First full day in Madeira

Tuesday was a gentle day, which started with the welcome meeting from the tour rep. She was a nice lass and told us (Mum, myself and the rest of the group that had arrived on the same day / flight as us) about the island and some of the trips, as well as some of the things to try…

One of the things that she suggested that people try, was Poncha – made from firewater (ok – local rum or rhum as the Portuguese spell it) honey and lemon.

Apparently, it’s a real cure-all – three of them and what ever was wrong with you has been cured. (I put that down to the fact that it’s due to the fact that you’re so pissed, you can’t remember what was wrong with you in the first place!)

Mum and I decided that there were a couple of trips that we did want to do – i.e. the Western Madeira trip on the Wednesday, the half day gardens tour on Thursday and the Nuns Valley tour on the Saturday. The theory being that the rest of the week, Mum and I could spend relaxing by the pool or shopping in Funchal.

So, Tuesday after the meeting, Mum and I took an gentle walk to the Madeira story centre, which was just up the road from our hotel. It was really good - a great way to start the holiday, and had some superb exhibits - including the wax models illustrating various people from Maderian history.

The pirates were raiders of the islands during the late 15th century, and Mum made me laugh by saying that the one pirate didn't look too enthusiastic at all...!

There were other models - including this one of Napoleon:

Much as I hate to say it, Napoleon looks hungover in this pose, and there were several comments along the lines of "not tonight Joseph" But there was one display that did make my eyes light up...

It's one of the famous sledges that run from Monte and Mum said that she would see how she felt before saying that she would go down in it with me...

Then, it was a gentle stroll to the market (more on that later in my blog) and a stop off for a bite to eat, before heading back to the hotel to get changed for dinner, and grabbing an early night, as we'd got to be up super early the following day...

Time to call this quits - my eyes are getting tired.

Back when I get the chance...

Karen

Learning to fly, but I don't have wings