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Published: December 28th 2020
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What a day! We had been promised that we would arrive earlier than scheduled - at 11.00 am rather than 2.00 pm - but this was not to be. We at first put this down to the rough seas we encountered between Cape Verde and Madeira, but the reality was that our switch of port in Cape Verde actually put us about 5 or 6 hours nearer Madeira. The actual reason was more prosaic; there was already a ship in our berth Madeira Port - we saw it sail out immediately before we arrived. So, 2.00 pm it was.We were well organised, or thought we were, and had a programme of activity we wished to carry out. First, post the blog and maybe do a little shopping; next, go up the cable car, then ride down the hill in the famous Funchal toboggan baskets. We then planned to go to the botanical gardens then mince around town for an hour before meeting friends for a meal.
We went straight around to the cyber cafe we used in the New Year
to find it had closed. Although it directed us to one near City Hall, M went to the Tourist Office and they sent us to a different one which we could not find. So, to the internet by City Hall - but they refused to let us use the flash drive where we pre-prepare all of our text and photos. We tried to find another - unsuccessfully - but had wasted an hour before we got round to going to the cable cars. However, this had the merit that all the organised tours had already been through, so we rode the gondola on our own. First we took the Monte Cable car from Funchal to Monte. The views from the top were stupendous. We tried to take a second cable car to the botanical gardens but were advised there was insufficient time to do that and see the gardens before the last cable car up which would also mean we'd miss the toboggans. We therefore contented ourselves with a beer before walking 5 or 10 minutes to the steps of the Nossa Senhora do Monte Church — where the toboggan run starts. You couldn't miss the guys in white with
straw hats with their wicker sleds waiting for the tourists.
On Madeira, the Monte Toboggan Ride was originally a fast means of transport down to Funchal for people living in Monte. The toboggan sleds appeared around 1850. We didn't know at the time, but have since learned that 'Health and Safety' have shortened the ride to half its length and it is no longer so exciting. The two-seater wicker sledges glide on wooden runners, pushed and steered by two men traditionally dressed in white cotton clothes and a straw hat, using their rubber-soled boots as brakes. The downhill journey to Livramento, a little below Monte, Funchal is made in about 10 minutes on a total course of 2 kilometres, reaching at times a speed of 48 km/hour. Adventurous, yet safe, an ‘old-fashioned’ toboggan ride to make your way down from Monte is the perfect contrast to the high-technology cable car going up to Monte. We only descended about half the hill, if that, and walked down the rest, largely because the cabbies wanted 15 Euro for a ride they said was 5 kilometres, but in fact was only a
mile or so.
We had a look round town and then sought an internet cafe yet again. This time, after asking in an hotel, we were directed to a cafe which allowed us to use the flash drive, so posted the blogs since Cape Town. We then sat down for a beer to wait 20 minutes for our friends to be approached by another passenger who told us the MSVG had 'been arrested'. No-one in town knew anything about this as the announcement was made on board at 7.30 pm. When our friends Pat and Dave arrived in a taxi we joined them and went to Câmara de Lobos, which is a quiet fishing village, for an excellent meal of Espetadas (assorted meats on skewers) washed down by excellent Portuguese wine. We told Pat and Fred the 'news' about the 'arrest' as they didn't know anything about it. We returned to the ship at 10.30 pm to find none of the cruise staff on board. So, we cracked open a couple of bottles of wine and went to bed, none the wiser as to what was going on, with no time of sailing.
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