On April 25, in 1974, Portuguese Prime Minister Marcello Caetano was overthrown, bringing Portugal’s authoritarian Estado Novo (New State) government to an end. It’s referred to as the Carnation Revolution and almost no shots were fired. A restaurant worker offered carnations to the soldiers and others followed suit, placing them in the barrels of guns as people celebrated in the streets. It’s a national holiday and we were there to see red carnations everywhere.
Funchal is another beautiful city, the capital of Madeira, which itself is an autonomous region in Portugal. According to Wikipedia:
“Funchal, to whom the captain gave this name, because it was founded in a beautiful forested valley, full of fennel up to the sea …”
— Gaspar Frutuoso, 16th century, As Saudades da Terra
We didn’t see any fennel but did enjoy time in a really pretty park. The jacaranda were in bloom and again, we had perfect weather. We signed up for a walking tour and madeira tasting for the first day, and returned on the second to stroll through town and go through the Friday farmers market. A lovely day.
A galleon that caught my eye as we entered the port.
Our madeira tasting took place at the Blandy winery – quite a large facility with several pieces of wine making equipment from the past. Ron especially liked the one below:
An old goat skin for holding wine with a photograph showing how it was used.
They did have a cooperage onsite at one point – equipment and a photograph from the not too distant past.
Since we’re in Portugal, tile decorations were everywhere – including this huge picture in the entry of the farmers market. It was probably 10 by 15 feet or more.
It’s common for the flower sellers at the market to dress in traditional garb.
There were a number of items I’d never seen before – below is a pineapple banana and below it is a picture from the web on what it looks like inside.
Pintanga – otherwise known as the surinam cherry.
This truly was a farmers market for the locals and the tourists!
This was known as the street of doors. Note the painted door on the left and the detail photo below it.
It was a regular art gallery – the only downside was for the patrons of the sidewalk cafes who were subject to a never ending stream of photographers taking pictures over their shoulders.
Never saw ice cream cones I could sit in
Another cable car in a nearby park:
A beautiful old building that now has a new life as a design center.
A fish sculpture made from ocean trash near our gangplank.
And, finally we were serenaded by some school kids when we sailed away. Note the carnations!
Next, at sea for a day then back to Lisbon, to start the second half of our cruise to Barcelona.
What a lovely and colorful town! Thank you for sharing.
Please share a photo of the ship you are on.