1st April 2008 - Funchal, Madeira
What a day! We had been promised that we would arrive earlier than scheduled - at 11.00am rather than 2.00pm - but this was not to be. We at first put this down to rough seas we encountered between Cape Verde and Madeira, but the reality was that our switch of port in Cape Verde actually put us about 5 or 6 hours nearer Madeira. The actual reason was more prosaic; there was already a ship in our berth at the harbour - we saw it sail out immediately before we arrived. So, 2.00pm it was.
We were well organised, or thought we were, and had a programme of activity we wished to carry out. First, post the blog and maybe do a little shopping; next, go up the cable car, then ride down the hill in the famous Funchal baskets. We then planned to go to the botanical gardens then mince around town for an hour before meeting friends for a meal.
We went straight around to the cyber cafe we used in the New Year to find it had closed. Although it directed us to one near City Hall, M went to the Tourist Office and they sent us to a different one we could not find. So, to the internet by City Hall but they refused to let us use the flash drive where we pre-prepare all of our text and photos. We tried to find another - unsuccessfully - but had wasted an hour before we got round to going to the cable cars. However, this had the merit that all the organised tours had already been through, so we rode the gondola on our own. The views from the top were stupendous and we tried to take a second cable car to the botanical gardens but were advised there was insufficient time to do that and see the gardens before the last one up which would also mean we'd miss the baskets. We therefore contented ourselves with a beer before walking round to the basket ride.
We didn't know at the time, but have since learned that 'Health and Safety' have shortened the ride to half its length and it is no longer so exciting. We only descended about half the hill, if that, and walked down the rest, largely because the cabbies wanted 15 Euro for a ride they said was 5 kms, but in fact was only a mile or so. We had a look round town and then sought an internet cafe yet again. This time, after tripping to an hotel, we were directed to a cafe which allowed us to use the flash drive, so posted the blogs since Cape Town. We then sat down for a beer to wait 20 minutes for our friends to be approached by another passenger who told us the MSVG had 'been arrested'. No-one in town knew anything about this as the announcement was made on board at 7.30pm. When they arrived by cab, we told our friends the news but decided to go to a quiet fishing village for an excellent Brazilian meal of assorted meats on skewers washed down by excellent Portuguese wine. We returned to the ship at 10.30pm to find none of the cruise staff on board. So, we cracked open a couple of bottles of wine and went to bed, none the wiser, with no time of sailing.
What a day! We had been promised that we would arrive earlier than scheduled - at 11.00am rather than 2.00pm - but this was not to be. We at first put this down to rough seas we encountered between Cape Verde and Madeira, but the reality was that our switch of port in Cape Verde actually put us about 5 or 6 hours nearer Madeira. The actual reason was more prosaic; there was already a ship in our berth at the harbour - we saw it sail out immediately before we arrived. So, 2.00pm it was.
We were well organised, or thought we were, and had a programme of activity we wished to carry out. First, post the blog and maybe do a little shopping; next, go up the cable car, then ride down the hill in the famous Funchal baskets. We then planned to go to the botanical gardens then mince around town for an hour before meeting friends for a meal.
We went straight around to the cyber cafe we used in the New Year to find it had closed. Although it directed us to one near City Hall, M went to the Tourist Office and they sent us to a different one we could not find. So, to the internet by City Hall but they refused to let us use the flash drive where we pre-prepare all of our text and photos. We tried to find another - unsuccessfully - but had wasted an hour before we got round to going to the cable cars. However, this had the merit that all the organised tours had already been through, so we rode the gondola on our own. The views from the top were stupendous and we tried to take a second cable car to the botanical gardens but were advised there was insufficient time to do that and see the gardens before the last one up which would also mean we'd miss the baskets. We therefore contented ourselves with a beer before walking round to the basket ride.
We didn't know at the time, but have since learned that 'Health and Safety' have shortened the ride to half its length and it is no longer so exciting. We only descended about half the hill, if that, and walked down the rest, largely because the cabbies wanted 15 Euro for a ride they said was 5 kms, but in fact was only a mile or so. We had a look round town and then sought an internet cafe yet again. This time, after tripping to an hotel, we were directed to a cafe which allowed us to use the flash drive, so posted the blogs since Cape Town. We then sat down for a beer to wait 20 minutes for our friends to be approached by another passenger who told us the MSVG had 'been arrested'. No-one in town knew anything about this as the announcement was made on board at 7.30pm. When they arrived by cab, we told our friends the news but decided to go to a quiet fishing village for an excellent Brazilian meal of assorted meats on skewers washed down by excellent Portuguese wine. We returned to the ship at 10.30pm to find none of the cruise staff on board. So, we cracked open a couple of bottles of wine and went to bed, none the wiser, with no time of sailing.
