Oceania Cruise to Spain - August 2014

  
     
  Funchal (Madeira), Portugal Tour=Monte Village & Botanical Gardens
         		 
     
  The city of Funchal, named for the huge amounts of fennel (funcho) that grew wild, rises straight up from the sea. The full effect of this
extraordinary geography is most evident when sailing out of the city after dark; funneling up from the harbor area to nearly 5,000 feet
of mountainous terrain, the lights of the homes and businesses rise straight up as if suspended in air, twinkling aloft in the middle of nowhere.		  
     
  After a short ride from the pier our first stop is an embroidery factory.  
     
  The factory produces more than 200 handmade items following traditional production techniques from 100 years ago.  
     
         
     
         
     
      Cable Car to the town of Monte  
     
  A modern cable car brings you up to Monte; it is a 15-minute ride with an approximate 1,800-foot incline. The trip takes you up
and over the old town of Funchal and the Ribeira de Joao Gomes valley, and deposits you in the charming town of Monte. 		 
     
  Gorgeous views over the south coast of Madeira.      
     
  Hilltop village of Monte.   Tribute to Our Lady of Fatima.  This is the 90th anniversary of the appearance.  
     
  Stairs to Nossa Senhora do Monte (Our Lady of the Mountain).      
     
  The parish of Nossa Senhora do Monte was created in 1565.      
     
         
     
  Charles I of Hapsburg was born in Austria on August 17 1887 and became Emperor of Austria and King of
Hungary in 1916.  When the empire was dissolved in 1918, he was forced into exile, first in Switzerland and later,
in Madeira, where he arrived with his wife, Empress Zita, in 1921.  In Funchal, he lived at "Villa Victoria". 
They moved to the Quista da Monte with their children where he died of pneumonia on April 1, 1922.  He was buried
in the Church of Our Lady of Monte, and on October 3, 2004, he was beautified in Rome by Pope John Paul II.		  
         
     
   In 1850, the residents created an innovative method of moving rapidly between Monte and Funchal. These carros de cesto (basket cars),
are baskets with seats on wooden skis that decend the 2.1 kilometers (1.2 mi.) down Monte streets. 		 
     
  Yes we are on the street with cars and intersections!   Just the wicker basket separates riders from the street.  
     
  Powered by two men who use their rubber soled shoes as brakes, the basket slides and glides at a considerable speed conducted by
two drivers wearing traditional white uniforms with straw boaters.		  
     
  Ernest Hemmingway described the ride as a "most exhilarating experience."