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Published: March 27th 2015
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Ahoy from the happy ship M/S Zuiderdam. We only have one more sea day to go after today. Yesterday, I visited Madeira for the first time. What a lovely island. What a trial on my poor knees!
We boarded our bus and stopped at the farmers market. These markets are always a good way to meet locals and see what fresh foods are available. Here, most of the fruits were imported from Venezuela and Brazil but the fish was freshly caught offshore. One of the strangest is a black fish, known as a snake fish. It is about three feet long with huge eyes and dangerous looking teeth. I hear it is delicious but can't attest to it.
From there we climbed up steep twisting roads to the village of Monte. You would have to pay me combat pay to drive a huge tour bus around this island. The roads are narrow and parking is on both sides. Tour busses and local transit meet and somehow negotiate the space necessary to proceed.
The bougainvillea is plentiful along the road and the tile roofs have interesting decorations at the peak and on the corners. Some are tile pigeons, other
small heads. They act as drains. Most of the houses are painted in pastels but some are vibrant red and yellow.
At Monte we walk to a plaza next to a terraced garden along the sides of a cliff. Some folks climbed a hill to a church while I wandered down a path and discovered where the toboggans start. This is a novel mode of transportation. A person can take a cable car from the port town of Funchal and ride back in a sleigh, controlled by two men running alongside.
Walked back to the square and I found out that we were walking to the furthest cable car, back along the way I had just strolled. The path is made of bits of basalt, seldom smooth and often spiky. Given my propensity to fall, I was very, very careful which made me very, very slow.
When we got back to the toboggan stop I was separated from my group and found myself following the wrong guide. When I discovered my mistake I chose a to go left at the intersection, the only sensible choice, and eventually caught up. The group was resting by the ticket office
Farmer's Market
Now that's a knife but, because I was a laggard, I had to carry on on my poor legs. They were not happy.
We took the cable car down the mountain, over a deep gorge and arrived at our destination, the Botanical Garden. Truthfully I have been in larger and better ones but never have I appreciated one as much. After the revenge of the vortex and the snit of the snow goddess, I just wanted to see flowers again and watch birds building nests. The plants were familiar, larger than we grow at home; gigantic begonias, geraniums two feet high,
All too soon it was back on the bus and off to our final stop, tasting Madeira wine. This has never been to my taste but I went along hoping this time would be different. It wasn't. We didn't have any time to enjoy the waterfront. I would have liked to stroll and enjoy the wonderful black and white sidewalk art. The pavers are a mosaic of black basalt and white granite with geometric designs and were smooth and pleasant to walk on. To soon it was time to get back on the bus and head to the ship. Once on
board I ordered a burger from room service and decided to take the weight off my knees..............
The hours past, my knees ached and I settled in for an extended R&R. There are people that feel that they do not get their money's worth if they are not taking advantage of every opportunity the cruise line offers for entertainment. For me, rocking gently to the ocean in my cabin is sometimes all I want or need. So I read, watched a video and give my overworks knees a break.
Tomorrow is my next to last sea day and then beautiful Cadiz.
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