Madeira 2011

We went back to Madeira because we needed somewhere we knew we'd be well looked after and where we could relax. Work had been somewhat stressful so Shirley needed a rest and a chance to get caught up on her sleep and her shoulders un-knotted. The weather was kind to us and the massage lady very good; the staff at Quinta da Casa Branca were as professional and friendly as ever and all was well with the world.

The first couple of days our cameras didn't even come out of the case! I think it's the first time we'd been on holiday and not had a list of things we wanted to do, places we wanted to see but we'd been to Madeira before and whilst it would have been lovely to revisit some of our favourite places we deliberately didn't hire a car so we weren't tempted to hare around. Please see earlier holiday photos for pictures of the island (in 2007 and 2009).

When Tuesday arrived we went off to see some dolphins.

A new boat for us, we went out on Gaviao. A lovely wooden sailing boat and whist it was not as fast as the catamarans it was also not as busy so we had a lovely time on our "private" trip.

As you can see it was a lovely sunny day with plenty of buzz about the harbour.

Jonathon perched in one of his favourite places on a boat - pretending to be a masthead.

We saw some common dolphins - very friendly they were too coming right up to the boat to say hello and see who we were.

There were a few birds flying about and a number of different kinds of boats to have a look at.

These fishing boats looked tiny compared to some of the tourist boats and minute compared to the cruise ships.

Inevitable gulls. We thought we'd seen some sheerwaters as well but no photos so who knows.

land

Rather than then do the standard tourist trip along the coast the skipper agreed to bring us back in seaward - much more fun playing in the waves!

That didn't stop us taking a few pictures of the island from the boat.

It was fine not having a car - plenty of exercise walking down into the town. The walk back up wasn't as much fun but there was plenty to see along the way and we could have pudding at lunch time as we knew we were going to be walking it off. Marina Terrace was one of our favourites for lunch - especially their "steak on a stone" and the scabbard fillet with banana - very tasty.

They say Madeira is like an open air greenhouse and there are certainly plenty of flowers and trees to admire as you walk around. Whilst the plants are lovely, we didn't get quite as close as the little chap in the middle picture below. His grandma was quite happy for us to take his photo but didn't offer to join in.

gekko

There are lots of these lovely creatures as well. They move like lightening but this one was very obliging and stayed still for a few seconds.

The lady on the left is Elizabeth of Austria. Born in Munich in 1837.

The statue on the right gave us mixed feelings. It meant we weren't far from the hotel but there was one last, very steep hill to walk up before we got there.

Of course, no busy day is complete without a soak in the jacuzzi so we spent a bit of time in there as well. More time than we did in the gym, you'll be surprised to know.

On Wednesday we decided to do a hop on, hop off bus tour - something we'd not done in Funchal before. Having consulted with the hotel reception team we decided on the red bus as that also took us to Camara de Lobos. We had to wait at some of the city centre stops while people (like the woman in the photo) tried to persuade passers by to join the bus.

We saw various interesting buildings and views along the way. The commentary was in English along with various other languages but through ear phones and the bus was too loud for me to be able to hear what the man was saying most of the time so I just had to enjoy the views!

We stopped at a couple of view points so had a bit longer to take a photo or two. Jonathon managed to get a panorama shot at one of them. I'd taken the little camera because it was lighter but I wasn't used to having a camera that takes more than a second to focus so should have taken my big one. On the other hand, Jonathon wouldn't have been able to borrow my lens if I'd had my big one so, who knows what would have been best!

Down into Camara de Lobos, so called because of the monk seals that used to live there. Camara de Lobos is a fishing village and one of the reasons it is well known is because Winston Churchill painted a picture (or two) of the cove whilst in Madeira.

The harbour was a bit different to the one in Funchal!

We had no idea what the skin type things were that were hanging from and around the boats.

They take their dominoes very seriously.

We had hoped to have lunch in Camara de Lobos but there was nowhere we fancied and the only restaurant we found (as opposed to cafes) was shut so we wended our way back to Funchal.

<--- We gave the cable cars a miss this time around.

The sign on the right is for the Post Office --->

Jonathon took this photo to prove we weren't the only ones taking photos and to disprove the theory that the only visitors to Madeira are the "newly wed or nearly dead". There were more younger visitors this year and our driver from the airport told us that they are seeing some people visit who were going to Egypt and Tunisia etc but, because of the unrest in those countries, have decided to go to Madeira instead.

Back to the hotel for lunch or so we thought until we were walking past a restaurant called Antonio's (just down the road) and popped in there instead. Very nice food etc.

We would find it difficult to stay at Quinta da Casa Branca and not wander round the garden with our cameras at some point during the week so here goes. The gardens were as pretty as ever (for more photos taken over our various visits, go to the Other Gardens - QCB page).

This is the tip of an aloe leaf in case you were wondering

Our room is on the left. From there it's not a bad walk to breakfast - which can be eaten inside or out depending on the temperature and your personal choice.

Breakfast and lunch restaurant

Cat wasn't very friendly (very nervous) but quite decorative in the garden!

We both liked these textured leaves

No idea what this is but there were a few of them hanging from the palm trees

The house isn't part of the hotel

There was a whole hedge of the pretty smelling flowers on the right. The scent was really strong both in the evening and when the sun was out.

This area is just outside the spa

Thursday was a day to stay inside because it started drizzly. We had hoped to go to Islas Desertas but the guys had decided earlier in the week that the weather wasn't going to be good enough so postponed the trip to Sunday. One day we'll get there!

Staying in gave me a good opportunity to wander round the hotel (not that it's big) and take a few photos.

First stop the health club for pounding about on the treadmill (Shirley only). There were other bits of equipment as well but I stuck to those I know!

I spotted another cat on the way back from the gym. Amused to see this sign - don't think I've seen a sign saying don't feed the cats before. Having said that, there were quite a few cats around so you can see why they don't want to encourage them.

Breakfast was inside today but the breakfast and lunch restaurant isn't far from the pool so a quick diversion on the way back to our room. Jonathon actually went for a swim on Thursday afternoon - he said they were telling fibs about the water temperature being 25C. He wasn't quite blue when he came back to the room but I don't think he'll be rushing to go swimming again. Needless to say it was far too cold for me to go anywhere near it.

Then a stroll back through the garden to the main part of the hotel. First the drive, then the entrance and finally the reception area.

On rainy days the lounge and the bookcases are very useful. Jonathon got through books at a rate of knots - so many to choose from.

It's probably not the prettiest building from the outside (even if it did win an architectural award in 1999) ...

Rooms on ground floor, reception and bar above

These are the standard rooms

These are the superior rooms

... but the views from reception (left) and the Deck Bar (right) are pretty good. The Deck Bar is where afternoon tea is served - including home made cakes and freshly baked scones either with or without raisins. They were just yummy.

In addition to the breakfast and lunch restaurant there are a couple of posh restaurants. We didn't go to either this time around but last time we were here we went to the downstairs one. Very nice too but the lunch portions are so big we simply didn't want dinner as well

The hotel very kindly left us some kind of fruit in our room every day. We started with bananas then progressed to papaya, custard apple, passion fruit and mango. We didn't even know what the custard apple was so had to look it up on the internet! At least when we got grapes we knew what they were and how to eat them.

Friday saw us back on Gaviao - double treat this time as we got to see two different species of dolphin - Bottlenosed and Spotted. The Bottlenosed were cruising about not doing much but the Spotted were whizzing around. Both lots came right up to the boat - they like playing in the bow wave.

The dolphins above are all Bottlenosed. The next lot are the Spotted ones. As you can see, the Spotted Dolphins were a lot more active. Although you can't tell from the photos, they are a lot smaller than the Bottlenosed Dolphins.

We did the normal route today as we weren't the only guests on the boat. So ... to the cliffs near Camara de Lobos - the second highest cliffs in the world. They farm potatoes and tomatoes at the bottom. They can grow things because most of the wind and rain comes from the north and it is at the south so well protected. The only way to get to this "garden" is either by boat or cable car - not sure I'd fancy either. As Jonathon said, if I left my spade behind he wouldn't be going to get it for me!

More farming info - most of the farming is done on terraces because the island is so steep. Up to c100m they farm mainly bananas whereas higher up they can farm grapes and other fruit.

Grapes are used either for the wine (for which Madeira is famous) or for selling as fruit in the supermarkets.

The farmland above is inland from Camara de Lobos, which we saw from the sea today.

The sky was very interesting. It rained later but, thankfully, only got heavy after we'd got back to the hotel.

More seagulls around today. We saw some "helping" one of the fishermen - don't suppose he was too happy but he didn't seem too stressed about it - perhaps he's used to it.

One last look across the sea at the off shore islands, back to Marina Terrace for lunch and then the trek back up the hill to the hotel to pack ready to leave tomorrow.

We had a really relaxing time - just what we were looking for - and know where to go back to if we need a week's R&R again.

Madeira 2011
We went back to Madeira because we needed somewhere we knew we'd be well looked after and where we could relax. Work had been somewhat stressful so Shirley needed a rest and a chance to get caught up on her sleep and her shoulders un-knotted. The weather was kind to us and the massage lady very good; the staff at Quinta da Casa Branca were as professional and friendly as ever and all was well with the world. The first couple of days our cameras didn't even come out of the case! I think it's the first time we'd been on holiday and not had a list of things we wanted to do, places we wanted to see but we'd been to Madeira before and whilst it would have been lovely to revisit some of our favourite places we deliberately didn't hire a car so we weren't tempted to hare around. Please see earlier holiday photos for pictures of the island (in 2007 and 2009). When Tuesday arrived we went off to see some dolphins.
	A new boat for us, we went out on Gaviao. A lovely wooden sailing boat and whist it was not as fast as the catamarans it was also not as busy so we had a lovely time on our "private" trip. As you can see it was a lovely sunny day with plenty of buzz about the harbour.
		Jonathon perched in one of his favourite places on a boat - pretending to be a masthead.
	We saw some common dolphins - very friendly they were too coming right up to the boat to say hello and see who we were.


	There were a few birds flying about and a number of different kinds of boats to have a look at. These fishing boats looked tiny compared to some of the tourist boats and minute compared to the cruise ships.




	Inevitable gulls. We thought we'd seen some sheerwaters as well but no photos so who knows.




Rather than then do the standard tourist trip along the coast the skipper agreed to bring us back in seaward - much more fun playing in the waves! That didn't stop us taking a few pictures of the island from the boat.
		It was fine not having a car - plenty of exercise walking down into the town. The walk back up wasn't as much fun but there was plenty to see along the way and we could have pudding at lunch time as we knew we were going to be walking it off. Marina Terrace was one of our favourites for lunch - especially their "steak on a stone" and the scabbard fillet with banana - very tasty.


They say Madeira is like an open air greenhouse and there are certainly plenty of flowers and trees to admire as you walk around. Whilst the plants are lovely, we didn't get quite as close as the little chap in the middle picture below. His grandma was quite happy for us to take his photo but didn't offer to join in.

There are lots of these lovely creatures as well. They move like lightening but this one was very obliging and stayed still for a few seconds.
	The lady on the left is Elizabeth of Austria. Born in Munich in 1837. The statue on the right gave us mixed feelings. It meant we weren't far from the hotel but there was one last, very steep hill to walk up before we got there.
Of course, no busy day is complete without a soak in the jacuzzi so we spent a bit of time in there as well. More time than we did in the gym, you'll be surprised to know.

On Wednesday we decided to do a hop on, hop off bus tour - something we'd not done in Funchal before. Having consulted with the hotel reception team we decided on the red bus as that also took us to Camara de Lobos. We had to wait at some of the city centre stops while people (like the woman in the photo) tried to persuade passers by to join the bus. We saw various interesting buildings and views along the way. The commentary was in English along with various other languages but through ear phones and the bus was too loud for me to be able to hear what the man was saying most of the time so I just had to enjoy the views!


		We stopped at a couple of view points so had a bit longer to take a photo or two. Jonathon managed to get a panorama shot at one of them. I'd taken the little camera because it was lighter but I wasn't used to having a camera that takes more than a second to focus so should have taken my big one. On the other hand, Jonathon wouldn't have been able to borrow my lens if I'd had my big one so, who knows what would have been best!

	Down into Camara de Lobos, so called because of the monk seals that used to live there. Camara de Lobos is a fishing village and one of the reasons it is well known is because Winston Churchill painted a picture (or two) of the cove whilst in Madeira.
The harbour was a bit different to the one in Funchal! We had no idea what the skin type things were that were hanging from and around the boats.
	They take their dominoes very seriously.

		We had hoped to have lunch in Camara de Lobos but there was nowhere we fancied and the only restaurant we found (as opposed to cafes) was shut so we wended our way back to Funchal.

	<--- We gave the cable cars a miss this time around. The sign on the right is for the Post Office --->
Jonathon took this photo to prove we weren't the only ones taking photos and to disprove the theory that the only visitors to Madeira are the "newly wed or nearly dead". There were more younger visitors this year and our driver from the airport told us that they are seeing some people visit who were going to Egypt and Tunisia etc but, because of the unrest in those countries, have decided to go to Madeira instead.		Back to the hotel for lunch or so we thought until we were walking past a restaurant called Antonio's (just down the road) and popped in there instead. Very nice food etc.
We would find it difficult to stay at Quinta da Casa Branca and not wander round the garden with our cameras at some point during the week so here goes. The gardens were as pretty as ever (for more photos taken over our various visits, go to the Other Gardens - QCB page).
	This is the tip of an aloe leaf in case you were wondering
	Our room is on the left. From there it's not a bad walk to breakfast - which can be eaten inside or out depending on the temperature and your personal choice.
Breakfast and lunch restaurant		Cat wasn't very friendly (very nervous) but quite decorative in the garden!


We both liked these textured leaves		No idea what this is but there were a few of them hanging from the palm trees

		The house isn't part of the hotel

	There was a whole hedge of the pretty smelling flowers on the right. The scent was really strong both in the evening and when the sun was out.

	This area is just outside the spa
Thursday was a day to stay inside because it started drizzly. We had hoped to go to Islas Desertas but the guys had decided earlier in the week that the weather wasn't going to be good enough so postponed the trip to Sunday. One day we'll get there!		Staying in gave me a good opportunity to wander round the hotel (not that it's big) and take a few photos.
First stop the health club for pounding about on the treadmill (Shirley only). There were other bits of equipment as well but I stuck to those I know!


	I spotted another cat on the way back from the gym. Amused to see this sign - don't think I've seen a sign saying don't feed the cats before. Having said that, there were quite a few cats around so you can see why they don't want to encourage them.

Breakfast was inside today but the breakfast and lunch restaurant isn't far from the pool so a quick diversion on the way back to our room. Jonathon actually went for a swim on Thursday afternoon - he said they were telling fibs about the water temperature being 25C. He wasn't quite blue when he came back to the room but I don't think he'll be rushing to go swimming again. Needless to say it was far too cold for me to go anywhere near it.		Then a stroll back through the garden to the main part of the hotel. First the drive, then the entrance and finally the reception area.

On rainy days the lounge and the bookcases are very useful. Jonathon got through books at a rate of knots - so many to choose from.
It's probably not the prettiest building from the outside (even if it did win an architectural award in 1999) ...
Rooms on ground floor, reception and bar above	These are the standard rooms	These are the superior rooms
	... but the views from reception (left) and the Deck Bar (right) are pretty good. The Deck Bar is where afternoon tea is served - including home made cakes and freshly baked scones either with or without raisins. They were just yummy.

	In addition to the breakfast and lunch restaurant there are a couple of posh restaurants. We didn't go to either this time around but last time we were here we went to the downstairs one. Very nice too but the lunch portions are so big we simply didn't want dinner as well
The hotel very kindly left us some kind of fruit in our room every day. We started with bananas then progressed to papaya, custard apple, passion fruit and mango. We didn't even know what the custard apple was so had to look it up on the internet! At least when we got grapes we knew what they were and how to eat them.
Friday saw us back on Gaviao - double treat this time as we got to see two different species of dolphin - Bottlenosed and Spotted. The Bottlenosed were cruising about not doing much but the Spotted were whizzing around. Both lots came right up to the boat - they like playing in the bow wave.


The dolphins above are all Bottlenosed. The next lot are the Spotted ones. As you can see, the Spotted Dolphins were a lot more active. Although you can't tell from the photos, they are a lot smaller than the Bottlenosed Dolphins.



We did the normal route today as we weren't the only guests on the boat. So ... to the cliffs near Camara de Lobos - the second highest cliffs in the world. They farm potatoes and tomatoes at the bottom. They can grow things because most of the wind and rain comes from the north and it is at the south so well protected. The only way to get to this "garden" is either by boat or cable car - not sure I'd fancy either. As Jonathon said, if I left my spade behind he wouldn't be going to get it for me!

		More farming info - most of the farming is done on terraces because the island is so steep. Up to c100m they farm mainly bananas whereas higher up they can farm grapes and other fruit. Grapes are used either for the wine (for which Madeira is famous) or for selling as fruit in the supermarkets.
	The farmland above is inland from Camara de Lobos, which we saw from the sea today. The sky was very interesting. It rained later but, thankfully, only got heavy after we'd got back to the hotel.
More seagulls around today. We saw some "helping" one of the fishermen - don't suppose he was too happy but he didn't seem too stressed about it - perhaps he's used to it.
		One last look across the sea at the off shore islands, back to Marina Terrace for lunch and then the trek back up the hill to the hotel to pack ready to leave tomorrow. We had a really relaxing time - just what we were looking for - and know where to go back to if we need a week's R&R again.
	Back to Holiday index