Thursday, November 12, 2015

Time Out Grandma!

#Lazy day#Catchup-day #Taxiko#EstradaMonumental

Today we had declared as a "rest day"/ "lazy day" ... some "time out"! 
In other words I needed to write/ edit my photos and hopefully do some blog posts.
I was starting to question if I could still do this or maybe did I want to do this. 

My blogging has always been my personal journal of our travels.
It is a way to keep a memory of our experiences to share with our family & friends and more importantly for me!
If it happens to me and I loose my memory, someone can show me the photos and read my stories to me.

We spent the morning at the rooftop pool in the sunshine which actually encouraged some cat napping.

After this I was feeling refreshed and able to start writing a bit about our adventure. 

Soon it was lunchtime and we wandered the local area, finding something light to eat at "Taxiko".


We enjoyed an "Avocado Salad". I had no idea what to expect. 
The salad was served in a phyllo pastry bowl full of avocado, many fruits ... Grapes, orange, walnuts, tomatoes, cheese in a yogurt sauce. 


After our lunch we went for a walk west on Estrada Monumentual an area we hadn't explored yet. 


Here we found the terraced "municipal garden plots".  
I know if I didn't have any land to garden this would be welcomed ... to have my own small space of dirt to play in, plant some vegetables and feel close to nature!






This street runs parallel to the Oceanside on a tiered level, so there are always views of the water.

                       
   


Later in the afternoon we returned to the fourth floor pool terrace for a little more "time out" from the rigours of our vacation. 
Senhor enjoyed the late sun reading his book.




Some days on vacation it's okay to have some down time and today was one of those days ...
For our dinner tonight we went for a quick shop at the local supermarket ... some cheese, crackers and fruit to enjoy with a glass of excellent wine in our room and then an early night!



Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Many Footsteps in Funchal

# O Dragoeiro #Walking tour #Funchal#MadeiraIsland 


We jumped ship (bus) at the Marina and continued exploring Funchal.


We walked along the Ocean side promenade, where we found several vendors roasting chestnuts.
This was new to me I had never tasted them. "Senhor Honey" purchased a small bag (12 for €2), he remembered buying these many years ago. A distinctive flavour and extremely Portuguese.


From the waterfront we wandered into Old town.







A disguised "Parking" meter ...



We discovered a beautiful park where an outdoor market was in full swing.
We weren't in the "market" for anything so no purchases were made.
The walk through this park was wonderful, lots of fountains and many unusual trees, flowers and plants. 
I'm thinking I will have to do a separate post or two just on all of the beautiful botanical specimens ... everyday I see another different and unusual plant, flower or tree gathered from around the world.





Soon it was time to head back to our hotel ... and we walked back!


Along the way "Senhor Honey" made a new soccer friend.



We finished our day with a wonderful evening out for dinner at a local restaurant ...
"O Dragoeiro" (the Dragon Tree) is located in a century - old house with a beautiful garden.
You will probably hear more about this restaurant as we will definitely go back again.

Everything was superb from beginning to end, service and food! 



I will try not to bore you with too many "food" photos but I do have a few foodie friends that love to see these.

Tonight we had a several choices ...
I started with the melon and prosciutto, grilled sea bass with the freshest of vegetables/ potatoes as my main.

Senhor chose the avocado & shrimp salad for his starter followed by grilled swordfish and as he said the sweetest of peas.


For dessert ... yes, we are on holidays afterall and we did rack up a lot of steps so hopefully they will offset some of the calories. 


We definitely will be going back to this local haunt!

p.s. This only takes us to Sunday and it's Wednsday night here in Funchal, three more days of activities and photos to catch up on ...  stay tuned!

On the Buses

#Yellow Bus Sightseeing Tours#Funchal Tour

Our adventure continues ... 

We were more tired than we thought. Sunday morning we woke to knocking and our hotel room door being opened by the cleaning staff. It was nearly 9:30am. 
We quickly showered, dressed and made it in time to enjoy our complimentary breakfast that is served from 7:30 to 10:00.

Today we rode the double decker "Yellow Bus" that we caught right across the street from our Hotel.  Through my photos I hope you enjoy the tour of the city.  
These photos were taken from our vantage point on the second level of the bus.



Funchal Marina ...

The cruise ship terminal / docks ...

The tourist info describes a ride on the cable cars as a "journey between heaven and earth"!
No I'm not going up there! Although the bus tour did climb to great heights and a couple of times I did need to close my eyes tightly.






We were so close to the lovely blooming flowers you had to be careful they didn't slap you in your face as the bus drove by.






Gate to the cemetery ...




We throughly enjoyed seeing the highlights of the town. 
More to come ... we got off the bus near the waterfront and did more exploring on foot.