Today will be a more relaxing day. We will visit the statue of Christ in Garajau, return the car, take a dip in the sea and walk around Funchal.
Garajau
Since we have to return the car by 12 and we are planning to visit the statue of Christ in Garajau, we have to get up very early again. We have breakfast, pay 20 Euro for the car from the parking lot and drive towards Garajau. By being here so early, we have a completely empty parking lot and the statue to ourselves. On a slightly smaller scale, it resembles the one in Buenos Aires. Apart from the statue, there is a view of the sea and those interested can take a cable car down to the beach.
Statue of Christ the King of Garajau
Garajau
We don't have time for this anymore. In the parking lot we are still using water in a petcock and paper napkins to try to wash the car so that we don't have to go to the car wash, when the driver of the van warns us that it's not an issue here and they will wash the car themselves. One less thing to worry about. We get in the car and drive to the car rental place. The return went without any problems, so we say goodbye to our Red Killer for the last time and start thinking about what to do with the rest of the day. Originally we wanted to go to the beach in Machico or Calheta, but we couldn't make it. However, the desire to take a dip in the sea remains, so we find something closer on the map, which is Praia Formosa beach, which is about 2-3 km away. The road is lined with apartments and hotels. The beach is a bit tucked away and rocky. But it has black pebbles, for example, compared to Croatia. The water temperature is nothing for long swims, but no iceberg either. Worse though were the waves and the slope of the beach. Because when a wave washed you in, it also took a bunch of rocks with it, which were annoyingly pelting you. The beach being quite steep, the water pulled you in a strong current into the sea. A small child would pull it back at ease and not pull out again, which we witnessed at the end when a little girl ran into the water and then had to be pulled halfway up the beach.
Farewell
Banana trees
Praia Formosa
We lounged around for about an hour, and then we headed to Funchal, hoping to eat somewhere on the way. Here's some advice. Madeira has restaurants and bistros. You can eat in both, only the restaurants are once as expensive as the bistros, with prices in the bistros being comparable to our restaurants, but for a western country, they have relatively cheap beer here. A Madeira-style bistro is a cross between a restaurant and a patisserie. Inside it looks like a pastry shop, outside it looks like a restaurant garden. Normally you get a menu and you get service, so it's basically no different from a restaurant. We found the perfect bistro halfway there. We had something like a schnitzel for lunch and got fries and rice to go with it. Price about 8 Euro.
After lunch we continue along Avenida do Infante, which will lead us to Santa Catarina Park. From there you can see the large pier and also the building with the CR7 sign. We wondered what kind of building is that? In the evening, being the biggest nerds, we read that it was the famous Cristiano Ronaldo museum.
Funchal - Museum CR7
Funchal - Park Santa Catarina
Funchal - Infante D. Henrique
From the park we continue to Avenida Arriaga. There you will find a bunch of restaurants and the theatre of Baltazar Dias. There's also a solid line of taxis waiting for their customers. A little further on is the nice Bank of Portugal building and at the end of the street is the Sé do Funchal Cathedral.
Funchal - Avenida Arriaga
Funchal - Bank of Portugal building
Funchal - Cathedral of Sé do Funchal
That ends today's tour and we head towards our accommodation. There, I can only manage dinner and Port. Janet is still in the mood for a taste of the nightlife, so she's heading into town later in the evening. Tomorrow we'll explore the rest of Funchal.
Useful links:
Auto Rent a Car Madeira
Pelourinho Apartments by An Island Apart
More accommodation in Funchal
