Madeira (Funchal) Portugai

We arrived in Portugal on a beautiful sunny afternoon.  I was on a Hop on Hop off bus that toured the island complete with audio recorded commentary in 12 different languages.  It was pretty interesting.

The first few pictures shows the cable cars going up to the top of the mountain.  I didn't ride them since heights were no my thing after the scary bus ride up the mountain the day before.  They were also a crazy price.

 

 Here are some street views of the downtown area from the top of the bus.

 

 

 Portugal is just how one would expect it.... White houses with brick roofs, built into the hills.  It is tropical and green with lots of plant life. These pictures were taken at the top of a cliff overlooking the ocean.  Not as high as the mountain, but close to it.
 

 Here is another of the cool stone patios that I really liked.

The next pictures were taken a lower vantage point, but closer to the ocean. 

 

 Here are a group of workers putting in a new stone patio.  Each worker has a small hammer adn is hammering the stones in one at a time.  

 Here is my whole boat.

This is a famous soccer player from the island, well a statue of him anyway.

The sun setting from the ship.  I was always at dinner when it finally went over the horizon, so this was the closest I got to the sunset.

 It was a great day.  Hit a few shops on the way back to the ship.  They make a lot of items out of cork ...belts, purses, shoes and such.  I also purchased a much needed beach towel.