Boas Festas

So, we just got back from a fabulous few days in festive Funchal, Madeira.

The weather was mixed but one day warm enough for Jeff to swim in the sea!!

Cable car rides, toboggan sleigh rides, palaces, botanical gardens, seaside villages, mountain hikes, daily pastel de nata consumed!! (custard tarts) sculpture, street art, poinsettias and Christmas lights galore. What's not to like??

A beautiful island to explore further, another time x

We flew out early on Monday morning.

We had a lovely apartment in a central location, booked through booking.com

Although I forgot it was on the 3rd floor, 54 steps up!!

Day one, exploring Funchal

Funchal has been a nice surprise. It's busy enough to feel alive but not so busy that you can't move around easily, get a table, queue etc. We intended to just get our bearings on the first afternoon, but as per, we ended up walking miles! We eyed up where all the Christmas lights would be, found the Ronaldo statue and museum, although I was more interested in the big recycled fish. Ended climbing up to some gardens, to get views over the city. All the festive feels.

Day two

 First up, the Mecado dos Lavradores. A food hall on two floors with a lovely courtyard. Then we headed to the cable car. It was €12.50 each, one way, but it was a good 15-minute journey up, with the most fabulous panoramic views. We were initially going to take a further cable car to the Botanical Gardens, but whilst having our coffee and reading some reviews, we changed plans and decided on the Monte Palace Tropical Gardens instead. It was €15 each but great value for money. We spent 3 and a half hours wandering around. Not only were the gardens themselves, vast and immaculately laid out, and well looked after, there were loads of sculptures and tiles and features dotted throughout and a flock of pink flamingos.

Having gone up to the top of Monte, 550m above sea level via cable car, we had to come down.....by toboggan! We had to ride the famous wicker basket sleigh toboggans 'Carreiros do Monte', which take you down the hill from Monte towards Funchal at up to 30kms and hour. Loved it!! The toboggans only took you halfway back down the hill. €20 for a taxi or walk!! We walked!! Sooooooo deserved that beer at the end of the day!! 

Our evenings were spent wandering around admiring all the Christmas lights.

Day three, bus trip to Camara de Lobos

We bused it to Camara de Lobos, a picturesque harbour town about 9km from Funchal. Cobbled streets, whitewashed houses, and traditional colourful Madeiran boats (Xavelhas) what's not to like! We had a lovely chilled out day and then an enjoyable evening taking in more of the lights.

Day four, a 'proper' hike 

On the fourth day of Christmas ......we went hiking! Like 'proper' hiking! 

We signed up with a group tour, which essentially drove you the 40 minutes up to the start of the hike, 1810m above sea level, higher than Ben Nevis! The weather wasn't the best. As we approached the drop off point, it started to rain!! We were the oldest in our little group but as we all split off, walking at your own pace, it didn't matter. We all had the same rendezvous point 5 hours later!!

We had signed up to walk PR1 'Pico do Areeiro', a 7km hike but a big chunk of it was closed due to maintenance work due to forest fires. We were able to walk the first section, which is probably the most photographed bit, but as you can see on the way out, you couldn't see much. 

To make up for our original hike being closed, we were directed onto PR3 'Vereda do Burro', a 7.2 km walk predominantly down!! My knees were not thanking me at the end!! Thankfully, the rain stopped, waterproofs got packed away, and we followed the red and yellow markers along the route. The route was a mix of steps, track, stones, river crossings and a bit of forest! All in all, it was a good hike, just hard on the old knees, as the majority of the walk was down!! The weather stayed dry after our soggy start, and we made it to the finish with time for a coffee before our lift arrived to take us back to Funchal. 

Day five 

Another busy day, starting at the Mecado (market) We then bused it up to the botanical gardens and back down for a beach afternoon, a meander around the Fort of São Tiago, and then our final night at the Christmas market.

It was the warmest and sunniest day, and so no suprise, Jeff couldn't resist a swim in the sea. 

So we spent and couple of hours in the afternoon, sat on the beach chilling!

We've spent every evening at the Christmas market, wandering along the seafront, just taking in all the festive feels. It's been fabulous. The last few evenings, we'd timed it right to enjoy some Christmas music, and watched the locals let their hair down!! A great atmosphere.

Day six, final wander around Funchal, last pastel de nata!! 

 The forecast had been for heavy rain but it didn't turn out so bad. Our accommodation hosts kindly agreed a later checkout, so we went out and made the most of our time in Funchal

At 3pm and our check out time, we got the bus to the airport, which was super easy. Our flight wasn't until 7pm, arrival in Bristol just after 11pm. We had to wait for hold luggage this trip and then get the bus to get the car. Anyway, we made it home at 00.50am this morning!!

It was a great trip, would recommend, especially for a big old  dollop of festive fun!

Obviously in the lead up to Christmas I wouldn't have indulged quite so much!!! Pastries for breakfast (God's Bread, fruited Christmas buns), bolo do caco for lunch (Madeiran flat bread), pastel de nata for coffee time treat (custard tart), tried to have protein and veg for tea and a few beers. Amazingly, the scales were kind this morning and I only put on half a pound!! But we did walk a far few steps, so balanced out, I guess!! Have just done a food shop, all the veg!! A goodish week now, before the full festivities kick in!!

A Funchal festive bun!!

Madeira....we will be back!!

With every trip, it's lovely to be away and it's always lovely to be back home. I was pretty organised before we went, so it was lovely to come back to everything ready for Christmas. I still have bits to do. Sophie comes home on Tuesday and Sam returns on Saturday. We have a few get togethers coming up and a festive night out in Bristol to come. If the weather is dry, it'll be nice to get out and get a few walks done, possibly a trip over to the Newt if there's time. Thankfully it would seem I didn't bring a Christmas bug back with me, like last year!! So far, so good!!