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EuroVicki
What a day! A long day...lots of walking, and great sightseeing. Seven of us hired a driver - he was wonderful. He took us for an overview of the island. We drove up impossibly high mountains in new roads not on the map to see tiny villages below. We stopped at a small museum that was dedicated to a bird. I took a picture for Hugh and Vincenzo Ellis, my favorite bird men... We also drove to a lovely golf course where we strolled past very serious golfers. We drove around the island, and stopped at a local fruit stand, and were introduced to the local fare - some were not familiar with cherimoya, or breadfruit but we all knew avocados and bananas! We wended our way to a small local restaurant up on a hill and had an amazing meal - garlic bread, salad, sweet potatoes, corn/polenta squares, and large chunks of beef on skewers. An excellent meal! We then went on to Machico and stepped into its church - it had the prettiest display of fresh flowers of any church we had seen. They had started setting up their Christmas crèche (I guess all crèches are Christmas-guesses the nice Jewish girl) and a young class passed on a field trip, on the way to the shore. Once again we headed up a mountain to the 2nd highest cliff in the world, the highest in Europe - with Joey standing on a clear platform and looking calm.. Before heading back to the ship we stopped at a Madeira tasting room for a bit and our Dutch couple bought wine to take home. We had no room in our suitcases- but really it isn't my cup of tea.. Or wine.. Back at the ship we rested until dark then took a shuttle back to the city to see xmas lights and have dinner since we had a late all aboard call. Madeira's main industry is tourism then bananas - and fennel is Funchal, the name of the port city. Acacia called popcorn plant - just an aside...
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Judith Great picture of the two of you!