Forte de São Tiago

Funchal was still a-twinkle as Silhouette began its approach to Funchal, Madeira Island. A quick memory shot of the city and then it was time to grab a bite to eat. By the time we were done, the skies were brightening … the sun coloring the clouds as it tried to break through the clouds.

The closer we got to shore, the more apparent the clouds wreathing the tops of the mountains became. Hmmm! It looked like Capt G’s forecast for rain was going to hold true. But tiny patches of blue in the sky gave us hope that we wouldn’t have to contend with liquid sunshine the entire time we were in port.

Madeira Island is part of the archipelago by the same name … situated in the North Atlantic. Funchal, the capital city, is a very popular stop for passenger ships doing the southerly crossing from Europe to their winter cruising grounds in the Americas. Today was our second visit to Funchal this year … our fourth visit since the first time we called on this Madeiran city in 2003 when we did our very first TransAtlantic … with mom joining us for that cruise.

The beauty of returning to a place we’ve visited before is that we’re familiar with how to get around and what to do. That makes it easy to rethink sightseeing plans as circumstances might warrant. In this instance, since it was obviously raining in the mountains, we decided to nix taking the tram up to Monte to visit the Botanical Gardens. Instead, we came up with the idea of walking towards the golden yellow fortress at the far end of the waterfront promenade and explore on foot parts of the city we’d not been to before.

Deciding to save our feet from the wear and tear we expected them to endure during today’s wanderings, we hopped on the complimentary shuttle bus organized by Celebrity to take passengers into town.

From where we were dropped off at La Vie Mall, it was an easy, flat walk into the city center via Avenida Arriaga … the main drag. We didn’t make it far before we noticed the municipal gardens and went in for a quick wander. While I took photos of the colorful blooms, Mui made himself comfortable at the café where he ordered his first pastel de nata (Portuguese custard tart) of the day … and a cortado (espresso mixed with a roughly equal amount of warm milk).

From the gardens, we took a meandering route through the city. Walking along Funchal’s cobblestone backstreets — paved with black and write stones — we enjoyed the quiet morning. With this being a 3-ship day, that peaceful ambiance wasn’t going to last long, so we made the most of it while we could.

Eventually, we made it down to the waterfront promenade, which pretty much dead-ends at the São Tiago Fortress. Once we reached the fortifications, we dropped down to the small terrace overlooking a rocky beach to check out the waves crashing ashore … and the hardy souls swimming in the cold Atlantic waters. Then, slowly, up into the hillside streets we wandered, eventually coming to the Esplanada do Atlântico … a quick peek into the Igreja de Santa Maria Major … a break at a café overlooking the ocean for some empanadas and pastéis de nata.

When we retraced our steps down the street that we had climbed up, we found ourselves at the head of a street we had explored in April … Rua de Santa Maria … home to the Arte de Portas Abertas, aka the painted doors. This time, however, we were at the far end that we had not checked out the first time. After walking the unfamiliar portion of the street, we detoured to another back street and kept walking.

Getting a sweet treat from a gelateria to boost our flagging energy, we decided to make our way towards the port. It was 1:00p by this time. While the sun was still bright and there was plenty of blue sky above us, some of the clouds were changing from white to an ominous grey. And there were occasional sprinkles falling. Time to get back to the ship.

By 2:00p we were onboard … ensconced in a couple of deckchairs on the portside promenade instead of our starboard veranda … both for the city views and the stronger cell signal. Here we enjoyed sitting out for a while, watching the clouds move down the mountain tops to the foothills. By 3:00p, as we were sipping our tea, rain was falling on Funchal. Quite a downpour it was … but we were warm and dry where we sat watching mother nature in action.

We had a wonderful day in Funchal today. I’m sure it won’t be our last time here since we enjoy returning home by way of a TransAtlantic Cruise.Read more