Taking it easy
Today we enjoyed a “chilled” day out at the seaside. We took the bus to the nearby fishing village of Camara de Lobos, a few miles west of Funchal. We took the Number 1 yellow bus from Funchal, riding it for about 20 minutes, ’till the end of its journey, hopped off and then walked ten minutes along the coast road in to the town. Madeira/Funchal is served well by public transport, but it can be a little confusing and not helped by not having a bus station, just lots and lots of bus stops. The yellow busses are the urban busses that serve Funchal and its suburbs, then there are white busses that go further afield. One of the difficulties I have found is determining which of the many bus stops any particular bus goes from.
Anyway, we arrived at our destination by bus and foot and enjoyed a pleasant few hours ambling its streets, staring out to sea, taking in some street art, and enjoying a pleasant harbour-side lunch.
The boats were colouful and pretty, the sea almost inviting. I hadn’t taken my trunks, but gazing down into the deep clear grey blue water I could hear it calling me. Other than a few canoeists splashing in the shallows at the end of their trip, no one was swimming – although the sun did shine for some of today and the air temperature was pleasant, it probably isn’t swimming season, so I don’t think I missed out.
The town is name, Lobos, is Portuguese for wolves as when it was first spotted from the sea, its founder thought he could see wolves. He was mistaken, they were sea-lions not wolves and sadly, today the only sea lion you will see is this magnificent mural made from junk.
And it wasn’t the only street art we saw. In keeping with Funchal many doors and and walls are decorated with art like the one above, or the bird below, one of three made up from a collage of bits of drink can.
But, I think, my favourite was a series of three doors filled in with old plastic containers – with extra holes for eyes – that looked like faces. To me, they resembled friendly cybermen.
And even the simple walls, with a plant placed in front, added to the ambience of this pretty little town. It was a day to do little, but take in the sights, the sound of the sea, and the warmth of the winter sun on skin.
Before we headed out for day, we found another delicacy, enjoying “God’s bread” for breakfast – it was like a giant coconut macaroon. Delicious!
