RachelG

Interesting plants

Beautiful plantin g

Topiary garden

View from cable car

April 19, 2024–Funchal, Madeira After a nice QUIET month might’s sleep, we awoke alongside in Funchal. We were docked in a crescent shaped bay. There were some very large sailboats in port as well. To the left of the ship, there were what appeared to be some large hotels. To the right, the city on the slopes of a fairly steep small mountain. The sun was rising, and it really was very pretty. High temperature for the day was expected to be in the low 70’s. We were on a tour that first took us to the cable car. It is relatively new, very modern, and goes basically straight up the side of the mountain. The sun was shining, and no clouds, so we had good views of the city. I think there are very few flat surfaces in this place. Everything goes up and down with lots of stairs and very steep streets. Once at the top we climbed 70+ stairs to an old church. Then the excitement-we came down in wicker toboggans, steered and braked by 2 fearless strong men. It was great fun. George couldn’t believe I had signed us up to do it. They would never allow such a thing in the US.—too much liability. We then went downtown to an embroidery place. I am an embroiderer, so I really appreciated the work that goes into these items. Some exquisite, but we didn’t buy anything as I lots of embroidery done by myself, mother and grandmother, most which I never use. Then we drove to the botanical gardens which is on the side of a very steep hill. One thing both George and I love is a good garden, and this was particularly outstanding with plants from all over the world which are well labeled. Lots of varieties we aren’t familiar with, plus a topiary garden and large collection of succulents and cacti. We returned to the ship and took off in search of lunch. For some reason, neither of our phones were working properly, so we just walked until we found a place that looked good. Il Vivaldi was very good and not expensive. George had fresh caught grilled tuna and I had an asparagus pasta dish, both great. Back to the ship, we went to trivia and won, along with several other teams as it was really easy today, and we had a perfect score. We took a post trivia nap because we had to prepare for dinner in chartreuse. I again went with the crispy escargot, but the had the beet salad and rack of lamb. All really good. The show was Talents of Grandeur which was a showcase of all the individual performers. It was really good and topped off by a song performed by Lorraine.

Dessert in Prime 7 is a work of art

April 19, 2024–cruising the Atlantic There was slight rocking of the ship through the night, but not the loud noises,so we slept well. We moved the clock ahead yet another hour. I got up to go to Yoga. The instructor never showed up. He was putting out sign up sheets the first couple of days of the cruise but stopped that, and has been showing up progressively later and later for class and making excuses that the seas are too rough. I am about done with him. So I did some yoga and Pilates on my own, then went to Coffee Connection to do some work. Sun was shining outside. I decided to walk outside. At first, I was the only person up there. It was windy but a perfect temperature in the 60s. Soon others joined me. Then it clouded up all of a sudden and started pouring rain. I was at the opposite end of the track from the door to inside, and by the time I got to the door, the sun was out again and the rain had stopped. So I continued my walk. We had special lunch in Compass Rose with the guest chef. THe salad and fish were perfect and totally delicious. Chocolate lava cake decadent. I cross stitched in the afternoon. Trivia was again very hard with only one science question and no medical or geography questions, so we came in 4th again. We decided to give Prime 7 a do over. My lamb was perfect as was george's steak, so they have redeemed themselves. The show was Josh Henderson who sang a variety of rock, everything from Aerosmith to Rolling Stones, and a bunch in between. Not particularly my preference in music, but he is clearly very talented and did a good performance.

Grocery store cat

The pools

Some nice vegetation

Pico Island across from Faial Island

Capelinhos volcano

April17,2042–Horta, Faial Island, Azores At last! A peaceful nights sleep. Sea was calm, and we slept very well. When we awoke, we were at the dock in a harbor which circled around with a cute looking town and very green hills on one side and a tall volcano on Pico Island on the other. It had been raining earlier, but now the sun was out. Temperature was in low 60s, but felt cooler due to strong wind. Our excursion for the day was a five mile hike from Capelinhos to Varadouro, but first we had to hike to the bus. It was quite a ways off. Not an issue for us as we were planning to hike, but could definitely be a problem for someone with mobility issues. We boarded the bus which took us through town the into the countryside. The current main industry here now is agriculture. We saw lots of dairy and beef cattle. They don’t have fences but rather stake out the cows on long tethers and then move them periodically. This would never work on our ranch. Our guide said the cows were happy, but I think our cattle which are free to roam anywhere they want in a multi acre field are probably happier. The fields were very lush and green though. We drove along the coastline until we reached Capelinhos which is the volcano that erupted most recently in 1957, and continued erupting for over a year. The eruption added a lot of new land to the island, and vegetation is just now starting to sprout in the volcanic soil. We saw the old lighthouse that was once completely covered in volcanic ash, then set off on our hike. The trail was good, smooth, made of volcanic soil. We saw lots of interesting plants and observed the differences in plants the further we got from the volcano. There were interesting volcanic rock formations as well. We ended up in Varadouro which is a nice seaside village with sea pools formed from volcanic rock. Back on the bus, we commenced circumnavigation of the island via narrow winding roads with a short stop at a market where we bought some locally produced cheese. Faial really is a very pretty island, and I would return. After we got back to Horta, George and I walked into town to explore and have lunch. It started raining on and off. It would pour for a couple of minutes, then the sun would come out, then it would pour again. We found a burger place for lunch which George wanted to try. They advertised local beef. Different from our burgers-Homemaid buns which tasted sweet, ground beef which was just ok topped with coleslaw, pickles, good bacon. Quality of beef was not up to our standards, but we were hungry, and it filled the spot. Back on board, we did poorly at trivia, coming in 4th. Not enough science or medical questions. We were sailing out of the bay during trivia and on our way to Madeira. We met new friends for dinner. And an amazing thing, the father of our new friend was George’s favorite professor in seminary. They had a great time telling stories. The food was really good too, some great fish and a sweet pea soup which was outstanding. The show was a sort of Argentinian tango show. It was really good with lots of amazing dancing and great costumes.

It is not an issue in smooth seas, just when rough. We slept great the first night and last night. In rough seas, the entire ship seems to groan and creak. I can hear it when walking down the hall. we are in 909