Wednesday 14 January

Hooray! Tom’s much better today and we’ve been into Funchal to do one of the walks around the town. It’s not been quite as hot but still warm enough just for short sleeves. We got the courtesy coach at 1030 from the hotel which drops us right along the sea front near the cathedral.

The main streets are cobbled with small stones or paved with mosaics of white limestone and grey basalt, formed into patterns and pictures. All the streets are narrow and winding with plenty of pedestrian crossing places. Drivers seem to be patient and there’s very little horn blowing. There are hundreds of taxis – all of which look well cared for, but we’ve been warned to get a price from the driver first before embarking on any journey.

The manager of the Teatro Municipal Baltazar Diaz very kindly allowed us to take photos inside the theatre, which is decorated as it was in the 1880’s and has a regular and varied programme of musical events.

Part of the walk took us out onto the breakwater opposite where the cruise ships dock and you look back towards Funchal – the view the ships get as they dock – very impressive! Along the side of the breakwater there is one café/restaurant where the tables are all on little boats attached to pontoons – so you can imagine you’re on board. The boat which the Beatles once owned is also moored there and is now a restaurant.

There are some wonderful old buildings, including the cathedral (the Se) which we actually went into at the end of one of the services before it was closed. Tom managed to get a few photographs before the warden or deacon or whatever he’s called turned off most of the lights and ushered us to the doors! We plan to visit several of the museums and public buildings, but as this was Tom’s first day up from his sick bed, we didn’t do any today. We stopped for coffee (at the same café we found on Monday) halfway through the walk, but we haven’t yet tried any of the “stickies” even though they look delicious!

Madeira is famous for its decorative tiles and many of the buildings have tile pictures inside and out. The Mercado dos Lavradores (the indoor market) has very colourful patterned tiles all round it and the stalls’ displays of fruit and veg are very artistic but it’s such a pain being hassled to try this and that – the only place we’ve been hassled so far. Tom had reached his limit by then, so we caught one of the town buses back to the Lido which is just around the corner (and down a steep hill, of course) from the hotel and up the 150 steps again! Thank goodness we came back when we did because within 10 mins, it had started to rain and the clouds came down over the town so we could hardly see the houses on the hill.

Buses are one of the recommended ways of travelling in Madeira and there are certainly plenty of them around the town. Each journey within town costs 2.05 but if you buy a travel card from newsagents for 50c, you can load it with as many units as you want at a cost of only 95c per journey. That will take you from one side of the town to the other but you have to be careful you’re getting the correct bus! Buses to other parts of the island vary and the routes are designed for country dwellers to come into town early and return later so are not always suitable for tourists who want to go to outlying villages in the mornings and return to town in the afternoon.
The island is certainly not recommended for anyone with mobility problems. An elderly couple in our hotel were not warned about the steep access and cannot manage the walk up to or down from it. So they are limited to having to go most places by taxi, which is going to be very expensive. Even to get the courtesy coach into town, you are required to walk down to it although it does bring you back up to the front door on its return – unless there’s any other vehicle blocking it!!