Next: Cabo Girao
Visited: Valley of the Nuns
Left to: Lisbon
Funchal is the capital of Madeira, a small island in the atlantic off the shore of northern africa.
It is part of Portugal, and is a volcanic island with rugged mountains and coastlines.
Funchal
Funchal is on the southeast coast of Madeira on a bay.
It climbs up the mountains surrounding the bay, with bridges and cable cars connecting it.
The first day I spent in the center of the city, and at the beach.
There is a famous fruit market where I got some Madeira wine
Madeira Wine
Madeira has a unique type of wine that comes from it’s history of being the last stopping point for cross ocean explorers. They wanted to load up on wine, but also needed to make it last for months on a ship.
The way they did this is by fortifying it with brandy, and storing it in wooden casks. The result is a deep brown wine with an intense flavor, and they still make it this way today. It’s good.
Valley of the Nuns
The following morning, I took a day trip to the Valley of the Nuns.
Funchal Gardens
Theres a cable car that goes to the very top of the city.
The station is right in the center and takes you way up the mountain to a garden at the top - the Palácio Monte.
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I was surprised to see so much Asian influence there - the original tenants must have taken a trip.
The guy that built it was a rich guy, not royalty or anything. It was later converted into a hotel before being abandoned and then restored into the park it is now.
I decided to only buy a one way cable car trip and take a morning run back down the mountainside so I could go through the different areas of the island city.
I liked this bridge in particular.
Cabo Girao
I was on a tight schedule as I needed to grab my things and catch a bus to get to Cabo Girao, so goodbye to Funchal for now.
Back in Funchal
( A few days pass… )
After exploring the island, I spent my last day not doing much.
I did go up to huge fort that used to defend the city.
Here’s a few more pics
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Early next morning was the airport to get to Lisbon, in Portugal.
Map (kinda)
Nobody like pictures taken out of planes, but I liked seeing how the island looks like it does on the map.
Overall Funchal was a pleasant surprise in how normal it felt. It was just like any other medium sized city in Europe - it just happened to be on a tiny island in the ocean.