It had rained overnight so we were unable to have breakfast outside because of wet cushions. Dining inside had its benefits. I chuckled at ‘The Kitchen Cat’ manoeuvring around unexpected obstacles and saying ‘I’m here’ when something was out of place. The kitchen cat is a robot that the waiters stack dirty plates and cutlery on to. When it is full it is sent to the kitchen.

After breakfast we walked to the Museum da Quinto das Cruzes. The original house is where Captain Zarco, Madeira’s first ruler, lived when the Island was the newest addition to Portugal’s overseas colonies. The house was later rebuilt as a home to the Lomelino family and now houses decorative artworks. The grounds serve as an outdoor garden to archaeological remains.

We had lunch in the café located in the gardens. The café has a spectacular view overlooking the harbour below. We arrived just in time to avoid getting soaked by a sudden downpour. We ate outside and were kept perfectly dry by strategically placed parasols. After eating we lingered a while with a glass of wine in my case and a beer for Mr C until it was time for the Convent of Santa Clara to open.

We had a short wait until the convent’s doors were opened. The church attached to the convent is stunning and gives a feeling of stepping back in time. In addition to the church, there are many architectural and artwork features in the fabric of the convent.

After our visit to the convent, we walked back to town by taking an unfamiliar route to see where it took us. We ended up near to the Sacred Art Museum so we had afternoon refreshments including cake in the café next to it. Sadly, we had to sit inside due to another sudden downpour.

When the rain had subsided, we walked back to the hotel to chill out before dinner. We intended to dine in the hotel’s restaurant but they were fully booked inside with two big groups and so were only able to accommodate us outside. At rooftop height there was a cool blustery breeze and it was quite chilly, so, we booked a table for the next evening and opted for plan B, a nearby restaurant called 1811. This bistro is connected to Blandy’s wine lodge. The food was excellent, and once again I chose scabbard fish which this time was coated in breadcrumbs and almonds. We had a bit of a banter with the waiters, one of whom took Mr C into the wine cupboard to choose the wine for the meal.

Mr C ordered a pud, tiramisu, which was accompanied by a couple of glasses of medium sweet Madeira wine. Of course, I had to sample a spoon or two of the dessert to compliment my Madeira wine. In addition to the dessert, we were served with some spiced biscuits to enjoy with the Madeira.

After our ‘Fine Dining’ I am sure you have guessed that we returned to the hotel bar for a nightcap.

We lingered over breakfast on the terrace. When the morning sunshine started to peep through the sunshade the intense heat led us to retreat indoors.

We visited the Sacred Art Museum which displays a fine collection of religious art, sculptures and icons. The artwork spans from the 15^th to the 18^th century.

After our visit we were in need of a refreshing drink which we enjoyed outside in the museum’s café. Suitably refreshed we returned to the Cathedral which, third time lucky, was fully open. Our next port of call was the nearby military museum which was closed for lunch so Mr C walked down to the harbour to check out whale watching sailings whilst I waited in a cool shady area.

We then had lunch in the Golden Gate Restaurant whilst we waited for the military museum to open. Mr C had a toastie and I chose tempura vegetables.

The military museum was brief but Mr C enjoyed what was on offer. We strolled back towards the hotel stopping in the municipal gardens for a cooling drink. Whilst we were there a Dutch lady came over to talk to me. She was admiring my skirt, one of my reversible silk sari skirts. She wanted to know where I had got it from. It was disappointing for me to have to tell her that both of my suppliers were no longer trading.

We freshened up in the room before returning to the Golden Gate Restaurant for an evening meal. I was expecting to dine inside with the full restaurant menu but Mr C wanted to dine outside. The outdoor main meal menu is a bit limited so I opted for scabbard fish and chips.

As had become the norm over the past few days we returned to The Vine’s rooftop bar for a nightcap.

We had a bit of a slow start to the morning which meant we arrived at breakfast later than planned. The weather was nice so we lingered soaking up the atmosphere.

After breakfast we had limited time before our 2pm tour of Blandy’s Wine Lodge. We returned to the Cathedral, forgetting to check the time and only realising it was almost time for the morning service as we arrived. Once again, our visit was cut short.

We walked to the Fortress of São Tiago so that we could get a wider appreciation of it. On the way we stopped for some delicious freshly squeezed fruit juices. Rather than walk back through the town we walked along the seafront where yet another cruise ship dominated the view.

Back at the harbour Mr C needed to return to the hotel so I waited in the nearby municipal gardens and when he returned, we had just enough time for another fruit juice before it was time for our tour of Blandy’s.

Our guide round the winery was Georgina. She was very informative although Mr C was able to add some extra information regarding the history that surrounded the name of one of their Madeira wines, called Duke of Clarence. After the tour it was time for the sampling of three Madeira wines, two were blended and one was a 9 year old vintage Malmsey.

We returned to the municipal gardens where I enjoyed a slice of honey cake from the café before returning to the hotel to freshen up in time for dinner. Mr C had decided we would have dinner in the old town in a street near to Fortress of São Tiago; he was on the look out for hanging skewers. He had tried them in the Ty Madeira restaurant when we were in Cardiff in October 2025. He settled on Boco de Oro restaurant where the food turned out to be adequate but not meal of the week. Once again I chose scabbard fish although this time it came with banana and bacon with a pomegranate sauce.

It was Madeira’s National Holiday so many places to eat and drink were closed as we walked through the town and back to the hotel for a nightcap on the rooftop bar.

I got out of bed to find the missing chocolate in the middle of the quilt; it must have got tucked under during the bed turn down service and rolled out overnight.

Again, we sat outside for breakfast. The selection was just as good as it had been the previous day with some different choices, which was refreshing.

After breakfast we took a leisurely walk to the Monte cable car station and purchased tickets. The ride was lovely and smooth and gave us excellent views over the harbour and town.

We chose not to visit the Monte Palace and its tropical garden in favour of visiting the Botanical Gardens. This meant a short walk and another cable car ride, this time overlooking the Ribeira de João Gomes valley. Before going into the Botanical Gardens, we had a refreshing drink watching lizards basking in the sunshine.

We then descended into the botanical gardens which were delightful. There was a lot of walking up and down to view everything the garden had to offer. The famous carpet bedding was still spectacular even at this time of year.

We had lunch in the café where I chose banana cake accompanied by freshly squeezed passion fruit juice.

When we had seen all that the gardens had to offer, we caught the Botanical Garden cable car back to Monte where we had a drink to cool down before descending via the Monte cable car to Funchal. We walked back to the hotel to chill out before it was time for dinner.

We dined in the Vivaldi which was one of the few restaurants open on a Sunday. The restaurant was full but they were able to find us a table. The food was delicious and the restaurant had a lovely atmosphere. I chose salmon with shrimp sauce and Mr C chose parrot fish; both dishes were brought to the table under a polished metal dome. For dessert I chose mango and meringue and Mr C opted for passionfruit souffle. We accompanied the meal with a lovely local wine.

We stopped at a nearby bar for a nightcap, but for some reason we were ignored so voted with our feet and returned to the hotel’s rooftop bar instead. This turned out to be a good choice because as we arrived back at the hotel it was just starting to rain. There was a heavy downpour but the canopy over the bar kept us dry.

During our recent holidays we have often gone down for breakfast later than planned. Mr C decided I should set my alarm clock earlier than we usually do when we are on holiday. Despite the earlier call we were still later to breakfast than intended, probably because neither of us was ready to wake up!

The breakfast was worth the wait; the buffet spread was impressive and extensive including lots of tasty options for a continental breakfast. We were able to enjoy breakfast sitting outside in the warm morning air, causing us to linger a while before a leisurely walk to the old town.

We arrived at the seafront to find that some sort of military parade or celebration had just taken place. There were lots of sailors in white milling around and a Portuguese warship sailed from the harbour before turning round and once again docking in the harbour. Mr C saw three fighter jets do a fly past in formation.

After lingering to watch the ship we walked to the nearby Jesuit Church of St. John the Evangelist, the interior of which is beautiful. We found the atmosphere calm and serene and lit a candle in remembrance of mum.

We continued our walk in the old town to our intended destination, Funchal Cathedral. Our visit was cut short by announcements in several languages explaining the church was now closing to visitors and asking us to make our way to the exits. In the courtyard outside it looked like people were gathering for a Christening.

We continued our walk to enjoy more of the old town with its quaint narrow streets and painted doorways. We reached the Fortress of São Tiago whose construction began around 1614 as a defensive fortress.

We retraced our steps along the narrow streets for lunch where I enjoyed a tuna toastie in Uma Muralla. It came with a side of chips that I had tried to explain to the waiter I didn’t want. Presented in front of me they were too nice to resist…

We retraced our steps to the Cathedral thinking that by this time the service should have finished. It had, but we still couldn’t visit, it was closed with media vans outside, the Portuguese equivalent of the BBC.

We ambled our way back towards the hotel, taking in the marina before sitting in the Municipal gardens for a refreshing drink in the sunshine. Back at the hotel we chilled out some more before dinner. The hotel bed turn down service arrived later than it had done the previous day and controversially only one chocolate was left (on Mr C’s pillow), the other one was nowhere to be seen!

The two restaurants we had chosen for a potential meal were both closed, leading us to check out other restaurants nearby. We eventually settled on a place, Resaurante Combatentes which was full of people. It turned out to be a good choice; the food was excellent, it had a good atmosphere and the waiter was a little cheeky leading to fun banter. Whilst dining we learned from the waiter that most restaurants are closed on Saturday and Sunday evenings, explaining why we struggled to find places that were open and leaving us with a challenge for the following evening.

On our way back to the hotel we briefly called in at the municipal gardens before enjoying a nightcap in the hotel’s rooftop bar.

Photo taken by Mr C

After just a few hours in bed we arose at 3.15 am so that we could get to the airport with plenty of time to spare.

Checking our bags in and passing through security went smoothly leaving us time to purchase sandwiches for brunch on the plane.

The flight set off on time meaning we landed in Funchal as scheduled. I was amused that Mr C wasn’t expecting the abrupt landing even though I had told him that it was a short runway.

I had a small hiccup passing through the automated passport control system. I didn’t get my passport aligned for automatic scanning and the scanner rejected my fingerprint impression. Then as my photograph was being taken a man stood directly behind me so that there were two faces in the photograph. I was rejected and directed to the queue where my credentials could be manually checked. This ran smoothly and I learned that I had to press my hand flat for finger print images to be captured. I was reunited with Mr C who had sailed through the automatic system without a hitch.

Our bags arrived in the bagging area and shortly after we were greeted by the Jet 2 rep who directed us to our private transfer car. As we set off to Funchal our driver played us a recorded message introducing herself in English. We enjoyed riding through the streets of Funchal before arriving at our hotel, The Vine, where we were dropped off in the Taxi Rank. Our driver told us this was the hotel with a sweeping curve of her arm taking in the building and pointing towards the front of the building.

Mr C did a recce and the hotel entrance wasn’t obvious through the shopping centre entrance where I knew the hotel was located. So, in the entrance where we had been dropped off there was a lift that had a button labelled ‘The Vine’. Mr C pressed it; we got in and stepped out on the relevant floor.

There was a door with an intercom button to press which Mr C did and we were allowed through. It became immediately apparent that this was the back door (service entrance) to the hotel. We were greeted by the hotel concierge who directed us to the hotel reception area. He was surprised that we were able to get that particular lift into the hotel; it should have needed a card or passcode.

We checked into the hotel and the concierge relieved us of our luggage to be held in a safe area until our room would be ready at 3.30.

We visited the hotel roof top bar with lunch in mind but decided to choose one of the many eateries, Lyfe, in the shopping centre below where we chose pancakes.

Still with time to spare, we explored the harbour before returning to The Vine where we were escorted to our room to find our bags had been neatly placed. We were also shown how the light switches, air-conditioning and blinds worked. Then we were introduced to the free water fill system. Water dispensers are located on every floor with a reuseable glass bottle in each room. The bottle can be refilled as many time as you need. The water dispenser can also be used to refill personal water bottles.

After settling in we walked to the nearby Municipal gardens to chill out with suitable refreshments. Later we dined in one of the local street restaurants, Espaco that Mr C had recced whilst I had been relaxing in the hotel room. The atmosphere was lovely, warm and vibrant. I chose one of the local dishes, Scabbard fish, cooked to the house recipe which was followed by a shared crème brulee. During the evening, we enjoyed bantering with the waiters and were served with a complimentary glass of sweet Madeira as we waited for the bill to be prepared.

We returned to the hotel’s roof top bar for a nightcap overlooking the twinkling lights of Funchal.

We were due to holiday in Madeira at this time of year in 2025 but our trip had to be cancelled four days before we were due to travel due to Mr C having a health scare which meant he wasn’t insured to travel.

This year with mum becoming increasingly ill in the weeks that led up to our planned trip to Madeira we weren’t sure whether we would be able to travel or not. Mum sadly passed away in the week before we were due to travel. This gave us just enough time to set the most immediate things in place and still travel to Madeira as planned.

In the morning Mr C had an unexpected issue which needed to be resolved. This led to us setting off for our overnight stay close to Manchester airport later than we had planned.

We had lunch relatively local to us in Fletcher’s Garden Centre before eventually driving to Manchester and checking into the Premier Inn in Cheadle Royal. This was a first for us, previously we have stayed in the nearby Premier Inn in Heald Green.

There had been a recent announcement that Jet2 Holidays had a new service that allowed you to check your luggage in the night before. We thought that was a good idea, so after checking into the hotel we drove to the airport to take advantage of the new arrangement. After driving around the airport (several times) looking for a place to park we realised that the simple idea was not quite as simple as it seemed. Parking near to the terminal is very expensive; £5 for five minutes, £10 for ten minutes or £25 for thirty minutes. We had no idea how long it would take to check in our bags and parking further away posed different problems so we abandoned the idea opting to check in as normal the following day.

We returned to the Premier Inn to chill out with a cup of tea before dining in the Griffin Inn with a glass of wine or two before returning to our billet for an early night before our early start.

For many reasons 2026 has proved to be a difficult year for me. The difficulties, unexpectedly have led me back to my enjoyment of adult colouring books and colouring pencils. Working with colouring pencils brings a sense of focus, calm and achievement.