Continuing with our trip to Portugal brings us to the city of Funchal, the largest city on the island of Madeira.
It's located very close to the airport in Santa Cruz (about a 20 minute drive away) and also to two hikes that we wanted to do on the island, one of which I discussed in a previous post.
The city made for a natural and obvious base camp for us for the two nights and two days that we stayed there.
Upon arrival I got the immediate impression that the city was very clean and tropical looking.
Large hotels surrounded by various species of palm trees and tropical flowers really reminded me of a resort, or what I imagine a place like Hawaii would be like.
It's also a major port for cruise lines. At least that what it appeared to be judging by the very large cruise ships that we saw docked in the harbor.
I don't know what cruise lines they were but they were big ones. P&O... Portugal maybe?
We arrived in the city at mid day after our morning hike near Canical. One of the first things that we did was stop for lunch and drinks in a little restaurant near our hotel.
The risotto and fish dishes were very vegetable forward, which made for a nice light lunch on a hot day.
Beer and white wine always helps with that as well.
After lunch we walked down to the harbor where we saw the cruise ships,
and then up some stairs to a few public gardens that were full of tropical trees and plants.
Walking through city gardens is one of our favorite things to do at any place that we travel to.
Plus they are usually free and anything that's free is always a bonus on vacation.
There were several different gardens located in the downtown area and they were all quite large, with water features and fountains in each.
The flowers and plants were super colorful
and the gardens themselves were quite pretty.
There must have been some sort of flower festival taking place when we were there because there were large flower designs located on one of the promanade
and there were ladies dressed up in flowery dresses posing for photos.
After exploring the gardens
and walking the promanade we went into the old town, though it really didn't appear to be that old.
Maybe it just wasn't run down enough for me.
One historic building we saw was this old church, the Funchal Cathedral.
It was built in the 15th century and is one of the only remaining churches that dates back to the city's early colonization. Source
Tall uniform arches
lovely gold plated statues
cast iron accents
and dark rich woodworking,
are just some of what you'll see upon entering.
Moving on from the cathedral we headed a little further to the old fort thats located at the center of the old town, down by the ocean.
It's big and painted bright yellow.
It really shines in the sun light.
São Tiago Fortress was built in 1614 after a severe pirate attack on the city claimed the lives of many of its inhabitants.
You can walk to the top to get a decent view of the city
and the ocean.
There is a restaurant located in the Fort as well that we ate dinner at. I wouldn't recommend it though because it wasn't a great experience. I'll get into that another time perhaps.
This wasn't something that we did in the city but I read about it online before our trip and we ended up seeing it while driving back from one of our hikes in the afternoon.
Apparently you can toboggan down one of the steep mountain roads of the outer city. Two men push and guide the sled down the slippery steep roads. They've been worn smooth and slick after so many years of sleds passing over them.
The workers stop traffic briefly for the event, but we drove behind the sleds for quite a while in our car.
I took some photos out the car window while we waited.
The last thing that we did in town after dinner was walk through the harbor to see all of the boats.
The old pirate ship was cool to see - perhaps a tour boat and a little nod to the islands history.
We were on the island in May and it was quite warm out even at night. I felt fine in a t-shirt and my wife seemed okay in her light jacket.
We also felt quite safe in the city walking 20 minutes or so back to our hotel.
I really like the vibrant look of the place. I love all the nature surrounding the buildings and stunning views and architecture in general. The boats are spectacular!
It's always nice to see pictures of the outskirts of towns too.
The food looks delicious too and I'm imaging some great flavours:)))
Yeah all of the plants and nature make it a very nice city. Very tropical and resort like. The food was mostly good. 😋
It’s great to see these cathedrals. They are built in times when there weren’t many modern technologies available.
Portugal looks very beautiful with all these gardens and sea views. Hope to visit it one day!
Yeah some of the old churches are really something. They're so ornate and detailed in their decorations. I really like seeing the architecture of some of them.
The island looks so colorful! Never been to Madeira and now I wish I would! I will put it on my travel destinations list :)
I love the rough cliffs and also the deep blue of the ocean. I'm surprised to see that there are not so many people on your pictures as judging by those huge cruise boats I would expect many tourists roaming around :)
Thank you for sharing a bit of summer with us :)
There were a lot of people in certain places but I didn't find it to be too crowded at any point. I think the ships were only docked for a day, or half a day maybe. It was a very nice city with a lot to do in the surrounding area.
Wonderful photos as usual! I felt like I have toured there already through your photos :D
Haha yeah. Hive is great for vicarious traveling. 👍
Thanks for checking it out.
You're welcome! Cheers to more travels :)
Congratulations on your opportunity @leaky20.
You are really the right person and in the right place. You really capture a beautiful place in beautiful photos. I have looked at your photos over and over again.
Have a nice day.
Thanks, I'm glad you liked them and thanks for stopping by. 👊
Such a clean place with a beautiful sorroundings😍
I love that ladies weari g a flower design clothes🥰
Yeah the ladies in the flower dresses were neat to see.
Oh my this is such a grand place! Thanks for the grand tour!
The girls in their flower dress are beautiful! But wait, that's not what I was looking at first. 😅
I like the harbor the most. It's just fun to see different kinds of ships.
Yeah harbors are always nice to take photos in. The flower dresses seemed very cultural, which was cool.
Thanks - enjoying Portugal with you!!
Haha no problem man. Glad you liked it 👍
Oh my god, what a beauty!😍😍😍
Yeah it's a really nice location. 👌
I really lost in your post. Simply beautiful 😍
Nice. Thanks for checking it out :)
the photos are beautiful, I love your tropical garden photos, we are very diverse. sure you had a great experience <3
Yes the gardens were quite lovely with a lot of nice flowers in them.
Amazing place! Thanks for sharing.
You're welcome!
Clean and green place. beautiful botanical garden and the city is beautiful at night. Thanks for sharing those nice photos.
You're welcome. I'm glad you liked them.
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Such interesting island. Thank you for your review
You're welcome 👍
Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed the photos. You have a good weekend as well 👍