I'm afraid that Madeira is just so beautiful that I'm going to have to convert my blog into a photoblog. I had nothing planned for today (I know, strange for me) and the sun was brilliant out so I just went for a stroll to check out the waterfront. This baby was built in 1614 and had a useful life right up to 1901!
The streets were strangely quiet for a Monday until I remembered it was May 1st, the worker's holiday. I came across this procession back down on Rue de Santa Maria. I think the mayor, elected officials, spouses, and more were marching as several had important-looking sashes on and carried silver staffs.
The New Town - I think I'm in love with Funchal. It's just so clean and pretty; flowers and trees are blooming, there's a beautiful wide promenade for walking. A bandshell plays music in the afternoon, while little fun stalls sell drinks, gourmet coffee and bites. There's a bike lane that goes for miles, and today the front boulevard was closed for duathlon for all ages. There's art everywhere in the form of murals and statues, both modern and traditional. There's a cohesive blend of old and new in the buildings too - modern hotels rub shoulders with old forts. Funchal has it goin' on!
I returned to my hotel about 12:30pm to find a reply from my tour company to an email I sent in the morning: "sorry, we don't offer that tour tomorrow, can you go today at 1:45?" Uh, okay! Luckily I brought a takeout salad back with me so I had a wee break then met up with a different minivan driver for the 3-hour Nun's Valley tour.
This viewpoint overlooking the bay of Funchal was our first stop = gorgeous!
Next stop was another scenic overlook called Eira do Serrado. At 1095m it was to give us a fantastic view of Nun's Valley far below.....
And this is all we saw....
Kidding, if one was patient enough the mist would part momentarily to get a little taste of the valley hidden below. It was named Nun's Valley because back in 1566 French pirates were attacking the port of Funchal so the nuns fled into the hills, scaling the vertiginous mountain to the safety of the hidden valley below. While they were there they helped the sick, taught the young, etc., etc., so when the hamlet grew large enough to warrant a name they called it Curral das Freiras, or Nun's Valley, in gratitude to all that the sisters did.
If you look very closely at this photo, right above the apex of the roof on the right, you can see a faint zig-zag trail in the green cliff face behind that leads up to the viewpoint building half-hidden in the midst. This was the path the nun's had to hike, and was the only way into the valley for centuries until the road was put in! You can still hike it today. It's only 1.5km one-way, but 540m ascent! And that concludes my 4th day in the Azores!
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