FUNCHAL, MADEIRA
Today, we visited our final port; Funchal, in Madeira.
Our cunning plan was to take the cable car up to Monte and explore some of the footpaths beyond the church. Since we expected to be out most of the day (all-aboard time was 4:30pm), we made a pack-up at breakfast. I had a bacon roll, Tracey had banana bread, and we also threw in a couple of oranges. Once we were ready, at about 10am, we left the ship and started making our way towards the cable car. This is where we made a massive error…
At the Cable Car, the queue to buy tickets was relatively small. However, once we’d purchased our tickets and walked through the large lobby, to join the main queue on the opposite side of the building, we discovered just how long the queue was. I’m sure it’s an efficient way of managing the large numbers of visitors – and there were three ships in port, so ‘large numbers’ doesn’t even touch it. Of course, in retrospect, we should have checked the queue on the other side of the building before queuing to purchase our tickets. Had we done so, we might have chosen an alternative route up to Monte – buses travel that way throughout the day, as do taxis – and they’re cheaper. But we had our tickets, so the only thing to do was to grit our teeth, endure the discomfort in our backs (because there was nowhere to sit), and wait along with everyone else. We were in the queue for almost an hour!
Eventually, we did board the cable car, and the trip to the top was as picturesque as always. Once up at Monte, we started walking.
The route we’d found on the map seemed like a pilgrimage trail of sorts, featuring crosses at periodic intervals, and a spring. It climbed up the hill, through woodland, along a cobbled path that wound its way through the trees.
At the top, it all opened out in spectacular fashion. There’s a monument there and a small bar that appeared to be frequented by local workers and truck drivers, and we found the perfect place to sit and eat our lunch, whilst enjoying some magnificent views across to the mountains and down to the city below. After we’d eaten out sandwiches, we climbed the steps to check out the tall monument before heading back down the hill.
Coming back down was much harder, and used different muscles, but we felt we’d achieved something. We caught the cable car back to sea level, and walked back towards the ship through the town, where we bought some ice creams from ‘The Ritz’ restaurant. We’d earned them.
In the evening, we were faced with a bit of a dilemma. Should we go to see the fantastc violinist, Ralph Allin, who we’ve seen before, in the Playhouse Theatre, or should we go to watch Roy Walker’s second show, in the Britannia Lounge?. Since we’d seen the violinist’s first show on our previous trip, we decided to go to the Britannia Lounge… and instantly regretted our decision. It was full to bursting, with no room to sit. Word had got out as to just how good Roy Walker was. Unfortunately, the Playhouse show had already started, so we abandoned the whole idea and headed back to our cabin; we’d done enough standing around for one day amd wasn’t sure our backs could take it.
Tomorrow, we’re back at sea, and I’ll be back to work. We have three sea days to look forward to as we sail North, across the Bay of Biscay, back across the English Channel, to Southampton… and home.
