Today we were in Funchal, Maderia. This is our third time here in the last couple of year. For the first time we took the gondola up to the top of the mountain for beautiful views (a woman on our gondola was afraid of heights so kept her eyes closed the entire time. Very brave of her!)
The Funchal Cable Cars ride is 3.2 km long and takes 18 minutes to reach the top of the mountain. https://madeiracablecar.com/en/
The views went on forever.
We then walked a few minutes to The Church of Our Lady of the Mount. Adão Gonçalves Ferreira, the first man born on Madeira island, dedicated the chapel to Our Lady of the Incarnation in 1470. Construction began on 10 June 1741. On 20 December 1818 the Church was consecrated. Emperor Charles I of Austria died in exile on Madeira island and was laid to rest in the church, and we got a glimpse of his grave.
It’s a very pretty church with a painted wood ceiling. The walls are painted white, and the church is not particularly ornamented except for large oil paintings on two sides surrounded by grand golden frames.
The next stop was down- basically in a wicker basic down the roads of Monte. This is called the Carreiros Do Monte.
https://www.carreirosdomonte.com/v3/en/index.php\
The Monte Sledges are made of wicker and mounted on two wooden runners. They are traditionally handcrafted by skilled craftsmen and master carpenters, experts in the hand wicker-making technique from the mid 1800 in a classic, artisanal method and using the finest local wicker and wood to ensure that a high standard of quality is applied to each Sledge.
The Toboggans Sledges are powered by two sledge drivers called “Carreiros”, dressed in white and wearing the typical hats known as "Straw boaters", also they use rubber soled boots, so that they can stop the sledge when necessary by making use of their boots as brakes.
The Monte Toboggans Sledges first originated in the early 19th century when they were used as first means of "downhill" public transportation by the local residents who wanted to travel quickly from the village of Monte to the city of Funchal. Back then, the Carreiros had to push the sleds back up hill. Now, they are trucked to the top and the men are bused back up. Progress!
The run is also used by cars (thou there is minimal traffic) and we slid right in front of the doors of people’s homes. We felt confident but some of our friends expressed concerns about near crashes. It was fun. But we wanted them to go faster!
We then went to the Madeira Botanical Gardens.
https://visitmadeira.com/en/what-to-do/culture-passionates/gardens/madeira-botanical-garden/
This is a 5-acre space on the hill overlooking the sea with vegetation from around the world. The Madeira Botanical Garden houses more than 2000 exotic plants from all continents, some of which endangered in their places of origin. Due to the increasing loss of biodiversity and habitats all over the world, this space also has a research and conservation area, with the mission of preserving endangered species.
We enjoyed the peace here and David was impressed by his ability to recognize so many species by site. It is divided into six areas for different types of plants, for example succulents, medicinal plants, etc.
The tour briefly stopped for a taste of Maderia wine, but we then escaped and at lunch at a Michelin recognized restaurant-Akua. It was a pleasant lunch outside and we particularly enjoyed having fresh vegetables. Very full we walked back to the ship and the rest of the day was spent relaxing onboard.