Madeira trip report

Madeira truly is a paradise island with lots of stuff to see and do. Conveniently enough it is also quite small, so getting around is kinda quick. Thanks to lots of tunnels through the mountains, it can be even quicker. But then you miss the scenic route..

The inhabitants are very friendly and helpful, and the tourism has not struck Madeira as hard as, say, the Canary Islands. One thing that surprised me was the great knowledge of English. Almost everyone spoke impeccable British English. (I found to my great joy that they don't dub the TV- programmes into Portuguese, they have subtitles instead. Maybe that has something to do with it?)

view over Funchal

SLEEPING & EATING:
Stayed at the Florasol west of downtown Funchal (capital) - the staff and service is real nice, try to get a room in the tower if you can, ours had two balconies with sea view. The hotel restaurant is good (there is another restaurant at the pool deck that's supposed to be great), but the breakfast isn't much to hang in the Christmas tree, as we like to say in Sweden..


The eating experience was a real disappointment. Everything is deep-fried and the vegetables are overcooked or from cans. Beware of most restaurants!
We found the needle in the haystack though, every later attempt to try a new restaurant brought us right back to this one:

Trigal in Funchal (on the corner of Rua dos Aranhas and Rua da Carreira)
Great prices, an exciting menu (compared to lots of places here), fresh vegetables, yummy pizzas and awesome garlic bread! This will keep you fed all week long! Oh, except they're closed Sunday...

will be back after a short break
next: SHOPPING!