Lord of all he surveys

This imposing man looking out to sea is Joao Goncalves Zarco,

Madeiran famous figure and national hero

This statue looks out towards Camara de Lobos, the fishing port which was much loved by Winston Churchill.

I was standing next to this statue because I had gone to a lovely corner of Funchal to check out a couple of fish restaurants. My favourite is closed for two weeks so I wanted to look (and book a table) at another one which our taxi driver recommended. It was pricier than the Doca do Cavacos but not stratospheric - so we'll be going tomorrow night. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Things are a little quieter on Madeira at the moment and they are being quite sensibly frugal with the Christmas lights. Last year there were lots all over the place blazing away. This year, they are having an official switching on and quite a few places have not yet put them up.

These two guys decided to put up some lights immediately over the place where I was sitting. Well, I couldn't resist, could I ?

Santa's not so little helpers