Wandering Funchal

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The first week of being on our own in an apartment has flown by. We've achieved a routine of sorts. We rarely get out of the apartment before 11 a.m. as we eat breakfast, sit in the morning sun drinking our coffee, etc. Don has been watching the Australian Open and I've been re-tooling my yoga routine. Anyway, we generally get out the door just as the cleaning crew shows up to clean the apartment.

Once we're out on the street, we usually choose a different direction and just wander; checking out anything in our path that is mentioned in the "Insight Guide", window shopping and stopping for coffee and/or snacks when the spirit moves us. Street wandering is a joy around this town. You can turn down any small lane twisting through a block and find an exquisite shop of embroidery, fashion, or jewelry. Unfortunately, the famous, handmade Madeiran embroidery is outrageously expensive. I did buy four napkins, not realizing until later that they originally cost about $30 per napkin (I paid a 15% discount, but still)!!

We've had to be cognizant, however, about the hours some of the churches and museums we'd like to see are open. Most close between 12:30 to 3 p.m.; just about the time we get around to wanting to see them. So some mornings we start out for a specific place in mind so that we can get in.

We're generally back from our wanderings about mid-afternoon for naps. That's usually followed by a trip to the super mercado for food to get us through the next 24 hours. By then it's cocktail hour and we watch the news on either CNN or BBC. Dinner follows, then a spirited game of cards. The first two weeks we played gin rummy and I beat Don badly in the cumulative score. The last two weeks we've been playing "crap on your neighbor" and Don has been beating me badly. It's time to switch games, but he doesn't want to, he's got such a sweet thing going.

We attended two concerts last week: Italian pianist Luigi Fracasso at the Baltazar Dias Municipal Theatre, and the Mandolin Orchestra of Madeira at the English Church. The first concert was most enjoyable, in a beautiful little theater lined with box seats. The audience was northern European and seasoned concert-goers. The second concert just knocked our socks off! The "orchestra" was made up of mostly young people, both Portuguese and Europeans. There were twenty of them; two played bass, four played guitars, and the rest played mandolins of different sizes. They played lively, difficult pieces, and were fabulous. They really did sound like full orchestras at times.

That concert served as an introduction to the English Church, which is an Anglican Church, the same denomination Don attends in eastern Canada. He wanted to attend the eucharist service on Sunday, which we did. The Reverend welcomed all 160 of us, pointing out that 150 of us probably visitors from the UK! It was a nice service that I enjoyed and I'm only attend church occasionally. I particularly appreciated the full complement of male voices singing in the congregation: something I usually find lacking in services I've attended in the US.

We've had to sit down and figure out what we really want to see in the week we have left here. We came up with a list and I'll be reporting on those excursions as we've completed them.

More later..............

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Photos

Funchal´s Marina
Most of the tourists come by cruise ship and hang around the marina.

Santa Caterina Park
Like all parks on Madeira: beautiful!

Town Hall Square
The building in the background is Town Hall, formerly a shipping magnet´s mansion.

Comments

[Julie Davidson]

ENVY!
I love it! You are SO totally on vacation! Keep us posted. We look forward to your next. Love, J

[Ann Thompson-Kendall]

Hello Mary!
Hi Mary - Gina sent me a link to your blog - sounds like an awesome adventure. Would love to see you when you return, we are in Seattle now, gave up on DC and the beltway at least for now. Drop me a line when you return, and enjoy your amazing trip. Ann