Day 134: Funchal, Madeira - More Wine ..

Today, we spent a delightful day on the island of Madeira. We had our third World Cruise Party and then walked through the town of Funchal. A lot is happening on a Saturday, made easier because the harbor is right at the end of town, making everything very walkable. 

Madeira is an island about 300 miles west of Morocco and a couple of hundred miles north of the Canary Islands. You probably know it for its wine. 🍷 Geologically, it’s part of Africa, yet culturally and politically, it’s 100% European and a full Portuguese Region. Like all the other islands out this way, it was created through violent volcanic activity.

The island was originally uninhabited, but the Portuguese discovered and settled it in 1419 and 1420. It was the first piece of land “colonized” by the European powers as they began the expansion and land grabs in the 15th and 16th centuries. However, there is strong documentary evidence that the Romans knew about it and that the Vikings had a temporary settlement between 900 and 1030 AD. (You learn that those Vikings got everywhere - they definitely were the first to land in the Americas, and probably Africa, too!)

The original Portuguese settlers were farmers and fishermen who willingly left their home country, still ravaged by the aftereffects of the Black Death, to live in a country where they controlled the land instead of the nobility. They produced large amounts of wheat and sugar as well as fish and vegetables and built a thriving economy. Madeira is one of the islands where the concept of slave labour on a sugar plantation was first applied. The Portuguese landowners perfected the system, which was then exported to Sao Tome and Brazil. As sugar production shifted to Brazil in the 1700s, the local wine business expanded and has been going strong ever since. It’s still a major part, along with tourism, of the economy even now. The first tourist guide of Madeira was produced in 1850 , specifically for the Germans and the British.

For our day, Regent hosted the third and final World Cruise mega event at the
Savoy Palace, featuring local food, drink, crafts, and entertainment. It was very colourful, and the food was outstanding—but it suffered from a shortage of seating space. (Making a bunch of 60-80-year-olds stand up for a long time leads to grumbling and complaints.) I'd rate the event in New Zealand as the best; this would be second, and Bali came in third. 


Because the ship was docked right in the harbor, it was an easy walk into town. It was a happening place! I encountered a political rally (there is a local election coming up), a flower festival, a folk dance show, and a group dance competition for 5-18-year-olds. There were people, mainly young women, dressed in folk costumes all over the town. Also - no surprise, yet another replica of the Maria - although this one was in working order. It did have twin inboards substituting for sail, though. Columbus would have loved that.


Although CC had many statues dedicated to him, the other local hero is Christiano
Ronaldo. Old #7, a football legend, has a museum, bar, and hotel named after him. 

So, we really enjoyed our visit to Funchal, and .. strangely enough, we'll be back here on May 23rd as part of the Transatlantic voyage from Lisbon to New York. We're looking forward to further exploration of the town and maybe checking out the funicular ride to the top of the hills.

We have a sea day coming up and then we arrive in Portimao, on the Portuguese mainland. According to the maps, we are 3,391 miles from our home in Philadelphia and 4,122 miles from Florida. 



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