FUN IN FUNCHAL AND HAVE SOME MADEIRA, MY DEAR!

Yesterday was a sea day and nothing of any particular interest occurred but today is an entirely different matter. It was been a GLORIOUS day! Perhaps the best so far!!! As I said before, we canceled our scheduled panoramic tour due to circumstances within our control, and decided to explore this port on our own.

Funchal is by far among one of the prettiest places we've been so far on this cruise. We we docked, we look out over our balcony to see that the sun was shining and all the white buildings with the red roofs were sparkling in the sunlight.

We quickly ate our breakfast and boarded the local shuttle bus that took us into town. No long walks to get to our bus today ... YEAH!
When we reached our destination, we got off the bus and strolled along the esplanade.

We could see our ship in the harbor and watch the hang gliders as they gently sailed over the marina.

We walked up and down the streets looking for a sidewalk cafe where we could stop for a cup of cappuccino and watch the people stroll by. I decided to take a little rest while Papa scouted out the place.

Since it is Sunday morning everyone was taking life was slow and easy. This was an ideal spot for people watching which is one of our favorite pastimes. Here are just a few of the people that we saw. I found some of them to have very interesting faces as well as clothing.

While I watched couples enjoying reading their papers and drinking their coffee, Frank seemed more interested in this blonde. After all, that's who they say gentlemen prefer!

I decided that this man was wearing one of the worst toupees that I have seen in a long time. It reminded me of Frank's Uncle Alfred's rug.

When we finished our coffee, we ambled on down the street and found out where all the action was.

This place reminded me of a European version of the Santa Fe flea market. They were selling everything imaginable including food, clothing, shoes and even near life size witches!

The place was bustling with people and there was music playing with some of the tunes that we would have selected had we been afforded the opportunity. Suddenly one of our favorite tunes was playing, so Frank started to do a little dance right there in the street (I pretended that I didn't know him ;-) Thank goodness he didn't start to sing!

It was the perfect place and day for a family outing and many people were taking advantage of this on this lovely Sunday afternoon.

We stopped at a booth where they were pouring samples of Madeira so we sampled their wares.

It was very good, so we bought a couple of bottles to bring home with us. Be sure and check out this clip from You Tube and you'll understand why I titled this post like I did.

YouTube - Flanders & Swann

This little man was watching us, but wasn't a bit happy when I snapped his picture.

A word of warning about cruising. You'd better not linger too long at the midnight buffet tables or you'll end up looking like this poor lady!

Too much of a good thing can sometimes be a bad thing! And speaking of bad .. look at THIS guy's hat. I'm so thankful that Papa didn't decide to buy one!

We noticed a lovely little park across the street, so we decided to take a look. It was very different from the street we had just left ... very quiet and serene and the perfect place to get out of the hustle and bustle.

You'd never guess that you were in the middle of a city!
When we were planning this trip Frank had signed us up for a toboggan ride in Monte which is on top of the mountain in Funchal.
At the foot of the Monte Church you can take the famous wicker toboggan sled ride down the mountain. This is one of the wacky must-try things you do as a tourist. You sit in a large wicker basket that is on two wooden runners. Two "guides" alternately steer and push as you go down the steep mountainside streets back into the downtown area of Funchal. It's supposed to be quite an experience.

While the toboggans appear to be of an earlier decade, they sit atop wooden skids that are obviously of new wood, as they are oft abraded by the trip down the paved streets. Two people to a toboggan, with two burly Madeirans to handle (stop, in most cases) the conveyance as it slides nearly 2 miles into Funchal.

The ride takes nearly 20 minutes and recreates a major mode of travel in the 1800 - early 1900's. I looked at these two sites on YouTube while we were still at home and decided that I better not do this with the problems I have been having with my back. One of these sites is from the perspective of the passenger. For a fun ride ... click on either or both of the links below and check it out! WOW!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmGD021ofBQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfVu5nuOqR0

Our table mates, John and Cathy did this and they of fun. I don't even ski, so I don't think it would have been for me, even if my back was all right. I'm a real scaredy cat. My Mother said that when I was learning to walk, I could crawl over the cracks in the sidewalk so I wouldn't hurt myself!
When we left the park, we went back to the "main drag" and had a little libation.

As we made our way down the hill to the shuttle bus, we passed some mimes. They didn't seem to have much business today.

We weren't sure exactly what this building was, but it was certainly beautiful and very well guarded.

I'm sure that it was probably some sort of government building.
When we returned to the ship, we noticed these wind surfers. They were having some sort of race. The bay was full of all sorts of boats and activity. I thought I'd better play close attention as we would be crossing the Atlantic tomorrow, so we won't be seeing these sights anymore :-(

One last look at the beautiful shoreline and it's time to get ready for our evening's entertainment.

If you look closely, you'll see that there was one sailboat at the end of the bay on the horizon that seemed to be wishing us a safe trip. We really hated to leave this beautiful port!

Our entertainment tonight is going to be Elliot Finkel and I'm SOOO excited! We had seen him before on the Seabourn Sun when we sailed around the world.

Elliot is a very gifted pianist, conductor and composer. He plays both classical and pop, including the works of Gershwin, Kern, Porter and Broadway show tunes. I managed to get this shot from a distance. It's very hard to photograph when you can't use a flash.

We loved being able to see him again and enjoy his wonderful music. What a perfect end to a perfect day! This may have been my very favorite. It's really hard to say as there have had so many wonderful experienceses!
We'll be crossing the pond for the next 5 days, so my reports will be few and far between. This long one today makes up for that. Hope you enjoyed Madeira as much as we did.

Cheers!

XOXO, Pcasso

LONGING TO LEAVE LISBON

Today was a real disappointment to us. It was the first shore excursion that we felt was not worth either the time nor the money. We started the day with another long hike in order to get to the buses as the terminal was what seemed to be miles away.

We took a 5 hour tour that began with a bus trip around Lisbon. Our guide seemed to be totally bored with her job, so that did not make it pleasurable for us. We have learned through our travels that a tour guide can either make or break a trip. This position seemed to be a chore for her today and it really showed that she did not like her work. It was also the first really "gray" day that we have had on the trip and I'm sure that didn't help either the mood of the port or of the guide. Fortunately, it never really rained on us. the rain came while we were on the bus.
The first thing that we saw when we woke up this morning was this statue of Christ.

It was across the Tagus River from Lisbon where we were docked. The citizens of Lisbon who were grateful that Portugal did not join the fight in World War II built the statue as a thanks to God. The statue is a replica of the Statue of Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. It is not as big as the one in Rio that we visited when we were there several years ago.

This port was on a river rather than the ocean, and we watched from our balcony as a tanker came and gave us the necessary fuel to make the trip across the Atlantic. I still wonder how something as heavy as our ship can stay afloat! For that matter, how do planes stay up in the air??? They're certainly not lightweight, at least not if I'm in one!

As we drove through the city we saw a lot of electric streetcars which seem to be a popular and economical mode of transportation for the local people.

A little piece of advice. If you are going to be traveling by bus and taking photographs at any time, don't wear white or light colors. Your garments will reflect in the windows and mess up your images, like in the streetcar photos. I never wear light colors when I travel, but invariably the person in front of me in the bus is always wearing white. The headrests on the seats are generally covered in white as well, so it makes decent photography a real challenge!
Many of the buildings in Lisbon have a facade of decorative tile on the outside.

This is not only attractive, it also makes the walls easier to clean. As usual, I am once again impressed with the pedestrian walks and the beautiful designs.

There were no flowers on the balconies as we have seen in other cities, but the sculpture adds color to the otherwise bland scenery on a cloudy day.

And of course, you can't ever get away from a Hard Rock Cafe, no matter where you are in the world!

Our first stop was at Edward Vll Park which overlooked the city.

Albert Edward was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death on 6 May 1910. He was the first British monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which was renamed the House of Windsor by his son, George V. This park was named for him.
There was a reflective pool at the top of the park where you could stand and admire the view.

There were also people selling their wares and it's hard to resist a bargain, or at least that is what the vendors were telling everyone.

I noticed a little man in the street approaching all the cars, trying to sell the people inside them his tamales. He reminded me of the guys in New York City who wash your car windows when you're stopped at a light. The tamales looked really good, but he didn't approach our bus. Too many windows, I suppose ;-)

As we were leaving town on our way to the village of Estoril, we passed the Lisbon Aqueduct.

An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose.
The city of Lisbon has always suffered from the lack of drinking water, and King John V decided to build an aqueduct to bring water from sources in the parish of Canecas, in the modern municipality of Odivelas. The project was paid for by a special sales tax on beef, olive oil, wine, and other products.
While Estoril may not be famous for a lot of things, one prominent attraction that has helped establish its renown is the Casino de Estoril.

Casino Estoril is located near Lisbon, and it's reputedly "the largest casino in Europe".

During World War II, it was reputed to be a gathering spot for espionage agents, dispossessed royals, and wartime adventurers. It was the inspiration for Ian Fleming's 007 novel Casino Royale. I wanted to go inside and look for Sean Connery, but it had started to rain a little, so I stayed on the bus instead. Besides, I have a feeling that he's somewhere else today just enjoying life.

We passed by this museum on the way there which was in Belem.

Belém is home to a number of museums, many of which were established by Salazar for the 1940 Belém Expo. Belém is famous as the place from which many of the great Portuguese explorers set off on their voyages of discovery. In particular, it is the place from which Vasco da Gama departed for India in 1497. Frank's ancestors are from Portugal and came to America with some of the explorers.
We also visited the Monument to the Discoveries.

This is a 52m high slab of concrete, erected in 1960 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator. The monument is carved into the shape of the prow of a ship in which stand statues of various explorers, as well as a statue of Henry himself.

Adjacent to the monument is a square into whose surface is set a map showing the routes of various Portuguese explorers.
The water was rough on this dreary day,

but that certainly did not seem to keep the fishermen away. Under normal circumstances, the ocean would be a beautiful shade of blue if the sun had been out.

We noticed something in the distance in the water and as we got closer, we saw that there were surfers everywhere. They were wearing wet suits and that told me that I didn't want to be in there with them! Brrrr!

Once we arrived back at the terminal we found a very long line. All the buses were arriving at once again and there was only one person checking us in!

When he was finally at the front of the line, he called me over to join him. It took him about nearly an hour which was way too long for me to stand!
When we finally got back on board, we had a late lunch and then rested for a while. At 4:30 we had a glass of wine and played a little gin (I'm still ahead on the scorepad!)

We decided that since our tour was not a very successful but a very long one we would cancel our next tour and go out on our own. I'd love to come back to Lisbon some day under different circumstances and better weather. After all, that's where Frank's ancestry is.

There was no show tonight. Instead they were showing the movie, "Angels and Demons" in the Queen's Lounge.

We had mixed emotions about seeing this having read the reviews, so we opted to watch TV in our room. We have another sea day tomorrow but we are very tired. Not much sleep the night before, so it was time to turn in. Hopefully the stabilizers will be activated when we leave.

We only have 2 more ports left, so don't give up on us!

XOXO, Pcasso