal and making our way up to the hilltop parish of Monte.
At around 560 metres above sea level, we weren't quite in orbit, but the views certainly made us feel a long way above the world! 😁
Only, instead of seeing a blue planet 🌎, our view of Planet Earth was a beautiful, lush green 💚.
And there was absolutely nothing we could do about it… other than sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride! 😂

Our first cable car journey took approximately 15 minutes, covering around 3.2 kilometres from Funchal's Old Town up to Monte. 🚡
On arrival, we changed cable cars for the Botanical Garden Cable Car, which glides over the Ribeira de João Gomes valley on a further 1.6-kilometre journey. Taking around 9 minutes under normal conditions, this second ride offers wonderful panoramic views across Funchal and the surrounding landscape, with the city spreading out beneath us.
From the gardens, the views were magnificent, stretching down towards Funchal Bay, where the lush green of nature merges beautifully with the deep blue of the Atlantic Ocean. 💚💙
We spent a very leisurely time wandering around the gardens, admiring the many different flowers 🌺🌸 and plants, and enjoying a coffee with a view. ☕️🏞️
Of course, not everything was quite so leisurely! 😂 One thing that really surprised us was just how much steeper the walk had become since our previous visit, only four years ago. Calling it a walk is probably being a little generous — a trek might be a more accurate description! 🧗‍♂️😁
Before heading back down the hill, however, I just had time for a visit to the Church of Our Lady of the Mount (Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte), which holds a fascinating piece of European history.
The church is the final resting place of Emperor Charles I of Austria, the last Emperor of Austria and the last ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Following the collapse of the empire at the end of the First World War, Charles was sent into exile in Madeira in 1921. He settled in Monte, but sadly, his time on the island was short-lived. He died there in 1922, aged just 34, after contracting pneumonia.
His remains lie in the church, a rather unexpected historical connection between this peaceful Madeiran hillside and the turbulent final days of one of Europe's great imperial dynasties.
It's quite something to think that, while we were enjoying the gardens and spectacular views, this small corner of Madeira was also the final home of a former emperor. History certainly has a way of surprising you when you least expect it! 🇦🇹🇵🇹
Having already paid for our return cable car tickets, we decided to give the famous traditional Carreiros do Monte wicker-basket toboggan ride a miss this time. 🛷
After all, we'd already had our fair share of adventures up in the clouds! 🚡☁️
And perhaps, after all that walking uphill, the prospect of a steep descent in a wicker basket was just a little more adventure than we needed! 😂
Madeira certainly knows how to bring a little magic to a day out — spectacular scenery, beautiful gardens, a touch of imperial history, and just enough uphill exercise to remind us that we're not getting any younger! 😁💚💙🇵🇹Read more