Monte in the mist

There’s a brilliant optician near the theatre and my first task was to seek their help to repair my best glasses. Instant. Charming. 5€. I thanked them and mentioned that they’d helped me similarly ten years ago. (Different glasses obviously.)

I strolled along the front, with a few ideas and then I saw a number 20 bus.

This is the craziest way up to Monte but it’s one that tourists find. It’s not a tourist bus really. Its main purpose is to transport the locals, with their shopping, to some of the highest points of Funchal.

It’s always heaving. This morning I was behind a couple of German tourists who were following its progress on an app with a map. They got a bit confused. It’s certainly not the straight route to Monte. 

Passing places are, well, interesting. It got to one spot where they were doing road works. Actually, they were delivering a portable loo for the workmen. No way was the bus getting past. There was a bit of shouting and gesticulating. The lorry moved up the road but there was nowhere to go.

Our driver did a three-point turn on this narrowest of roads with a sheer drop. It hung over the ledge. The German tourists were more than puzzled at that point. The bus managed to turn round and head back the way we’d come.

I suppose the couple at that point wished they’d just taken the cable car.

We got there. It wasn’t 26 degrees and gorgeous sunshine. Monte, at 650 metres, was in deep cloud. 

I still love it. My blip isn’t breathtaking; it’s just houses in the middle of Monte by the fountain.

I walked up to the church. Funchal and the one cruise ship appeared way below us, in glorious sunshine.

The lovely Quinta is still shut. One of the toboggan drivers told me they’ve gone bankrupt. 

I just went round to Barbosas, where the other cable car starts to go to the Botanical gardens. The number 22 bus arrived shortly. 

That has a straighter, steeper, and more direct descent route, hooting as it shoots round many a blind corner. Cars and vans back to get out of the way.

I saw an unusual sight. As we got to the bit of road where the toboggans cross, a kindly stranger made the bus stop quickly. I took a snap as the unwitting toboggan riders with their men and ropes went by (extra).  Look closely through the second window from the left. 

I think you might understand why I have no desire whatsoever to take this pricey tourist fun…..