Today we arrived into Funchal (Madeira), Portugal.  A lovely island off of the coast of Africa.  There we met up with a dear friend, Jmichaele Keller.  I have known Jmichaele for over 50 years, we were in scouting trips together, went to Notre Dame together, and have visited him at many places after that.  Jmichaele recently moved to Madeira and there we met up with him, his partner Alex and  his son Josh.  

They picked us up at our ship at the Madeira port and we walked around downtown.  There we enjoyed some coffee and a pastel de nato (a Portuguese pastry).  Today is a national holiday here in Madeira and it likes they are ready for a party this afternoon.

After our coffee, we then went to the up the gondola to the top of the mountain.  At the top we then visited the Jardim Botanic de Madeira.  This is an old palace with a fabulous botanical garden,  You start at the top and walk down many levels.  The plants, water features and landscaping were fantastic.  It was a very long walk down and as the old adage goes what must come down must go back up.  

At the top was the toboggan  run down the streets of Madeira.  Crazy!  We did not partake in the toboggan run but took a taxi to a wonderful Portuguese restaurant.   Just driving the streets of Madeira were very interesting and we learned a lot of island history.

After enjoying a great lunch we headed back to the ship.  This is definitely on our list to visit again.  Thanks Jmichaele for a great visit.

We came back to the ship ready for dinner (can’t believe we are eating again) and some nightly entertainment if we have enough energy.