OUR 34TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
FUNCHAL INFO:
Funchal has been the capital of the Portuguese island of Madeira for over 500 years. The island is on the same latitude as Dallas, TX, is and is located 320 miles off the coast of Morocco in North Africa. It is 600 miles from Lisbon, Portugal, to Funchal. Funchal is the largest city on the island with a population of nearly 112,000 making it the 6th largest city of Portugal. Half of the people living on the island live in Funchal. It is one of Portugal’s main tourist attractions as many cruise ships make this a port of call. It also has an international airport for tourists to fly in and out.
This is the 4th time we have visited Funchal and the island of Madeira. The island is just 35 miles long and 14 miles wide. The island was formed by a volcano some 5 million years ago and its volcanic soil is very fertile. It is a beautiful place and one of my personal favorite ports of call. The city is very clean and modern with very nice people. It enjoys very even year round temperatures in the 60’s & 70’s. Funchal lies inside a natural U-shaped valley with gentle slopes beginning at the ocean and rising up to over 3500 feet.
Settlement of Madeira began in the early 1400’s and it became an important maritime port between Europe and the Americas. It had rich soil which produced sugar cane during the second half of the century and onward. The wine industry also appeared then and today the island is very well known for its unique “Madeira wines”.
The Funchal Airport is located 8 miles east-northeast of the city. We have never flown here as all our visits were via cruise ships. It opened in 1964 with two 5249 foot long runways. Folks that is VERY short!! Due to increased tourist demands the runway length has been extended twice since and is now 9124 feet long. It is still considered one of the most perilous airports in the world. The History Channel ranked it as the 9th most dangerous airport in the world. Pilots must undergo additional special training to land here. I’ll come by cruise ships, thank you!!
Last Night:
We had a cocktail in the Meridian Lounge at 6:00. The band combo toned down the music so we could actually hear each other talking. The band leader came over and asked if they were doing better so I guess the cruise director did speak with them. We dined in Compass Rose and think my photo captions will cover our experience there. Another great dinner!!
We were waiting for the theater doors to open at 9:00 for the 9:30 production show. We like sitting on the front row for the shows. Six singers of the production cast were featured singing many Broadway show tunes. It was a very good show. I believe one female singer, Sammie, is talented enough to be on Broadway in NYC. Prior to the show we struck up a conversation with a couple from San Diego area. They had conservative views just as we do.
Today:
My alarm clock went off at 8:15 this morning as room service was scheduled at 8:30. When I open the balcony door curtains we were just passing by the NCL Spirit cruise ship that was already docked. Glad we are not on it as it is about 3 times larger than our ship and not nearly as luxurious. Our names were on the tv this morning wishing us a happy anniversary. Yesterday we decided to cancel our tour for today. We have visited Funchal 4 times already. So instead we worked out and then walked into town after lunch. It is such a great day for taking a stroll. I even got Rebecca to get off the ship. So after working out then a long walk, we should be able to eat more in Prime 7 this evening where we will be celebrating our anniversary. I only had a hot dog for lunch!
Funchal is a very beautiful town and a VERY clean city. It is Saturday so many locals and passengers from both ships we sitting out at the many outside cafes and restaurants lining the streets.
When we returned to our suite there was a nice little anniversary cake and two glasses of champagne awaiting us from the ship's General Manager, Andreas. I am having the suite steward chill our bottle of Veuve Cliquot champagne. This is another one of our Titanium benefits. If you are not familiar, this is an expensive bottle of champagne. We will take it to Prime 7 (steakhouse) this evening as we have dinner reservations there.
Tonight's show is featuring our assistant cruise director, David Nevin. He is a singer and his resume includes performing in many musicals. We will be there!
We will be departing at 5:00 this evening for our next port of call, Malaga, Spain, which is 775 statute miles away. So tomorrow will another sea day and the last sea day of this cruise. We will be spending Easter Sunday at sea.
Ok, here is the link to the photos I took last night and today. Funchal is a beautiful place and one of our favorites in the whole world. As a review, you will have to cut and paste the link onto another browser to open it. Then click on the first photo to enlarge it. Then you can read my captions which are very informative also. Arrow through the rest of photos.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ue98JxbI4eAf3XBr1
As an extra bonus, I am adding some really good photos of this island I took when here back in November of 2011. I know you will enjoy these as some are in countryside.
https://goo.gl/photos/4F8dGPi5tAhZPyj37
