Hidden gems

We took a bus tour this morning to Curral das Freiras - The Nuns' Refuge. It is a hidden valley to which the nuns of the Santa Clara convent fled when pirates attacked Funchal in the 1500s.

It is an incredibly tricky place to get to even today. The old road has been closed because of the state of it and there is now a tunnel, but you still have to then drive down a long and very winding, very narrow road to the beautiful little village.

As well as the very attractive and ornate church, there was a museum full of the tools and machinery used in the harvesting and processing of the chestnut crop. A fascinating place.

You will need to zoom in or go large to see the tiny houses and terraces in the photo. I took it from a view point much higher up!