Funchal – day 3

Today was up the hill day for us when we visited the Monte Palace Tropical Garden. That we even attempted it was testament to the bravery of my beloved wife Ally who, once again, boarded a cable car for the ascent. The hotel courtesy bus dropped us at the ‘Telerifico’ base station and, after a minor confusion about tickets, we did the short (15 mins) journey to the top. No photos from within the cable car for 2 reasons – one was the windows being highly reflective and the other that Ally was clasping my hand to the point that blood circulation was endangered!

You may note the ‘impending’ weather in that latter photo and it did cloud over for much of the time we were up there but it was still warm and there was very little breeze today. Our first port of call ws a little chapel with lovely decorations and a bent crucifix behind the altar. Still don’t know anything about it.

We stopped for coffee at one of the many places to refresh oneself and basically then wandered around this little wonderland. All kinds of interesting things – art, music, plants, lakes, swans, flamingoes. Etc. What follows is a random selection of the many pictures taken

Having had a thoroughly pleasant moring in the garden we had to take a look at the alternate method of getting back down the (very steep) hill. Yes by sledge – 2 burly chaps at the back steering and braking as necessary. We weren’t tempted at all but it was a fun to watch.

Back down a sea level we had another late lunch and then back to the hotel. Tonight we are dining here for a change. It was acceptable on day one, the hotel is less busy (no groups) and we just fancy staying where we are. Another factor is that portion sizes, even for snacks, here are a little beyond acceptable levels for us and we had choice paralysis about where to go 😉