Madeira Portugal

We arrived in Madeira on Good Friday after spending the previous six days at sea. Portugal is a very Catholic country and we quickly learned, when trying to reserve bikes a few days in advance, that many of the businesses on the island would be closed. The island is known for its extensive hiking trails and we decided we would explore the city of Funchal and the surrounding area on our own, to include taking a cable car to the town of Monte.

Shortly after leaving the ship we came upon a group of musicians and dancers that were singing and dancing what appeared to be local folk music.  They were dressed in traditional clothing and the dancers were inviting passing tourists to join their dance circle. Julie didn’t hesitate and she was quickly paired with a young girl of about twelves years of age.  The group of paired dancers and tourists walked arm-in-arm in a large circle. At specific intervals they would stop the movement of the large circle and each pair would then perform a simple stationary circular dance. This was followed by half the group stepping into the center of the large circle and kicking one leg forward, followed by the other half doing the same. Julie picked up the dance very quickly, however there was a moment where it didn’t look like the dance was going to end anytime soon and I was wondering how Julie was going to gracefully get out of the circle. Fortunately it did end in a timely enough manner and we were on our way. 

As we turned onto the road that makes its way to the center of Funchal we decided to cross the street instead of walking with the herd.  Good choice.  The sidewalk started following a path that was elevated from the road and it was clear we were entering a garden area that had been very thoughtfully cultivated. There was a large stone wall about four feet high, tightly packed, that was on the uphill part of the path.  Within the wall were hundreds of small lizards scurrying around everything.  When we came to the end we realized we were at the edge of a large city park that was above the path we had just walked. It is called Parque de Santa Caterina. Beautiful setting. The great thing about not having a timeline is that we ended up spending about an hour walking around this park. There was a group of about 20 people practicing yoga, a few people actively training their dogs in the large field, and others like us out for an early morning stroll.

We continued our walk through the city until we came to the Teleferico (aka cable car), which would take us up the very steep hill to the Monte Palace Gardens.  It is truly amazing what beauty people are capable of creating.  This was a multi-layered garden on a steep incline with stunning views of the city and coastline, and multiple flora/fauna environments. The benefits of being there in April is that the gardens were at peak.  For those of you from Fairfax, think of Lower Makely this time of year. We learned from a Spaniard who had spent 30 days on the island that many of the trails were closed due to recent, persistent rains so we decided to return on the cable car. Hiking on Madeira will need to happen on a return visit.