It’s the end of Day 11 aboard the 2013 Disney Magic Eastbound Transatlantic cruise and we’re steaming for the port of Gibraltar. Today was the first day we’ve seen land in six days when we docked at the lovely, lovely port of Funchal, Madeira.
Since we were actually going to be arriving at a physical destination, it meant we were going to need to get up at a decent hour and go walk around on solid ground. Seeing how the previous six days in a row did not require very much effort, other than going from nap status to the bar to dinner and back to sleeping, this was going to necessitate extra effort!
I arose at about 7:30, along with the sun, which was a nice change of pace. There’s been a storm brewing in the North Atlantic for a few days now and as we began our approach to Madeira, we were seeing some of the clouds from the low pressure system, which made for a pretty sunrise.
When you pull into ports of call on cruises, you have the choice of booking an excursion through the cruise line, booking an excursion on your own, directly through a local tour operator, or just getting off the ship and venturing around the port/town on your own. While booking through the cruise line is almost always going to be more expensive, the benefit is that the cruise line will accept the responsibility of making sure you get back to the ship and won’t leave the port without you. Book on your own and miss the ship’s last whistle, it’s up to you to find a way to the next port of call in order to catch the boat.
The excursion we booked today through DCL was the History and Scenic Madeira tour. The trip started off a little rocky in a local museum, that while it looked fine, the tour operator was being rushed through the exhibit by one of the children of our fellow passengers. She was pulling the tour guide from room to room in the museum. Aren’t kids just adorable?
Any transgressions were quickly forgiven as we made our way to the coffee shop within the museum where, included with the price of the tour, we were provided with a Madeiran honey cake and coffee. The honey cake was akin to a cheese danish, but even tastier. And my espresso was the first real coffee I’ve had since being on the ship, so it was savored and very much appreciated. Side note: DCL does a really bad job with coffee. They have the Cove Cafe on board, where for an extra charge, you can get espresso-based drinks like lattes and americanos, but otherwise, the house brew tastes like it’s been filtered through an old sock. Yes, I probably am a bit of a coffee snob, but I don’t think I’m being snobbish in this instance and will have to consider bringing some Starbucks Via packets with me next cruise.
After the delightful espresso and honey cake, our tour group walked a short distance to the cable car station for a ride to the top of one of Madeira’s many mountains. Madeira, like the Canary Islands and the Azores, were all born of volcanic activity in the Atlantic and as a result, Madeira has some of the tallest cliffs in the world.
We arrived near the top of the mountain, into low hanging clouds and a beautiful, cool drizzle of rain. Since our group was about 40 people in size and the cable cars held a maximum of six people, we had some time to kill once we reached the top and took advantage of the time with some beautiful photo ops and food from a local street vendor. I don’t know what the food was called, but it was essentially Portuguese chorizo sausage with cheese in freshly grilled dough. Think bagel dog, but not as much sausage and much, much tastier. They were served hot and garlic butter was applied to the inside before serving. It cost 2.50 Euro and was fantastic, and earned me a couple of canine friends of the stray variety.
Once the group was all assembled, we ambled about the area, visiting a church and purchasing some goods from a local vendor. But the core reason for ascending the mountain was to ride in a traditional Madeiran toboggan. For the last 100 years, natives on the island have used wicker toboggans for transport down the mountain. Initially, the baskets transported goods and people, but for the past few decades, the main purpose has been to give tourists a good thrill.
Using my iPhone, I took a video of the entire six and one half minute experience, but due to the limitations of Internet bandwidth on the high seas, I’ll need to wait until we’re back home to upload the video. In a nutshell, two toboggan operators pull the cart, which seats two, down a functioning road and once enough inertia is built up, they jump on the back of the sledge, steering it around corners, as well as oncoming and passing traffic. While I thought it would be faster, the wife thought it was pretty exhilarating. Perhaps it was because if we rolled, she would have been my cushion!
As the tour wrapped up, we were treated to a Madeiran lunch of black scabbard fish. It’s a local catch that dwells in depths of approximately 1800 meters and once cleaned, it’s black skin is removed and you’re left with a tasty, white fish.
After the tour was over, we elected for some window shopping on our own, including a visit to a local grocery store we like to patronize, where we got to see the black scabbards in person, before cleaning. Yikes!
This was our second visit to Madeira and it’s truly one of the most beautiful islands we’ve ever visited. It’s Spring here (a concept unknown to most Arizonans) and everything is in bloom. The population of the island is about 120,000 and many of them take advantage of the volcanic soil and everywhere you look, there are gardens and vineyards thriving in this lush environment. A lot of Portuguese, Spaniards and Brits visit the island for holiday and I seem to remember that even Winston Churchill enjoyed taking a break on this particular island.
Once back on board, power naps were in order before we headed down to dinner. It’s now about half past 11:00 and the low pressure system seems to have made its way further south, as the seas are quite active, apparent winds are blowing at 42 knots and the ship is a rocking. We don’t really mind the ship moving too much at night, as it’s a bit like being rocked to sleep.
Tomorrow is another sea day, where some recuperation from becoming land animals again, will be needed. And Thursday, we’ll visit the historic port of Gibraltar. As I watch the map channel, I see the Moroccan cities of Casablanca and Marrakech listed on the map and my inner Indiana Jones wishes we were making a stop for some North African bazar shopping. Perhaps another trip…
Cute dog