Tag Archives: cruise ship

Funchal, Madeira

Funchal, Madeira looks very, very crowded from port. The buildings seem to spread upward along the hills like a field of brightly colored mushrooms

Funchal, Madeira

Closer to port is Marina Funchal, and directly behind this small craft marina towers the Cathedral of Funchal.

Boat harbor, Funchal, Madeira

High above the port is the Fort of São João Baptista do Pico dating back to the early 17th Century.

São João do Pico Fortress, Funchal

On Monday I touched upon the Madeira Botanical Garden, showing images of a traditional Madeira house on the grounds there. Below is some of the garden vegetation, although the garden wasn’t in full bloom during our early April visit.

Madeira Botanical Garden

Below are a couple more images of the Madeira cliffs I presented on Monday, including one shot of me taken by Ursula.

Madeira coastline

Me posing by Madeira cliffs

One great thing about Madeira are the many quaint churches around the island. The image below is Igreja Matriz de São Vicente, the Church of Saint Vincent.

Madeira church

Funchal, Madeira (Portuguese island)

We left St. Barts on March 27, traversed the Atlantic Ocean, and arrived a week later at the Portuguese island of Madeira, port of Funchal, some 550 miles/885 kilometers southwest of Portugal. That’s about 3,000 miles/4,800 kilometers east northeast of St. Barts. Our approach was in the early morning hours, and Funchal was still enshrouded in darkness.

Early Morning in Funchal

Ursula had us set up for a group tour, so we spent our day touring the sights. Along the way we saw some spectacular cliffs:

Madeira cliffs

Our tour guide:

Our Madeira tour guide

One of our stops was the Madeira Botanical Garden. Here you’ll find perfectly preserved examples of traditional Madeira houses.

Traditional houses at the Madeira Botanical Gardens

Madeira Window

Of course, we simply had to hit a local grocery store. Those are a must for both Ursula and me.

Madeira grocery store

Our tour also included a nice lunch at a very charming restaurant:

Madeira tour lunch