The major place we intend to visit today is Monte with the focus being on the Gardens and the Church. The Gardens because we want to get a headstart on the endemic birds that can be found on Madeira and the Church because the last emperor of the Austro-Hungarian empire is buried here. But first we make our way to the base station of the cable car that will take us up to Monte. We have heard stories about queues but as we are arriving here in the afternoon the queues are likely at the top not at the bottom. In fact we get our own capsule which is nice as you have to jump in it while it is moving, slower but still moving.
And then we start going up in our own private capsule and start enjoying the views while ensuring we do not move the capsule too much, who knows how resilient it is?
The views over Funchal, as we make our way up to Monte, are beautiful and breathtaking. You can see canyons and clouds in the distance as you make our way over red roofs and houses while climbing, always climbing.
And then we are at the top. We make our way out of the capsule without falling and after rejecting the obligatory photo we start exploring. We have to return by 18 to the cable car or else we will be walking so we have only a few hours and we decide to start with the church which might also have irregular hours. On the way we pass a famous attraction, the Wicker Sledges that they use to push people down the hill, luckily or unluckily depending on the point of view today is Sunday and no one is pushed.
Right next to it is the Our Lady of Monte church, high on a pedestal it seems, and quite a few stairs away from us at the bottom of the rock pedestal. It is a relatively new church, 19th century, and its claim to fame is that it holds the final resting place of the last Austrian emperor.
We make our way to the top exhausted while envying the many kestrels who flitter around and seem to just laugh at us. Bad birds!!
At the top of the stairs is seemingly the resting spot for everyone that dared to climb them and we are now asking ourselves if the church is open, there are many people here but no one seems to be exiting or entering the church through the seemingly immobile main doors.
Hesitantly we go to the doors and push and pull and a wonder happens, they do open. Inside there are, surprisingly, far fewer people and we spend some time exploring the interesting church. Of special interest is the ceiling which seems to be from painted wooden beams, quite beautiful.
The main altar is also quite beautiful but the most busy section of the church is the alcove where the late Emperor lies. There are flowers and lots of signs from people wanting a return of the monarchy, or at least being nostalgic about it. Mostly from Hungary and not so many from Austria surprisingly. Here we also find out the the emperor, Charles I, had been made a saint, no idea why and it seems surprising really.
Outside we explore the streets a bit more but then it is time to hurry to the Monte Gardens to ensure we can visit them fully before they close.
While the Gardens are the main attraction to us there are also a few small museums inside and we are able to visit a couple of them. The first one is right next to the entrance we used, a Contemporary Art museum which is quite small but has an interesting exhibit.
And then it is time to follow the trail and explore the garden. We are trying first to remain at a level elevation as we are not sure about the layout and how much climbing and descending we have to do.
And then we see our first endemic, a very tame Madeira Chaffinch, right next to us. It is a beautiful bird and we enjoy seeing it as well a few Blackcaps in the trees nearby.
Spiders are also welcome as long as they don’t get in our face, given how weird they look here, and butterflies are welcome in every capacity.
The trail continues to be beautiful through a jungle like environment punctuated by fake Greek and Roman ruins and small water features enjoyed by birds.
We stop at one of the water features to look for birds but none are really visiting this one specifically and it is popular with other visitors so we move on.
We know reach a different boundary for the park, this one surprisingly is on top of the wall near the boundary road. In fact the boundary road seems to be buried between the Garden and the houses on the other side, maybe it is to channel water in case of flash floods? But soon our attention is diverted by some movement and when we look closer there are peacocks here, something unexpected really.
And then we arrive at the first of many overlooks of Funchal. We cannot believe how far we climbed but of course we enjoy the cooler temperatures here and the fact that we are in the clouds.
The centerpiece of the Garden is the Monte Palace and that is where we are going next. It is quite an impressive building and we enjoy the passage nearby which is quite interesting and fun to explore.
This area, at the back of the main building, is quite beautiful indeed, it looks right out of the movies. There is ivy covering anything, small fountains and shrines and of course the beautiful corridor that we explore thoroughly.
Next we walk around the main building which is very impressive and arrive at another viewpoint that overlook a feature which seems to be lifted directly from a Japanese Garden. We assume that the previous owner was very in love with either the Japanese culture in general or gardens in special but it is quite disjunct from the rest.
Next is the famous lake with a waterfall, swans and lots of other water features. It is also the most popular place in the garden with throngs of people everywhere, sitting, standing, eating, drinking or just relaxing near the lake.
We continue exploring the many details along the lake while being watched by lizards and birds and who knows what else from the bushes.
We are now higher up and we are getting different views of both the castle and the lake, they are really special from this vantage point and we catch our breath for a few minutes while enjoying the view.
There are also various artworks around the way, some easily understandable and some that we wonder if they are the artwork or just the installation waiting for the artwork to arrive? Still we enjoy both as we continue exploring this interesting garden.
In this are we find the second endemic out of three, the beautiful Madeiran firecrest. They are quite curious and interested in us and we enjoy them chattering all around us before moving on. And getting a surprise, there are also flamingoes here but in a more zoo like setting.
Now we are climbing back towards the entrance using both European styled paths and Japanese bridges, it feels we are moving from one continent to another as we continue up and up.
And then, a bit by luck, we find another of the small museums. It is still open even though it closes in 15 minutes and it is about geology so in we go to explore.
While small we find it quite interesting, especially the areas were different geodes are represented and you can see how they must have looked before being excavated.
And then we are out but still have about half an hour to explore the area before the last cable car leaves. We decide to explore another Garden which is free but quite impressive and even has a cache that we fail to find in the limited time available to us.
We are in time for our ride back to Funchal but unfortunately we do not get our own private capsule this time. Even worse we are stuck with a group with two small children that jump inside the capsule making it sway and it seems quite dangerous. So even though the views are great we are happy when we reach terra firma and can go our separate way. It is time to find something to eat and explore a bit more before going to sleep as we are quite tired after a very long day.
