Funchal, Madeira - Summer 2011

Tuesday 23rd August

I’d hoped to finish my diving course in two days, but that proved tough to do, especially with some of the dives being quite deep, so I was back there for a third morning, meeting up with the family at the hotel for lunch.

We’d booked a ‘Whale & Dolphin watching’ trip on a glass bottomed boat for 3:30PM, so after a leisurely lunch we made our way to the Marina and climbed aboard. As with most of Madeira during our holiday, the trip wasn’t very busy, so it was a relaxing afternoon ride on the boat out to the Garajau Nature Reserve (where I’d dived just that morning).

They feed the fish from the boat as they move along the steep sea cliff which drops away underwater and there was a huge number and variety of fish visible through the glass bottomed hull.

After doing this a couple of times, to make sure everyone got a really good view, we moored up and were able to do some snorkelling, allowing us to see the fish up close for ourselves.

We hoped to see some Dolphins or Whales on the return leg, but as the guide books warn, nothing is guaranteed and, although they extended the trip by about 45 minutes we saw nothing. Fortunately, it was a lovely afternoon, with a smooth sea and warm sun, so it was just a lovely relaxing motor along the coast of Madeira and worth the trip just for that.

For dinner we decided to try a restaurant that Mandy had spotted right by the Monte Cable car on the sea front. The Grand Cafe has tables outside and a few inside (where we decided to sit by the open doors getting the best of both worlds – No smokers, but the warm air and view of the sea on a lovely evening). It looked quite grand and potentially expensive, but we decided to treat ourselves to one nice meal and both Mandy and I had fish (I tried the awful looking Espada/Scabbard Fish, Mandy had Parrot fish) whilst Ryan had chunks of steak in a rich sauce with chips and fried corn.

All the food was excellent, but I was especially taken with the Espada with Banana (a widely seen local crop – even growing in gardens). It might sound an odd combination but the flavour of the Espada combined brilliantly with the Bananas and it was, without doubt, the loveliest fish I’ve eaten in a very long time, if not ever.

The Parrot fish was tasty too and even with a half bottle of wine the meal cost only a little over €40 for the three of us.

Wednesday 24th August

One of the unusual features of Madeira is their network of mini-canals that bring the fresh rainwater from the mountains to the drier south of the island where Funchal is. This makes Madeira unusual in being very well irrigated for an island in this area (In fact they used to export fresh water to the Canary Islands, so plentiful was it).

The Levadas, as they are known, run gently (and sometimes not so) around mountain contours, supposedly to avoid loss, and the earliest were originally built in the 16th century. In recent years, the maintenance paths have been opened up for walking, giving more energetic visitors a chance to explore some of the beautiful mountain scenery.

With Ryan along we opted for the Ribero Frio (Cold River) – Portela route, which is fairly gentle, but renowned for its stunning views.

A coach picked us up around 8:30 and took us to Ribero Frio where we found it rather chilly! We had a very quick look at the Trout Hatchery there and then set off with around 20 others and a guide (You can go alone, but they recommend guided walks and it does solve the issue of starting at one point and finishing at another – not really practical with a rental car, for example) along the 11KM route.

I would heartily recommend a Laveda walk to anyone who visits Madeira as it gives you an insight into another side of the island that staying on the coast wouldn’t. The route was lush and heavily shaded, running around the sides of steep mountainsides (don’t worry though as narrow sections were fenced in to prevent you falling), through gorges and finally down towards the coast again.

Unlike some, apparently, this route has both great mountain views (including the highest point in Madeira) and coastal views out to Porto Santo (a nearby island) and the East and was a great way to spend 4 hours, even if we did have slightly sore feet by the end.

We had time to take in the views over the coast and have an ice-cream and a quick beer before returning to Funchal.

We were back at the hotel in time for a quick swim before dinner and decided to stay close to the hotel, returning to Bernini’s for a Pizza which was very good but cost a little more than the stunningly good meal at the Grand Cafe (although we did all have a sweet).

Thursday 25th August

After a long walk the previous day, you might think we’d just relax on Thursday, but no.

Mandy was keen to see some of the formal gardens of Funchal, so we bought a 24 hour bus ticket (just 4 Euros for unlimited trips in 24 hours) from the quay and set off to the Jardim Botanical.

These gardens were a mixture of formal flower beds, a succulent garden, sub-tropical plants and an arboretum. There’s even a small Aviary area with mostly African birds like Parakeets and Macaws.

Although not at their best in August, the gardens were lovely and being fairly high up in Funchal, it was a little cooler for walking around than by the coast.

We ate a snack for lunch and then hopped aboard a cable car that goes from the Botanical Gardens up to Monte (We got a combined Gardens and cable car ride ticket for 11 Euros, which saved a few cents, the Gardens on their own were just 3 Euros to visit, very good value).

Here we walked the short distance to the Monte Palace Gardens. These are a fair bit bigger than the Botanical Gardens and have a considerable vertical elevation. They are partly oriental in theme, with pagodas and pools full of Koi Carp and afford lovely views down to Funchal town centre and the sea in places

There is a large house (I don’t believe it’s open to the public) that until WW2 was a hotel, popular with Portugese and foreign visitors of wealth and some of the gardens reflect it’s “Bavarian Style” with rather Ludwig-esque fountains and statues.

There are also huge trees from all over the world, including Australasia and Sequoias from California bigger than any I’ve seen outside their home state.

You could easily spend a whole day here alone, but we whizzed around in about 2 and a half hours because we hoped to also see the Blandy Gardens (or Quinta do Palheiro Ferreiro).

We found a bus which went near to the Blandy Gardens and even found the right stop and the entrance to the Gardens.

Sadly, our research hadn’t revealed that these gardens are only open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so we had no option but to wait for another bus to take us back to the sea front in Funchal. Next time maybe!

Friday 26th August

Friday was our last day, but weren’t flying until 7:20PM, so we had pretty much a whole day in town.

We didn’t need to check out of the hotel until Noon, so we decided to spend the morning (after a well deserved lie-in!) at the pool by the sea and in the sea. I was surprised and pleased to find a huge number of fish in the sea as I snorkelled, including some varieties (and some crabs) that I hadn’t seen all week, even during my diving!

We showered and packed and then made our way back to town with a view to a trip around the Blandy’s Wine Museum before lunch back at the Grand Cafe, by the cable car.

On the way, we noticed people going in and out of the Governor’s house gardens, so we walked past the policeman unchallenged and had a look around there too. It’s a small garden, but well worth quarter to half hour of your time, especially as it’s a rare oasis of coolness in Funchal.

Sadly our research let us down again as by the time we arrived at Blandy’s Wine Museum as the tours were over for lunch (it was 1PM) and the next not due to start until 2:30.

With this in mind, we walked to the Grand Cafe for another excellent meal (Ryan had Spaghetti Bolognese, Mandy Sea Bream and I had a Parrot fish) with attentive and truly friendly service. A great place to eat and good value for the quality of the food, we felt.

By the time we’d finished lunch we’d missed the 2:30 tour and no-one really felt that worried about it, so we had a quick look around town and the boats which serviced the Southampton – Funchal Flying Boat service outside the “Story of Madeira” museum (we didn’t have time to do the museum justice we felt or we might well have gone to see it) and then wandered back to Blandy’s (where Mandy bought a tile trivet to replace one we’d bought in the Algarve years before which had got broken) after buying a last ice-cream from the Cafe Funchal.

After that we walked back to the hotel, scattering the numerous Wall Lizards along the way as we went. We left a last flower with the statue of Sissie (I never really understood why people did this or why she was of such interest to locals and visitors, being a Bavarian princess) and then waited a short while in the Quinta Da Penha De Franca’s reception for our taxi.

The ride to the airport was quick as was the check-in and the flight home uneventful (we even got 3 seats together!) if a little more cramped than I remembered the flight out being, maybe my legs were just tired?

We landed at about 22:45 and were home by 0:15 and already missing the touch of Summer we’d experienced in Funchal.

Would we go back? Absolutely? For me, it was far better than Cyprus being lush and green whilst being warm and eating out was surprisingly affordable I felt.

The hotel was great and if we go back to Funchal, I can’t really see any reason to stay in a different hotel, such was its charm and setting.