Day 6 - Funchal

We decided to be healthy and walk into the city centre rather than taking the shuttle bus.  It's actually a pleasant walk along the sea front, and the original 40 minute estimate was slightly over inflated.  It's perhaps true if heading for the old town but you can reach the city centre in less time.   Britannia was joined by MSC's Splendida, also in port for the day, and it was quite evident that several thousand cruise passengers had descended upon the city – the promenade was quite congested at times with a constant flow of passengers making their way to and from the ships.  We were in no rush anyway and made our way past the marina and along the recently redeveloped promenade. 

 

Eventually we reached the old town and decided to stop in one of the local restaurants for lunch.  The old town, or zona velha as it's known locally, dates from the 15th century and contains many historic buildings in a series of quaint narrow cobbled streets.  There is a dense concentration of cafes and restaurants in this area and it's heavily frequented by tourists seeking a more authentic and aesthetic part of the city.

 

From the edge of the old town, the cable car station for Monte can also be found.  The queues were quite lengthy today and although we gave it brief consideration, we decided against making the trip.  Having done the trip before on previous holidays to Madeira, the cable car is a great way to see Funchal from above.  It's not for the faint hearted though and at times, the land drops away more than 100 feet beneath the cars as they ascend the steep slopes of Madeira's hillsides.  After about 15 minutes, the cars reach Monte, a suburb of Funchal which stands over 2000 feet above the city.  On reaching the top, most people head to the botanical gardens of the former Monte Palace Hotel, although walkers may choose to explore some of the levadas which pass through this area.

 

So after lunch, we took the city bus tour around Funchal.  Using open-top double deckers, the tour initially makes its way around the traffic congested streets of the university and cathedral area, before climbing up through the western suburbs of the city.  It takes around an hour in total, and eventually the bus returns through the hotel zone to the west of the city centre.  There's nothing particularly attractive or interesting about this part of Funchal, which is entirely devoted to tourism, and unless your accommodation happens to be in this area, it's best avoided.

 

After returning to the ship in the afternoon, we headed out again in the evening as planned, and dined in one of the seafront restaurants close to the marina. To return back to the old town again was just a little too far, hence our decision to find something closer to the port. No trip to Madeira would be complete without sampling the local speciality, scabbard fish with banana.  The fish is almost entirely boneless and the white flesh is very tender. It's an unusual dish, but it goes well with the sweetness of the fried, caramelised banana, and is served with boiled potatoes and salad.  And so after a nice meal and bottle of wine, it was time to head back to the ship again.  Tomorrow, we have another day in Funchal – not a full day though as we set sail for Tenerife in the Canary Islands at 1630.