Year: 2022

Back to reality and went to bed a bout 1 am.

Later unpacking and shopping.

There seems to have been a lot of rain while we have been away!

We took the hotel  bus into Funchal as I have said, there is always something happening there but one of the reasons we went on this day was to walk around one of the lovely gardens.

We then went into the town where they had a lot of craft stalls, each one supported a different charity.

We can just wander around here all day!

They even have a Ritz here.

Back at the hotel, later in the afternoon we joined the Madeira wine tasting. Even the dry is too sweet for me but it was very interesting them telling us all the history of its production. They told us you should drink it with Madeira Honey cake which is also very sweet but delicious.

Another good band on in the evening.

 

 

Breakfast of plain yoghurt and Madeiran honey, just a little and I did feel far better than I had. We decided it was best to have a pool day. We were so glad we hadn’t booked the trip, I wouldn’t have coped with a day away.  Instead another days relaxation did me good.

We watched some really stunning sunsets at night from our balcony.

There was a really good band on in the evening. The music is just as good sitting outside, which we did.

I was trying to liven myself up and a couple came with a parrot and were taking photos and so I suggested to Mal that we had ours taken. With every other couple the parrot stayed on the persons extended arm by the wrist. Well, he obviously took a shine to Mal, he rushed up his arm on to his shoulder and then ate the button off his new T shirt! His owner snapped the photo just before he ate it but neither of us could stop laughing. They kept apologising but we just thought it was so funny and laughing certainly did me good!

In fact we were both ill in the night with diarrhea but I was also extremely sick, similar to when there has been MSG in the food. I am obviously allergic to it , I also pass out for a short time.  Not pleasant which meant I spent all day in bed with just water. Obviously Mal wasn’t as bad as early afternoon he said he would go and get more bottled water and when he came back told me he had beefburger and chips at the snack bar!! Oh yes, he was really ill. Lol.

No idea what entertainment was on, I just slept!

Today was the day we were going to book a trip up the east coast, I am so glad we didn’t get that far!

The hotel had a bus to take guests into Funchal which ran several times a day. We caught the morning one. So many stalls selling hot chestnuts which are grown in Curral das Freiras. There are also so many tins of sardines for sale, even some with your date of birth on!

All the ladies in the flower market are required by law to wear national costume.  We also visited the cathedral. There is the statue of Ronaldo, outside the Ronaldo museum. The statue looks nothing like him! There is also a Ronaldo tour if you are that way inclined which takes you to the village where he grew up etc etc.

The queues were massive for the cable car but we have decided as Monte gardens at the summit were having “interventions” (sorting out the gardens), we would go next time we are here, along with the toboggan ride back down again. Yes, we have already booked for next year!

Dinner again out on the terrace , very relaxing. Not so much later on that night!