Hochmuth Adventures 2024 - Life is a Highway

Day 5 - Monday, February 19, 2024 - Funchal Another 8:30 pickup for our tour of Funchal. We started at the Farmers market and specifically at the fish market. It was interesting to see what the black scabbard that we ate looked like. We were then able to wander and check out the fruits, veggies, flowers and souvenirs also sold there. Then we visited an embroidery shop and saw how they copied the patterns onto the cloth and how they determined how much their workers would be paid.  They also showed how they cut the patterns and finished off the product. This shop has 60,000 patterns now. They started with 40,000 but they have bought patterns from closing shops. It is a dying art. Next we went to St. Ann Street, the oldest in Madiera. For years it used to be a drug and crime infested area until they got artists to go down and paint the doors and it restored the area. Now it is THE spot in Funchal.  We went then to Monte, we saw the church, cable car and where you can ride the to...

Day 6 - Tuesday, February 20, 2024 - Funchal Today we didn't have to meet our driver until 9:00 and we are exploring the western part of the island. Our guide said that between our 2 tours we will have seen 80% of the island. On our drive we saw lots of banana plants which grow in the lower altitudes. Our first stop was a little fishing village, called Camara da Lobos, that Churchill used to visit and was often found here painting. Next was Cabo Girao, Europe's highest cliff at 580 meters. Unfortunately the line to buy tickets to go on the platform was too long for our allotted time. Then we saw the church with the crystal chandeliers at Ribiera Brava.Our next stop was at Parque Florestal, Fanal, where we saw all the hugh Bay leaf trees. The views along the way were stunning, the roads narrow and winding and the terracing of the land a marvel. Another lookout was Ribiera Da Janela. We stopped at a beautiful restaurant, Lapa Bay,  in Porto Moniz for lunch and had a delicious mea...