Just to get rid of any cobwebs from the Christmas travel embargo we set off on this cheeky little weekend away. Left Heathrow on TP371 at the ungodly hour of 0640, not even enough time to go to the lounge for a Bloody Mary!! We pushed back 7 minutes early, this is unheard of for Heathrow. Then after sitting in the middle of the apron for 45 minutes, delaying all the other flights stuck behind us, they finally got the right hand engine to start. Friends were joking when I said we were flying with TAP Portugal, saying, ‘You know what TAP means eh? ... Try Another Plane!!!’ How true!
After a wonderful flight landed at the precarious Funchal Airport on time, must have had nice wind. Our chariot was waiting for us to whisk us to the Pestana Casino Park Resort. Fantastic new motorway opened in 2001 reducing journey time from 90+ minutes to 15 minutes. The taxi driver was very proud of this.
Got to the hotel, from the outside it looked like something from a council estate in Smethwick in West Mids, concrete 1960’s nightmare, but the inside was luxurious. Checked in and sat on the veranda with a cold beer (Coral) and it was only 11.15 (had to move the yardarm on this occasion.) When we left Blighty, it was a whopping 1 degree celcius, Funchal was 23, so with our warm layers shed and tee shirts, shorts and flip flops on, we went to town.
My God, the hills are formidable, the average age of tourist here is 65+! God knows how those chariots cope with the steep inclines. Walking around the town and we noticed a lot of seats and railings being put up. It turned out we were there for the Mardi Gras of Madeira! (same weekend as Rio too.) Was a fantastic festival, colours and music and dancing and all the bars were full and exaggerated prices etc.
The timeshare sellers are a real pain in the proverbial, however, one did ask if we were busy the next day. Told her we were going to Porto Santo on the ship. She said not to as it’s North and cloudy, windy and rainy, and we’d waste our time. This story checked out with the hotel reception too. If she didn’t mention it, we would have gone and wasted a day!
One of the main problems for a staying tourist in Funchal, is the curse of the Cruise Ship. Everyday, there are 2 of them docked in Funchal harbour offloading upto 4,000 passengers each for 8 hours. They all have to get from the harbour to the town (coach) and then have a drink and eat. This puts a big strain on these small streets and small intimate cafes, however, they appear to cope and get rid of these people as quickly as they arrive!!
Just to the left of the Pestana is a really quaint restaurant with beautiful food called Casa Velha with a really lovely pub downstairs called Harry’s Bar with a real old character as a waiter. Cafe life lives well here, sitting Al Fresco on a February morning drinking coffee (not moving the yardarm today) has a really nice tone to it, when you realise friends at home are sitting in sub zero temperatures. It is almost too rude to send a picture of me in shorts and tee shirt enjoying my beverage at 0900.
There is a mountain of culture to explore too, Madeira is famous for stuff that you can Google, so I won’t bore you with it. There is also a cable car that goes somewhere I didn’t go. Cheaper than going to the top of the London Shard too (what isn’t.)
We said a fond farewell to Funchal after a carnival filled weekend to wait in the lounge with several large Gin & Tonics for our flight to Heathrow TP372 leaving at 1820 (we got to the lounge 3 hours before as you can!) arriving at 22.05. No additional starter motor was required for the journey back, and the free G&T’s kept rolling on Try Another Plane. Next trip is Valencia Spain. We change in Dusseldorf on the way there and Zurich on the way back.
In Summary: Give it a go, but make sure it’s off season.
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