Year: 2024

Wow, we had a lot of rain overnight!  The hotel staff were out early drying all the tables and seating! They really do work hard.

Because of the weather we sat on the balcony and played Rummikub. We are both quite competitive!

Our favourite member of staff is the waitress Florentina. She has really looked after us and said her goodbyes at lunchtime as she has a few days off. She gave us both a big hug, bless her.

In the afternoon we went for a walk along the sea front, the sea was quite choppy.

At least we managed the afternoon walk without getting rained on. The food again in the evening was unbelievable. Along with tuna and salad these were just three of the starters!

Our waiter was laughing at just how many king prawns we both ate! I don’t think we have ever eaten so much delicious fish. Of course it is all buffet, help yourself, the waiters/waitresses just top up your glasses and clear your plates.

It was a little chilly and wet to sit outside in the courtyard

and so we sat inside to listen to the entertainment.

 

The first morning we missed breakfast! We had a quick snack and then went for a walk along the sea front. The sun was out and it was lovely.

Back for lunch and then sat by the pool for the afternoon.

Sandcastles Madeira style…

A duet singing in the evening. The poncha was so strong!! It is like the weather here, variable!

Breakfast and then we went to see the girl at guest relations, who said they liked their guests to be happy and so upgraded us to a Deluxe room……. can’t say fairer than that. We wouldn’t have complained , it was only the questionnaire! View from our room now.

The food here really is amazing, I don’t think I have ever eaten so much fish. Lunch today was fresh tuna. Last night we had prawns, sardines, mussels and clams. This is just the “bread” selection and part of the desserts!

We sat on our balcony and played Rummikub most of the afternoon. We intended going for a walk……didn’t happen.

In the evening Celso and his karaoke was the entertainment. He entertained the last time we were here in January. He is just so good at involving his audience and such good music. This was early evening! So, too many ponchas and late to bed!

A later breakfast. We had a questionnaire from the hotel asking if our accommodation etc was all OK. We replied about the door stop we kept falling over in the bathroom and also said that it was noisy below our room as it seemed all the deliveries came in that way. It hadn’t made too much difference as we weren’t in the room much.
In the afternoon we went into Funchal. It really is so Christmassy and the folk dancers were performing.

I have to say once the lights were switched on even we were amazed!!!!!

Too many lights to take photos of!  There was also the Windsurf in port, one of the largest sailing cruise ships in the world.  It carries 257 people, of which 34 are passengers!!

We hadn’t realised that they light up every street and so the island is full of Christmas lights. So pretty.

This was the journey back on the bus!

When we did return back a letter was under our door to contact guest relations. Yes, we’ll do it in the morning! They had however been and removed the doorstop in the bathroom!A duo singing in the evening , not as good as the previous night. More ponchas!

We booked an East tour. Yes we have done it previously but there is always something new to learn. The first stop was the highest point of the island where the NATO radar is. Today was very different from our last visit. Previously we were above the clouds and it was magical viewing all the Levadas. Today 3 degrees, biting wind and soaked by the clouds!

We didn’t stay long. We did have the option of doing one of the levada walks but quite frankly too muddy and cold and we have done that one before. Instead we sat with some of the others, with a drink of poncha! We did wonder why we went to the coldest part of the island when it was 17 degrees in Funchal! Lol. Our stop off place for lunch.

 

We stopped in Santana and that was really weird as the driver only took us to one house and said we were all invited in to have a coffee liqueur with the owner and his mother!

To me it felt quite invasive but the owner insisted we all go in, look around and then on exit he would take a photo of us all! This was ours…

He didn’t stop long in Santana. On our last visit it was quite a long stop off!

We then went on to the rum distillery and of course had tastings there. The rum was quite revolting, much rather have a poncha!

We stopped off somewhere else, I forget where, it was very windy and cold!

To be honest we weren’t too impressed with this day out. The driver/guide was not that good. Eventually back to the hotel, just in time for the sunset!

In the evening there was a really good band on. We say outside listening to them.

A couple more ponchas! They made them very strong!

We walked to the Forum shopping centre, they have Father Christmas there at weekends but also have a children’s train.

In the afternoon we played crazy golf and sat by the pool, not exactly sun bathing weather but we love being outside. Another beautiful sunset. The sun doesn’t show itself much during the day but stands out when it is time for it to go to bed!

We had a little bird watching over us!

You certainly wouldn’t go short of alcohol here. Of course there are tea and coffee machines as well!

There was a duo singing for the entertainment and a bit of a singalong.

So much food at breakfast and even wine if you wanted it… no thank you.

This was just a small selection of the cold!

And serenaded …..

We even had our room cleaned before we arrived back.
We went on the hotel bus into Funchal, such a buzz of a city.

Two cruise liners were in port so the Christmas market was busy. We went to our usual place and booked a day trip up the east side of the island. Yes, we have done it before but there are always parts that you forget and it is nice to be “taken” and the drivers are always so informative.
The sun was shining in the afternoon and another beautiful sunset.

While we were gone they delivered a bottle of champagne with a note for our wedding anniversary, never mind it was October……we told them we should have been here for our silver wedding last year but had cancelled because Mal was ill. A very thoughtful gesture!

After dinner, there was a disco.