Gym's Ramblings: Fun in Funchal

October 9, 2016

The crossing from the continent was only half-hellish. We encountered a slight blow and a little bit of a roll but nothing that we hadn't encountered before. We'd had similar seas in the South Pacific and the South China Sea on previous voyages. Mrs G. medicated herself up and survived the crossing a little groggy but with no other apparent injuries.

This was our first experience in Portugal. We had experienced the Portuguese language before as we had been to Brazil in 2014, but Funchal, Madeira is actually a semi-autonomous part of the mother country. And what a fascinating place it is.

The Portuguese first settled it around 1424 and it soon began to become important for its sugar and wine production. As we saw first hand, the climate and soil of Madeira combine for the perfect gardening conditions and after the early settlers discovered these things, the island quickly prospered. Our hero Christopher Columbus, had many connections to Madeira and Portugal. The first and foremost connection was his wife. Columbus married the Portuguese daughter of the first governor of Porto Santos. Porto Santos is a small island about 43 kilometres northeast of Madeira and it is also a Portuguese possession. Columbus also had another connection in that he actually worked in the sugar trade in the 1480s. During part of this time, he lived on Madeira and it was there that he rubbed shoulders with many Portuguese ship's captains and navigators, developing the ideas and honing the skills he would perfect later on. Columbus also returned to Madeira on his third expedition to the New World, spending some time in Madeira where he was given a hero's welcome.

Funchal is a city built up the south side of a steeply-sloping dormant volcano. Some of the suburbs rise up 1200 meters above sea level and the streets zig-zag up the side of the slope, connecting houses built along the edges of cliffs. This side of the island is the driest side and it is where most of the population and the majority of the tourists hang out. Unfortunately, it has been so dry on the south side of the island lately that Funchal has experienced some brutal wild fires. Scores of homes and much of the vegetation in wide swaths down the mountainside were lost in 2015. We would see the damage first hand as we passed over it in a cable car that climbed from near sea level, 3700 meters up the slope to the suburb of Monte.

Arriving in Monte, at the ultra-modern cable-car station, you have a wonderful view of the city below and you are surrounded by some very nice public and private gardens that frame summer homes built for the wealthy. Rich folks have been hanging out up there since 1565. Up 72ish stairs from the road coming out of the cable-car station is the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte which dates from 1741. Inside is the tomb of Charles I, the last Hapsburg Emporer of Austria and King of Hungary who was exhiled on the island and died there in 1922.

And how does one get down from Monte and back to sea level? Sane people might go back down on a cable car or hop into a taxi. But Gym and Mrs. Gym chose a different route. For 15 euros you can pay a couple of Portuguese guys to push you down the narrow 45-Degree road in a large wicker basket on a wooden sled. No insurance forms are required, no seat belts are in evidence, no helmut is provided and the wooden "skis" on the sled are waxed so you can enjoy sliding down the pavement at a decent rate of speed. Sounds like fun, eh? It was fun, we didn't hit any cars and we traveled 2 kilometres to arrive at the bottom unscathed. We tipped the two Portuguese guys that accompanied us down the hill riding on the skis.

Also near Monte is the Madeira Botanical Gardens. Notwithstanding the fact that the gardens are not at their peak in October they were still very beautiful when we were there. And the view from up there is spectacular. They protect several species of flora that are endemic to the island there and have one of the most spectacular patterned gardens

Before re-boarding the ship Gym tried a little of Madeira's fortified wine and Mrs. Gym checked out some of the local needlepoint in a shop in downtown Funchal but we successfully resisted the temptation to make any major purchases.

That evening we left Madeira to begin a 5-day crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. This would be the longest stretch we had ever traveled between ports. We would be watching Hurricane Nicole very closely as it appeared that our ship and was headed to the same port-of-call at roughly the same time.

The lower cable car station

inside waiting in line

The cable cars hold up to 8 people

gliding over Funchal

riding over top of a school

one of the many traffic circles

buildings are constructed along terraced shelves

looking back down from the top

Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte which is close to the Upper cable car station

Inside Monte's church

Inside the church is the tomb of Charles I, the last
Hapsburg Emporer of Austria and King of Hungary. In the
tomb is a portrait of the man below which are some
of the many tributes to him. He was actually beautified
by the last Pope and may become a saint some day.