Rotary visit to Madeira (November 2023)

So I had the privilege of recently escorting the Rotary trip to Madeira, what a great group of people, we had most members from our Club with Helen from Rotary Guernesiais, Rohan from Friends of Rotary and Pauline from Inner Wheel.

Day 1 we flew into Funchal known as the City of Wine and the rain that greeted us cleared to be dry and sunny for the rest of trip. We were staying in the lovely 4* Castanheiro Boutique Hotel created from five buildings from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, formerly a bakery, a printers' shop, an embroidery house, a pastry shop, so had lots of charm and very well positioned in town for exploring, especially the amazing Christmas lights.

Our first afternoon was spent touring the capital which we did by a convoy of tuks tuks, it was such fun and we got a few envious glances. After a nice walk through town looking at the lights we had a lovely meal out that evening in a local restaurant Taberna Ruel, prices were good and the food was excellent.

Day 2 and few nervous participants amongst us we all head off for the cable car, such a smooth operation with great views on the way and from the top of Monte. We then explored Monte Palace Tropical Gardens with its huge collection exotic plant’s, before yet more overcoming nerves as we took the famous wicker toboggans down towards Funchal. Loved this personally and some of the photos are hilarious thanks to Rod and Terry.

We had some free time until our formal evening joining members of the International Rotary Club of Funchal and The Rotary Club of Machico Santa Cruz. We had  a nice drinks reception followed by a very nice meal, after each of us rising to give our names and Rotary involvement, current or former vocation, introduce our partners there was a formal exchange of club banners and a saluting of the flag, this involved the Presidents partially wrapping themselves in the Portuguese, Madeira and Rotary club flags, holding the end to their hearts. We then had a presentation on the public housing challengers of Funchal.

Day 3 and after a late night we had a early start as we we doing a tour of the island today, first stop is the amazing views from Eira do Serrado across the Valley of the Nuns, next stop the Cabo Girão glass Skywalk 580 metres above sea level followed by an excellent lunch which for many of us included the famous scabbardfish which are caught from small fishing boats with longlines extending to depths of 1,500 m. The hooks are baited with squids to attract these deep-sea predators. Being rather full after lunch we just explored the Christmas markets and lights once more.

Day 4 and our last day had a relaxed start so a swim for some of us, we were off to the famous Blandys Wine Lodge we had a tour through the different areas of wine production and had a wine tasting at the end. Next stop on our organised activities we went to the iconic Reids Palace Hotel for afternoon tea on their famous terrace, very nice indeed. Famous guests including George Bernard Shaw, Winston Churchill, Roger Moore and Gregory Peck have stayed here, it certainly has some style and was the entry point to the island for guests arriving by sea before they opened the airport.

We were graced by warm weather and sunshine during the days and literally quite magical,Christmas lights at night, whatever the time of day the friendly locals of Madeira made us feel very welcome.

Everyone in our group of now friends said how much they enjoyed themselves and most wanted to go back in the future.

Chris Roberts