Azores, Madeira, Spain and Gibraltar: Day 9 Funchal and Camara de Lobos, Madeira

Day 9 Friday 27th April Funchal

After our late night out in Funchal it was hard to wake up. The sun was shining when I ventured out onto our balcony before I made our morning cups of tea. With a bit of rushing we did make it to the Meridian for breakfast just before 9 am.

After breakfast we again caught the shuttle bus and we dropped off near one of the shopping centres. We walked back down to the promenade and after a brief conversation we bought tickets for the Yellow Bus service that ran out to Camara de Lobos. It was then that we discovered that we had a 30 minute wait for our bus!

At the market in Funchal

We went back up to the avenue and walked along past the Flower Festival exhibits and onto the covered market. The market was in full swing and the lower hall was jammed packed as people hustled around looking or buying flowers and vegetables.

The flowers were gorgeous.

The fish market

Once through the hall the market opened up below to the area where fish were prepared and sold. Rather than stand on the stairs and watch, we went down to get a closer look at the fish being prepared.

Some serious haggling was taking place at the counters as buyers argued just how much to pay for their large tuna steaks.

The size of the steaks was a surprise.

Perhaps we should have stayed on the steps.

Waiting for the bus to Camara de Lobos

We had to decipher just where the bus stop for the next Yellow Bus was from their map. We had been told that the stop was ‘at the market’ but this was an extravagant use of the word ‘near’ as in reality we had to walk back down to the promenade and along to the coach stops. Once there we worked out that we now had another 30 minute wait.

Three Red Bus tour buses came to the bus stop while we waited. They were all quite full and didn’t have much room to pick the waiting passengers. The first Yellow Bus was not for our route we need the Blue Route) and we continued to stand and wait. In front of us was traffic chaos as cars and coaches all competed for space as they made the sharp left hand turn past all the parked coaches and busses.

On the bus finally

When our bus came it was empty on the upper deck and we could have our choice of where to sit. I chose to sit on the left side as this would give me views of the sea once we left Funchal.

The bus turned back through Funchal and ran parallel to the promenade and past through the busy streets. There are lots of hotels on the outskirts of Funchal and we passed by these hotels with only occasional glimpses of the sea until passed out of Funchal. This is when we started our journey along the twisty coast road.

The bus went past a small commercial dock, housing developments as well as rocky cliffs as it went up and down through hairpin bends before reaching Camara de Lobos. On the hillsides above us and below us were stepped fields full of banana trees.

As the bus approached the bay on the wall was a poster celebrating the famous artist who used to come here to paint, Winston Churchill.

We left the bus at the first of the two stops above the village.There we declined the to take an additional scenic tour on another bus up to the highest point over the cliffs – maybe next visit?

Camara de Lobos

Once down by the bay we stopped at one of the cafes for a beer and to catch our breath.

I picked up my camera and went out among the fishing boats to try and and capture some images. This after all was the village where Winston Churchill used to come to paint boats in the later years of his life.

Lunch at the side of the bay

By then it was definitely lunchtime and we ordered fresh tuna salads and sat outside the restaurant in the sunshine watching the world go by as we ate.

I did go back and take more pictures along with a handful of other photographers. All of us competing for the spots with the best images of the boats on the slipway.

The main street at the side of the bay

After we left the restaurant we carried on walking to see the view across the bay.

Around the slipway we passed the small church dedicated to fisherman and sailors and begun our walk back to the bus stops.

This meant that we were now passing by the main entrances of the restaurants on the street side rather than on the quayside.

On our left we noticed a decorated wall on one of the houses. On closer examination the mural was not painted but was a collage of cut and shaped soft drinks cans all carefully placed to make the design.

Walking further up the side street we found even more doors and walls decorated with collages made from cans.

Back to Funchal

We waited at the same bus stop for the Yellow Bus.

We had timed our departure from the village so that we would only have to wait for for about 10 minutes.

The bus goes on a little tour towards the hills before turning back. Once back above the bay it started its journey back to Funchal.

I sat on the right hand side of the bus so that I would be beside the sea again. The only downside was that now I was kerbside and had to avoid the tree branches over the road.

I managed a grab shot of this mural of a cook.

Once off the bus we decided to walk back to the ship. We passed another smaller cruise ship docked close to the Cristiano Ronaldo museum. This ship was receiving some TLC from divers.

From there we could see across the port to Arcadia and another ship docked there. We stopped for a couple of great value ice creams before walking back into the port.

This another one of the murals on the harbour wall celebrating a ship’s visit.

Leaving Funchal

Our cabin’s view was along the harbour walls.

Ahead of us the other cruise ship was sailing out too.

The sail-away for Arcadia had music and dancing around the rear pool. I watched as we past a small naval ship at anchor that had just arrived.

Arcadia had caused quite a traffic jam outside the harbour waiting for her to leave.

Looking back at Funchal as we left.

From the deck I watched dolphins away on the port side leaping up out of the water.

Evening after Funchal

Our friends came to our cabin and we enjoyed a few glasses of wine and we all had G&Ts before going down for dinner.

It was an egg meal for me. I started with black pudding (+egg), salad lyonnaise (+egg) and then  gammon and chips (+egg) I rounded the meal off with cranacan and ice cream.

The syndicate quiz was again our (now) usual low score.

Day 10 Saturday 28th April Atlantic Ocean

We had decided that this day was going to be our late breakfast day. I went up to the Horizon Restaurant and picked up fruit for our light breakfast. The cornflakes looked tempting and I added some fruit to mine before coming back to the cabin.

Peninsular Club lunch

I had to dress more smartly than usual on this sea day as we were to have the Peninsular Club lunch. We were joined by our friends and another couple from our evening table. The lunch was in the upper tier of the Meridian Restaurant that was reserved normally for Freedom Dining. Our host for the meal was a ship’s officer who looked after part of the galley team. I chose Beetroot Tartar with Goats Cheese, Peach Sorbet, rack of Dorset Lamb and then Rhubarb Cheesecake.

I had declined the offered champagne at the start of the meal. Our evening wine waiter was on duty nearby and combined with our table’s own wine waiter, I was kept well supplied with the special house red wine. After the ship’s officer left to continue his duties we finished off the meal with tea and some delicious Petit Fours.

A quick change in our room and we were out on the Promenade Deck. The walk around the ship was to try and lose some of the calories that we had just eaten. We managed two miles before we decided that enough was enough and retired back to our cabin.

On one of the ship’s TV channels we watched a movie about a team, Highland, playing rugby in Arizona. This team had a New Zealand heritage and did the Haka before every game. This was a true story about a player who joined the team after a drink drive charge. The story was how the ethics of the team changed his life forever. This is one film that I will look for in the charity shops.

Peninsular Club Cocktail Party

The evening was our third black tie event and kicked off with the Peninsular Club Cocktail Party. This was held under cover around the Neptune Pool.

After the speeches we managed to have some canapes along with some very welcome gin and tonics. This evening we were lucky again and did not win the raffle prize of yet another P&O photo album.

We went down to dinner immediately after the party. This started with Gravalax again for me, Cobb salad again then Maryland chicken and rounded off with rum and raisin ice cream.

Soon Arcadia would be in Spanish waters and purchases on-board would be subject to their VAT. I ordered an extra bottle of wine to last me for the few days that we would be in Spanish waters.

After dinner, we joined the syndicate quiz but again missed winning by choosing the wrong answers from the team yet once again!

Our next port was Cadiz.