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 which 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 that 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.