There was much excitement last night about porting in Funchal today, and I think that everyone was looking forward to a stable ship just as much as beautiful Madeira. The Concerto Dining Room had been emptier and emptier the last two nights as many of our fellow guests were feeling the effects of the ocean motion. We were not similarly affected, but I found getting around on the ship pretty difficult.
We awoke to a new experience this morning: bright sunshine, warm temps and no wind whistling through the cabin. It was a beautiful morning and we actually stepped out on our balcony before we headed off to breakfast. Good things await us for the rest of this cruise, and I might pack away my cold weather gear on an upcoming sea day. Yay!
I made it to breakfast in the Allegro Dining Room morning!
(I really just needed to get my Michael and Valenton fix. They are so good to us.)
Caribbean sunrise with berries on the side
Veggie egg beater omelet
So happy Princess has egg beaters again!
G was feeling sleepy this morning, which actually worked out perfectly. While he returned to the cabin to catch a little more sleep, I wanted to get to Mass on this Sunday morning, and my research had indicated that there was a church within walking distance of the pier, the Chapel of Our Lady of Penha de Franca, and that they had a Mass in English at 10am with a social gathering afterwards. I walked down the pier and up a steep hill (that wasn’t shown on the map!) and when I had just about reached the church, two couples were walking back my way and told me it was closed.
Closed on a Sunday? Very strange, but information was posted on the door about Mass at the Funchal Cathedral, a 20-minute walk away. They started walking but I knew I’d never make it in time for the 10am Mass, and grabbed a taxi returning to the port to take me instead. I felt so badly…I told the driver we might stop and pick up others on the way, and looked for these couples walking along the waterfront road but there were so many couples and I had only met them for minute. I never saw them again. Having ridden there in a taxi, I knew it would take more than 20 minutes to walk, but there was another Mass at 11am and hopefully that worked out for them.
I arrived as the church bells were ringing. This was a very old cathedral (late 15th century!!), but still beautiful. The stone floors really showed their age, as they were worn and grooved. Fortunately, Mass was in English, and speedy, too, with that next Mass starting at 11am. And talk about another grief bomb (as dear reader Fran called them in her email to me)…the entire time Mom was on hospice care, I played a Spotify Catholic instrumental playlist on my iPhone in her room. It seemed to bring her peace and was calming for everyone who visited, too. Having heard that at least a hundred times, I’ll never forget it, and three songs from today’s Mass (Done Nobus Pacem, Panus Angelicus and Ave Maria) were on that playlist.
This was our third or fourth visit to Madeira, and on all of our previous visits we had toured outside the city of Funchal, so we decided to stay in the city today. I had texted G to let him know that my plans had changed and I was at the cathedral further from the ship, but quite close to the cable car that we planned to ride, and that I would meet him there after Mass. I walked, he ran (literally) from the ship and we rode the cable car up to the first stop where we bought tickets for the botanical gardens. This was more trees than flowers, so we next hired a taxi to go to the tropical gardens and what a ride that was.
Driver August took us along the same road that the toboggan baskets the island is known for run on, but they don’t operate on Sundays. Very narrow, very steep roads edged with tall stone walls (that act as bumpers), this was the ride of a lifetime and so much fun. We spent an hour wandering around the beautiful tropical gardens while August waited for us and then drove us back to the ship.
The cable car, exactly like a ski gondola
The tobaggon road
Madeira has a semi-tropical climate and we saw many unfamiliar flowers
Building roads on Madeira must be extremely expensive due to the steep hillsides. Check out that elevated road and tunnel.
We had both been overdressed for the day, me because I started with church and G because he didn’t knew it would be so hot and sunny, and changed into shorts and sat on the Terrace Deck and drank until it was time for dinner. The scenery from there was spectacular. But I was wearing down at dinner, and knew I would be skipping tonight’s violinist in the Princess Theater.
I think the vegan menu was our first repeat, which makes sense as it was day 8 of the cruise and I think there are 7 different menus,
I had already had two margaritas on the Terrace Deck, and stayed with that theme.
I started with ceviche…
…had a very spicy gazpacho
…and actually had beef fajitas.
Serving sizes are very small, but I kind of like that as I can try more courses.
We asked for the dessert menu tonight (we usually don’t) as soufflé was an option.
And that was my evening. Sore, tired and tipsy, I didn’t even go to The Enclave tonight. Instead, I changed into jammies and enjoyed our balcony as we sailed along the southwestern coast of Madeira. G must have sat in the just in case seats at the show, because he joined me soon after. It was an early evening for both of us, and we were going to move clocks back an hour overnight, the first time of many on our crossing.
