Buzzard_cad visits the garden of Madeira

This review has been languishing in my draft box since October last year so it is a little overdue in getting finished. This is my final inane writings on Madeira so sit back and enjoy the read!

~Getting there~
By Air- We flew with Air Portugal (TAP) from Gatwick on a scheduled flight, however there are other air carriers that fly charter flights to the airport of Funchal (FNC). For further details of my experience with TAP please read my earlier review here on Ciao, I will only briefly say that they were okay.

~Where to stay~
Madeira is awash with hotels all along the sea front in Funchal. There are few other hotels away from the capital, but from what I saw most are crammed into a small area to the east of Funchal. Many of the hotels are of an older design, for example 'The Carlton'. It is a large block concrete about four storeys high near from where we stayed, it looked ugly from the outside, but apparently it is a good hotel to stay in with a five star rating. We stayed in a smaller modern hotel called 'Quinta de Casa Branca' which is also reviewed here on Ciao, it was a great hotel to stay in.

~Getting out and about~
On foot- As Madeira is on a large granite mass sat out in the Atlantic it has very steep cliffs and gradients. Just walking around Funchal requires good legs for hill climbing and negotiating large numbers of steps. After two weeks my calf muscles were like iron and my thighs were getting a great workout too. Fortunately for those less able there are other options which are available.

By Taxi- Taxi's in Funchal are everywhere, they are coloured bright yellow and most of them are Mercedes C or S Class cars so there is a lot of room and comfort in them. Fares are quite reasonable with a fare from Funchal to our hotel (near the lido) costing around 5 Euros (about £3.50).

~Restaurants~
I found the restaurants in Madeira to be a disappointment for three reasons. Firstly the variety of types of restaurant's was very limited. If you like Portuguese cuisine then you are well catered for here, next there are a few Italian restaurants and then we did see one Chinese restaurant. Apart from that there was precious little else to choose from. Secondly the style of cooking in the majority of restaurants was poor, here the vegetables are boiled at nuclear temperatures and come to your table limp and dripping in water. Meats are cooked in lots of oils and again arrive sliding in their own grease. Don't get me wrong I like cooked food, put a plate of bloody meat in front of me and I won't eat it, but I like food with a bit of taste and well drained. Only a few of the very good restaurants cooked foods well and presented them in a way that I liked.

First we would check the menu outside the restaurant to see how much the dish could be. This was not easy as it was always at the bottom in small writing under a dubious heading like 'bread' or 'extras'. Next we would carefully survey the other tables and gauge what the special dish was, bread, olives, nibbles? Then as we sat down we would quickly discuss whether to have 'bread' or not. This decision had to be quick as in the worst case a dish of bread was fired onto the table before we took our seats. Our options were refusal of the dish or acceptance. Refusal was my preferred option, but occasionally the waiter would get huffy and ask me what the problem with the dish was? After this we would get very poor service! Mrs Cad preferred acceptance, however this normally meant we missed starters or desserts.

Pictures of Madeira (Portugal)

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The church at Monte

~Activities~
Walking is a popular activity on Madeira with miles and miles of Levada's. These are water channels that bring water from the saturated mountain areas down to the lower dryer levels around the towns. We did not go walking as it is not Mrs Cad style but I did hear that it is best to go on a guided walk as the Levada's can be dangerous. The 'Nuns valley' walk is meant to be the most stunning walk that you can do on the island.

~Boat trips~
A boat trip to view dolphins and whales is a very good activity for younger members of your party and safe too. There are many types of vessels in the harbour touting for business, ranging from a replica galleon complete with a parrot, to single hull yachts or larger catamarans. Our trip on a catamaran took us half-a-day out to see the dolphins, then we hunted for whales but they were being elusive. Afterwards we went over the 'Gabo Girao' the highest cliff in Europe, dropped anchor and had a swim. It was only one of two times I went into the sea on that holiday and I had a good long swim.

~Cable car ride~
To view Funchal from above you can take a cable car to Monte for 14 Euros 50 (£10) return. This old village on the hill has a beautiful picturesque church on the hill along with a garden nearby. The tropical Japanese garden, the church and surrounding area around Monte are perfect for viewing Funchal and the harbour. This is an ideal activity if you are in port on your cruise and you want to see the surrounding area.

Such sights available to us were viewing 'Camara de Lobos' where Winston Churchill stayed after the war, than we moved on to 'Gabo Girao' to stand on the top and look down to the sea. Next up was the picturesque town of 'Ribeira Brava', then the old and terrifying coastal road and finally 'Porto Morriz' in the far north-west corner of the island. Morriz was a lunch time stop with a rock pool area for swimming in well maintained and part built network of pools along the front. Filled with sea water and with numerous lifeguards it cost 1 Euro (70p) per adult to get in and was very good. We spent a good hour lounging in the pools, having a lunch and enjoying a good freshening up in the nice changing rooms. On the way back to Funchal we went up into the mountains which was really weird as one minute you are in sun in Morriz and then you are in cold murky cloud. The mountains reminded me somewhat of Dartmoor with horses, thorn bushes and thin soil. Eventually we returned to the lower levels of Funchal and back to the hotel.