After six days at sea, and very marginal weather, we docked in Funchal not quite knowing what to expect. What we got was a very lovely town and cool, sunny weather. In fact, Funchal is possibly one of the loveliest spots we have ever visited. We even wondered what the cost of living might be. Research indicated that the restaurant prices were very reasonable and apartment prices weren’t too bad, either. Maybe we’ll move if we ever get tired of Vancouver and wish to learn Portuguese.
We walked around with Victoria (a friend from the ship), but she soon got tired of watching Adele shop and went her own way. The first stop was the town cathedral which wasn’t much from the outside, but spectacularly decorated inside. We then walked the streets and went to a local market. Since it was Saturday, the place was very active and this added to the interest. One of the features was the fish section which had several varieties of local fish, including the espada, which was a very ugly, eel-like fish - not at all tempting. They also had huge pieces of tuna where they would happily slice off a large hunk for you.
We took a cable car up to El Monte, a town high above Funchal. There were some great views and a nice church. We were also able to watch the start of the famous “basket rides.” The baskets are somewhat like a small wicker-work sleigh with comfortable seats. Instead of runners the baskets have 2x4 wooden skids. The handlers (2 of them) give you a push start and hop on the back. Away you go with the slick runners on the stone streets. We didn’t take the ride, but took the cable cars back down and headed for the ship.