Advertisement
Published: March 3rd 2016
Edit Blog Post
Tuesday 23nd February, 2016. Funchal, Madeira
Funchal is the largest city and capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira. It is known as the "Floating Garden of the Atlantic" due to its profusion of flowers and fruits that flourish in its incomparable climate.
The Madeira archipelago, of which Madeira is the largest of the 5 islands in the group, marked the beginning of the great voyages of the Portuguese navigators of the 15th and 16th centuries. It proved that the Atlantic was not the dangerous abyss populated by terrifying monsters as had previously been believed. Under the governorship of Zarco and Teixeira, the colonists cleared the land for agriculture by setting fire to the dense woodland. Historical accounts say that the island burned uncontrollably for between 5 and 7 years!
In the 16th and 17th centuries Spain ruled Portugal (including Madeira) for 60 years and when Charles II of England married Catherine de Braganza in 1662, one of the provisions of the marriage agreement was special favours for English settlers in Madeira. During Napoleonic times British troops moved into Madeira to protect it from invasion. In Victorian times, Madeira was a favorite
for the wealthy English as the climate was beneficial to health and a pleasant escape from the winter.
We met Pam and Stewart at the bottom of the gangway and walked into town to the shopping centre where we knew we could hire a car. Stewart offered to drive which was nice as it gave D a break. We selected a category of car and paid - and then got upgraded which was a result. We travelled along the motorway as far as Ribiera Brava and then turned north along the river valley. We left the fast road to take the old road up to Serra de Agua where we stopped to take some photographs of the stunning interior of the island. Then we continued along the road to a viewpoint north of Serra de Agua where there were tremendous views down the valley.
At the top of the Encumeada col we took the road down to the north coast of the island at São Vicente, where we turned right towards Ponta Delgada. We stopped along the way to take some photographs of the stunning coastline. We continued to Ponta Delgada where the road
carried along above the town. Instead of dropping down into the town, we stopped again on the road for some pictures. We continued on until we came to a sign for a mirador 1.8 km off to the left. We took this road and came to a hotel with parking and a stunning view at Cabanas. We returned to the road and continued towards Santana. Fuel was getting desperate and the reserve tank went "ping". We reached São Jorge where the only petrol station was closed. We were all keeping our fingers and toes crossed as the next station was at Santana which was a good few kilometers away. Then we rounded a bend and hallelujah - a spanking new BP garage came into view which wasn't on the map! After topping up we continued towards Santana but didn't go into the town - instead we took the tunnel under it and inland and south up to a little place called São Roque de Faial, where we stopped for some refreshment and more photographs.
We headed towards Achado de Cedro Gomo, where we stopped and took some photos of the valley and town of Cruzinhas below us.
Continuing along the road we came to a town called Ribeiro Frio which means "Cold River". The town is named after the river on which it stands. We noticed that there was a coach load of tourists wandering around from one of the German ships that were alongside in the port. We continued along the main street and realised they were all exiting from a complex on our right. We parked up and went to take look. It turns out that this was a trout farm. We went inside and wandered around. First we came to a "ladder" of pools containing different maturities of fish from fry to minnow sized. Further around there were pools of mature fish. At the end of the walk there was a waterfall cascading into the river which ran alongside the trout farm. We wandered around for about 20 minutes. We returned to the car and continued uphill until we came to a bend in the road where there was yet another (much higher) waterfall cascading into the Cold River. We stopped before the bend to take a couple of photos. We continued our drive through the Laurissilva Forest which is considered to be a
World Natural heritge site by UNESCO. Here grows the Fetid Laurel tree.
We continued on to the town of Camacha (which was one of the destinations of the ship's tours). Here there was a viewing platform that had superb views over the south coast of the island. M went to take a few photos. The town centre was dominated by a large, pretty square with a church on one side and a cafe called the clock cafe and the wicker factory on another - adjacent to the viewing platform. The wicker factory was the reason we had come here. Wicker working is still a major industry on the island. These works were for many years exported in large quantities to the USA, South Africa and Italy. Currently they are recognised internationally as a genuine product of Madeira. The earliest records of the manufacture of wicker baskets for farm work and housework date from the 16th century. To increase this activity the willow cultivation was of fundamental importance, first in the parish of Camacha. A major driver of the industry was William Hinton who encouraged the skilled craftsmen of Camacha to build a piece of furniture inspired by
a chair made in England, using local wicker as the raw material.
Inside the factory the shop area was a treasure trove of wicker items from small coasters to large items of furniture including dining tables and sofas. Downstairs there was an exhibit of wicker zoo animals. These were amazing and very intricate and detailed. M fell in love with the giraffe! One of the exhibits was the Caravelle São Lourenco which is a wicker replica of the boat navigated by João Gonçalves Zarco when he discovered Madeira Island in 1419. Downstairs again was the factory itself where we saw the workers making the wicker items. The factory had views of the south coast that were as good as those from the viewing platform.
From Camcha we headed back through Funchal and on to a town called Camara de Lobos. M and D had been here before and were hoping that one of the two restaurants we knew of were open. We desperately needed a change from the ship's food. We parked in the pay and display and went to look at the fishing boats. Then we walked into the old town and went
to find a bar that we knew contained a load of football memorabilia (this is where Christiano Ronaldo hails from). D then went to find out if either of the restaurants were open. We were in luck the Vila de Lobos Carne restaurant opened in 5 minutes time. By the time we got there the guy was just opening the doors. We sat down and ordered. Stewart and D went for steak while M and Pam ordered skewers which is what the restaurant is famous for. Large laurel skewers full of chicken or filet steak are hung on hooks above the tables. While we were waiting we called the car hire company to let them know we would be late back with the car. The meals arrived together with a plate of chips, jacket potatos and a fresh salad, we washed it down with a bottle of red wine. We returned to Funchal port where M and Pam were dropped off at the ship with the rucksacks. D and Stewart then went to return the car. The guy was waiting for them and even gave them a lift back to the ship.
Needless to say we didn't
go to dinner that night. We did pop in to make our apologies to Bojan. We went to Scott's Bar for the Karaoke at 9.00 pm and then had an early night.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.07s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 11; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0409s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb