Although still nervous because of the loss of the luggage and the lack of any information about it, I continued with my sightseeing of Funchal, the capital of Madeira. After a pleasant visit to the Quinta das Cruzes Museum and the park that belongs to the museum, I just went down the street for a hundred metres or so to get to St. Peter’s Church (Igreja de São Pedro).
St. Peter’s Church
The order for the building of this church was issued back in 1590 and the construction was completed in 1596. Of course, in the meantime, the church had additions and extensions built, especially in the second half of the 17th century. The decorative tiles that practically cover all of its interior walls are also from the 17th century.
St. Peter’s Church
After the visit to the church I went to an internet café to get in touch with different people. I also took the opportunity to contact Joao. Who is Joao? Well, in some of my earlier stories, I have mentioned that I am a “member” of a couch-surfing site. As a rule, I am not really interested in free accommodation, but here and there I like to get in touch with people living in the destination I plan to visit in order possibly to have a coffee with them and chat a little. Very often people don’t actually write back, but in case of Madeira I got an answer from a Joao who said he had free time and would like for us to meet. So, at this time I contacted him via internet, then I got his phone number and called him and then we agreed about the meeting the following day. Moreover, he said he would come to my hotel to pick me up and we could go on an excursion. Bearing in mind I did not know the man at all, I was in two minds, but I decided to have faith in the Universe. This didn’t really work out when it came to my luggage, but then again one should not lose spirit and become suspicious as soon as the winds of destiny start blowing in the wrong direction.
Following this, I went down to the port and there I sat in a café in order to refresh a little, since later I planned to walk by the coast. To start with, the day was perfect for idling, relaxing and sipping the beverage of one’s choice.
View from a café by the port in Funchal
When I thought I had sat enough, I started to walk by the shoreline. While doing that I looked around and thus I was impressed once again with the background of Funchal. Namely, right behind the city start mountains, as well as valleys between them. Already earlier in the day I saw one such valley that was completely filled with fog. Now, several hours later the situation was practically unchanged and it seemed the fog just kept densely filling up the valley. As opposed to the weather in Funchal that was gorgeous and sunny, I thought that in that valley there must have been foggy for hours now, while just a couple of kilometres further there was bright sunshine.
Quirkiness of the weather in Madeira
Soon I got to one of many breakwater structures that exist in Funchal and from there I had a fine view at a local beach (Praia do Almirante Reis). There were not many swimmers, but the sight was lovely indeed.
Praia do Almirante Reis
From the place on the breakwater I could quite nicely see the Fort of St. James (Fortaleza de São Tiago), as a striking part of the Old Town in Funchal.
Fort of St. James
If one were to look at Funchal from the Atlantic Ocean, i.e., from the south, in addition to different parts of the city that spread across the slopes of the surrounding hills, it could be said that there are three main coastal zones. All the way to the left, behind the port, there is a tourist zone and it contains large hotels. In the middle is the centre (this is where I had walked until now) and although there are historic buildings there, the Old Town (Zona Velha) is actually located all the way to the right. At this point in time I was heading there, but before that I looked at the beach and potential swimmers there for a short while yet.
To go in or not to go in, that is the question
Perhaps the woman in the photo above did hesitate whether to immerse in the probably cold waters of the Atlantic, but a hundred of metres or so farther, on a beach by the fort there were those who were exhibiting a significantly higher degree of stamina.
Parts of São Tiago beach and fort
Then I entered the area of the fortress that had been restored relatively recently. The Fort of St. James (Fortaleza de São Tiago) was built in 1614, but there are also some additions and extensions made in 1767. To start with, I came across a courtyard with old-timers. This is certainly a part of the tourist offer, as is the restaurant that may be found within the fortress.
Fort of St. James
However, I went up to a terrace from which there were stunning views in all the directions.
View at Funchal from Fortaleza de São Tiago
View at the Atlantic
I loved the place and the colours very much, so I started to make “professional selfies” at the time before selfies were even invented. To take a photo of oneself using a classic photo-camera requires a good knowledge of the camera and its capabilities, visualisation skill, dexterity in placing the camera at the right spot, as well as speedy legs. In comparison to all of that, making a selfie as is done nowadays is only for amateurs and wimps.
Self-portrait on the terrace of the Fort of St. James
The tower of a nearby church could also be seen from this terrace.
Details seen from the terrace of the Fort of St. James
And then, following the wave of inspiration, I made another self-portrait.
Self-portrait on the terrace of the Fort of St. James
The next place I visited was precisely the church the bell tower of which can be seen in the photo above. This is a church that is interesting for a few reasons. The first one is that there are two names linked to this church – Church of St. James the Less (or St. James the Younger) and the Church of St. Mary the Great (Igreja de Santiago Menor - Igreja Matriz de Santa Maria Maior) although I got an impression that the latter is the “main” one. The second reason why this church is interesting is how it was dedicated to St. James the Less in the first place.
Namely, from 1521 until 1523 there was an epidemic of plague on Madeira. Then in January 1523, the city fathers realised that Funchal did not have its patron saint, so they decided to remedy this. For the purpose, as if this were a lottery, they put the names of all Saint Apostles, Virgin Mary and Saint John the Baptist into a hat. The “lucky winner” was precisely St. James the Less who thus became the patron saint of Funchal and a small chapel that started to be built in the Old Town was dedicated precisely to him. This construction went slowly and then in 1538 there was an earthquake, followed by a new round of plague. All in all, it was decided that a pilgrimage to the church should be done on the 1st May, the date dedicated to this saint. As the story goes, there has been no plague in Funchal ever again and thus each year on the 1st May there is a pilgrimage to this small church.
In this part of the city called Santa Maria Maior, meaning St. Mary the Great, after the name of the parish there used to be a church dedicated to the Virgin and it was the seat of the parish, but it was practically destroyed during the 1803 flash floods. In the church there used to be a statue of St. James the Less and then the statue was transferred to the Church of St. James the Less which itself became the main church in the parish and consequently got its other name – Saint Mary the Great.
In order to make the things even more complicated, or perhaps more interesting, the name for this church in Portuguese uses the term Santiago which is only a version of São Tiago, which makes me go back to the name of the fortress that is practically named after this patron saint of Funchal. Such a small church and yet such a complicated story about its name.
Church of St. James the Less/of St. Mary the Great
Church of St. James the Less/of St. Mary the Great
Interior of the Church of St. James the Less/of St. Mary the Great
After a brief visit to the church, I moved to the other side of the street where there is a great wide pavement-terrace, practically a viewpoint, from which there is a very nice view at the Atlantic, as well as other parts of Madeira.
The coast of Madeira is very rocky and this can be seen nicely from the viewpoint.
Rocky coast of Madeira
By the way, Madeira is an island and it also renders its name to the entire autonomous region that includes a few more islands and thus the region itself constitutes an archipelago. In addition to Madeira, this Portuguese autonomous region also includes another populated island, Porto Santo, as well as the Desertas Islands (Ilhas Desertas). As for these Desertas Islands, they are three long and narrow islands. They are practically uninhabited since the conditions on them are not favourable for the life and an extended stay of humans, and nowadays they comprise a nature reserve. For this reason, visits to these islands that are situated some 25 km away from Madeira are allowed only with special permits.
After enjoying these lovely sights from the viewpoint near the church, I started to return towards the centre of Funchal. When one descends to a flat area from the elevation where the church and the fortress are, one comes across a larger zone full of restaurants. This inspired me to realise that I had become hungry in the meantime, but the problem was where actually to sit down and eat something. I had no recommendation, although I presumed these restaurants were more or less similar.
Part of Funchal full of restaurants
As I was walking like that pondering where to sit, I came across a part of the street where the low Sun shed wonderful light.
Part of Funchal full of restaurants lit by the setting Sun
And then I finally made up my mind and sat in one of those numerous restaurants. After all I could not care less where I went. In addition to being realistically hungry, I also felt the need to reduce the level of stress in quite a primary way, by eating, for regardless of the wonderful sights, the walk and enjoying in all of that, I could not rid my mind of my unfortunate luggage lost (presumably) somewhere in the European Union, taking into account that I travelled only through the countries of the EU. I found it completely incredible that at the time of the overall digitalisation, an airline company the seat of which was in that European Union that is a paragon of development to many could not locate my luggage for more than 24 hours. While I was waiting for my dinner to arrive, pondering with sadness in my heart about my “lost” luggage, I also thought that it is in fact fascinating with how few things we can actually function. I had a pair of jeans on and in the worst case scenario I could spend eight days in them. The same went for my shoes. I had a t-shirt on, while in the hotel I had a cotton shirt, a thin sweater, as well as a light jacket (I left Belgrade dressed in “layers”). Previously that day I bought two new t-shirts, as well as some underwear, which I hoped would all be dry by the time I returned to the hotel. In other words, by washing these things alternately, I was covered for my entire stay on Madeira. However, it was clear to me that this was not about the things themselves or their number, but rather about that feeling that my things were not with me. I felt very powerless.
But, the life goes on and I order dinner. I didn’t know what exactly I should take, apart from knowing I wanted to eat fish. The girl who waited on me recommended some local grouper. To start with I took different small breads, butter with herbs, cured ham and olives.
When you start to eat, the stress levels go down
And then the main course came...
Dinner in Funchal
With the pleasantly full stomach, I decided to walk back to the hotel, which involved climbing the hill, but I did not mind it at all. And when I came to the hotel I was greeted by an excellent piece of news – my luggage was finally found and the following day it would be flown to Madeira and then brought to my hotel. Great! Sometimes it takes so little for us to feel exceptionally happy. In such a good mood I ordered a glass of white wine which I slowly sipped while sitting on the terrace in front of the entrance into the hotel. I could finally relax completely.
Then I went up to the top of the hotel where my room was, but before going to bed I sat for a little while yet at the terrace with the pool in front of my room enjoying the evening temperature that was perfect. The view was also stunning, as well as the entire space in which I was and the air that was coming from the huge ocean surrounding Madeira.
Funchal at night
Since I had plans to rent a car, I took the advantage of this good position also to consider how I could reach the hotel by the rented car, for this seemed as a potential problem since some streets, in addition to being very steep, also had a 180 degree turns and it was all very narrow. Still, I did not have to worry about it a lot this evening since tomorrow already at 8.30 am I had an arranged meeting and then also an excursion with Joao.