John Edward Cooper’s Notes

Day 5 [was Day 7]
Today you will visit Curral das Freiras, firstly stopping off at Eira do Serrado, a magnificent viewpoint some 3,500ft above sea level which offers spectacular views of the village of Curral das Freiras before descending into the village itself.
The coach will then take you to the small fishing town of Câmara de Lobos, where Winston Churchill stayed in the 1950’s and painted the harbour. Here you will get the opportunity to have lunch before making your way back to the hotel.

Janet wrote: “Another good sleep. Phew! I hate not having the balcony doors open.” We had to close them because the previous night I was bitten by mosquitoes. Janet continued that she “had to have the air-con on, as I was beginning to hyperventilate. I looked out of the glass doors wistfully as it got lighter. So near yet so far. Breakfast. At 9am we set off. It was already hot and sunny.”


Google Maps screen-capture showing VidaMar Resort Hotel and places visited on today’s tour

Our first stop, not mentioned on the itinerary, was at Miradouro Pico dos Barcelos.


Friday 23 September 2022 09:14:40
Entering the…


Friday 23 September 2022 09:14:40 (detail)
Entering the “Miradouro Pico dos Barcelos”


Friday 23 September 2022 09:15:42
Miradouro Pico dos Barcelos

It comprised of a mound with trees, and on its north side, down some steps, a balcony overlooking the terrain below. I took photos east, south and west from there.


Friday 23 September 2022 09:18:30
Views from Miradouro Pico dos Barcelos


Friday 23 September 2022 09:18:56
Views from Miradouro Pico dos Barcelos


Friday 23 September 2022 09:18:56 (detail)
Views from Miradouro Pico dos Barcelos: São Martinho parish church


Friday 23 September 2022 09:19:52
Views from Miradouro Pico dos Barcelos


Friday 23 September 2022 09:21:36
Miradouro Pico dos Barcelos

Then from the mound itself, I took a photo northwards.


Friday 23 September 2022 09:22:52
View from Miradouro Pico dos Barcelos

Although the itinerary stated that we would be “firstly stopping off at Eira do Serrado, a magnificent viewpoint some 3,500ft above sea level which offers spectacular views of the village of Curral das Freiras before descending into the village itself”, we in fact went to Curral das Freiras first. From Miradouro Pico dos Barcelos, we proceeded northwards along the “Estrada Regional 107” (“ER107”), through a ca.1½-mile-long tunnel (“Túnel do Curral das Freiras”), after which we zigzagged into Curral das Freiras. (Madeira is riddled with road tunnels replacing hillside-hugging old routes.)


Friday 23 September 2022 09:49:52
View on the way to Curral das Freiras


Friday 23 September 2022 09:50:48
Entering Curral das Freiras (rear window view)


Google Maps screen-capture showing the centre of Curral das Freiras, with my additions

The main street was on a hillside sloping downwards to the south, so that a viewpoint on the south side of the street was in fact the flat roof of a two-storey building.


Friday 23 September 2022 09:54:34
Views from near Estrada Cónego Camacho, Curral das Freiras: south-east


Friday 23 September 2022 09:55:20
Views from near Estrada Cónego Camacho, Curral das Freiras: south


Friday 23 September 2022 09:56:20
Views from near Estrada Cónego Camacho, Curral das Freiras: west


Friday 23 September 2022 09:56:42
Views from near Estrada Cónego Camacho, Curral das Freiras: north


Friday 23 September 2022 09:57:00
Views from near Estrada Cónego Camacho, Curral das Freiras: north-west

Then we descended flights of steps by the side of the building to visit the church that was there.


Friday 23 September 2022 09:58:56
Church of Nossa Senhora do Livramento (Our Lady of Deliverance), Curral das Freiras

There was a service or some religious activity being conducted in the forward part of the church, so we didn’t venture into there.


Friday 23 September 2022 09:59:44
Church of Nossa Senhora do Livramento, Curral das Freiras


Friday 23 September 2022 10:00:04
Church of Nossa Senhora do Livramento, Curral das Freiras


Friday 23 September 2022 10:02:20
Church of Nossa Senhora do Livramento, Curral das Freiras


Friday 23 September 2022 10:03:06
Church of Nossa Senhora do Livramento, Curral das Freiras

“We went in the church,” Janet recalled, “then went for a drink. I had a sparkling water and [John] an espresso, and it only cost €1.60. So cheap. We browsed the souvenir shops…” The arranged time to meet back at the coach was 10.30am. We then returned southwards to visit Eira do Serrado.


OpenStreetMap screen capture showing Eira do Serrado and Curral das Freiras

We stopped at a vehicle park (at the location shown by the “toilets” glyph on the map, above), where there were cafés and gift shops. I proceeded westwards around the north side of the mountain (“Pico do Serrado”) to the viewpoint (“Miradouro Eira do Serrado”). I didn’t see Janet as I did so, but she did indeed go there. “I’d had vertigo on Tuesday at Cabo Girão on the glass platform,” she wrote, “but, fortunately, I was OK today, so climbed to the top for the best views. It was a bit cool, but fine. Terrific views.”


Google Maps satellite image of Eira do Serrado


Eira do Serrado, Google Street View


Friday 23 September 2022 10:52:54
Visit to Miradouro Eira do Serrado: Curral das Freiras


Friday 23 September 2022 10:54:52
Visit to Miradouro Eira do Serrado: Church of Nossa Senhora do Livramento, Curral das Freiras


Friday 23 September 2022 10:56:06
Visit to Miradouro Eira do Serrado: proceeding further upwards


Friday 23 September 2022 10:59:12
Visit to Miradouro Eira do Serrado


Friday 23 September 2022 10:59:24
Visit to Miradouro Eira do Serrado: view to the right from “10:59:12”


Friday 23 September 2022 10:59:30
Visit to Miradouro Eira do Serrado: view downwards from “10:59:24”


Friday 23 September 2022 11:00:18
Visit to Miradouro Eira do Serrado: Curral das Freiras


Friday 23 September 2022 11:00:26
Visit to Miradouro Eira do Serrado: view downwards from “11:00:18”


Friday 23 September 2022 11:00:38
Visit to Miradouro Eira do Serrado: view to the left from “11:00:26”


Friday 23 September 2022 11:00:54
Visit to Miradouro Eira do Serrado: view upwards from “11:00:38”


Friday 23 September 2022 11:01:44
Visit to Miradouro Eira do Serrado: Church of Nossa Senhora do Livramento, Curral das Freiras


Friday 23 September 2022 11:03:38
Visit to Miradouro Eira do Serrado: old road along the mountain; (left:) Curral das Freiras


Friday 23 September 2022 11:05:08
Visit to Miradouro Eira do Serrado: going back down

Back at the Eira do Serrado vehicle park, I took one more photo, looking southwards. It showed the road we would take from there.


Friday 23 September 2022 11:11:12
Visit to Miradouro Eira do Serrado

“When I returned to our meeting point,” Janet continued, “I bought a cork shoulder bag for €23.” It would have cost twice that amount if we’d bought it from the gift shop in Fátima, Portugal, on 19 September 2018. The arranged time to meet back at the coach was 11.30am.


Friday 23 September 2022 11:30:08
Views on the way to Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 11:31:04
Views on the way to Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 11:34:14
Views on the way to Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 11:34:22
Views on the way to Câmara de Lobos


OpenStreetMap screen-capture to which I’ve added places etc. visited, seen or referred to
Click on image to enlarge

At Câmara de Lobos, Maria led the way as far as the bay.


Friday 23 September 2022 12:06:00
Dropped off in Rua Padre Eduardo Clemente Nunes Pereira, Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 12:07:04
View west from Rua Padre Eduardo Clemente Nunes Pereira, Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 12:08:34
View south from Rua Padre Eduardo Clemente Nunes Pereira, Câmara de Lobos

Maria told us that Sir Winston Churchill visited Câmara de Lobos on 8th January 1950, where he painted a view of the bay. While saying this, she was pointing in the direction of “Churchill’s Place” (now a restaurant), where there are balconies, or perhaps the building beyond it.


Friday 23 September 2022 12:08:34 (detail)
“Churchill’s Place”, Câmara de Lobos

But photographs, taken at the time, show Churchill seated at his tripod easel on a road overlooking the bay. The OpenStreetMap screen-capture, above, shows such a road, Cam da Trincheira, by the bay where Maria had been pointing.


Public Domain photo, as far as I’m aware


Friday 23 September 2022 12:10:36
View back to the drop-off location from Rua da Carreira, Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 12:11:12
Proceeding southwards along Rua da Carreira, Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 12:11:44
Continuing southwards along Rua da Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Câmara de Lobos

Just before we reached the bay, we noticed a chapel which we thought we’d visit later.


Friday 23 September 2022 12:13:20
Looking back along Rua da Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Câmara de Lobos

On the opposite corner of the street from the chapel was a hotel facing the bay, with a bronze statue of Winston Churchill seated at his easel outside it.


Friday 23 September 2022 12:13:58
Pestana Churchill Bay hotel on the corner of Rua Serpa Pinto and Rua da Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Câmara de Lobos

(Had someone nicked his paintbrush?) I had to wait a couple of minutes for people posing for photographs to vacate the adjacent chair.


Friday 23 September 2022 12:15:56
Bronze statue of Winston Churchill outside the Pestana Churchill Bay hotel, Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 12:16:42
Views of the bay from Pestana Churchill Bay, Câmara de Lobos: east


Friday 23 September 2022 12:17:56
Views of the bay from Pestana Churchill Bay, Câmara de Lobos: south

Before we visited the chapel we went for lunch to a restaurant a few doors up the street from it. It was evidently the right choice, for Maria and co were there. I had a beer, a chicken Caesar salad, and an americano coffee. Janet had a Coke Zero, a salad without the “Caesar” dressing, and a hot bolo do caco with nothing on it. Afterwards, we were each given a free poncha, so because Janet doesn’t drink alcohol I got hers too.


Friday 23 September 2022 12:46:08
Lunch at Restaurante Espadeiro, Rua da Nossa Senhora da Conceição 14, Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 13:04:50
Coffee and poncha at Restaurante Espadeiro, Rua da Nossa Senhora da Conceição 14, Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 13:18:56
Restaurante Espadeiro, Rua da Nossa Senhora da Conceição 14, Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 13:19:44
Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 13:20:34
Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 13:21:58
Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 13:22:08
Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 13:24:12
Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 13:24:30
Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 13:25:00
Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 13:26:00
Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 13:26:48
Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Câmara de Lobos

To return to the drop-off/pick-up point, we started back the same way we’d come, but then turned right and went a more roundabout way.


Friday 23 September 2022 13:32:26
Views from Passeio Público Marítimo, Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 13:33:30
Views from Passeio Público Marítimo, Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 13:34:32
Views from Passeio Público Marítimo, Câmara de Lobos

We got to the drop-off/pick-up point in time for our 1.40pm departure, for the ca.20-minute journey back to the hotel.


Friday 23 September 2022 13:38:44
View west from our pick-up point in Rua Padre Eduardo Clemente Nunes Pereira, Câmara de Lobos


Friday 23 September 2022 14:05:12
View from the hotel room


Friday 23 September 2022 14:26:56
Looking at the itinerary and journal-writing in the hotel room

“I decided to ‘almost’ pack one of the cases,” Janet wrote. She packed clothing that needed to be washed, and other items which we would not need again, into one of the suitcases, leaving room for stuff to be added subsequently. A little before 3 o’clock we set out to try to find this coastal way that Maria had mentioned, which we’d failed to find on our walk yesterday. In all, we walked ca.1½ miles, i.e. ¾-mile there and ¾-mile back. Turning left out of the hotel, we went along Estrada Monumental; then we turned left just after Bar El Silêncio along Rua Gorgulho, at the end of which, to the right, we did indeed find a way to walk along, which hugged the coast. (On some maps — so I would discover, back at home — it’s called “Promenade do Lido”, but on OpenStreetMap it’s “Passeio Público Marítimo”. Perhaps this is what Maria was referring to, for on OpenStreetMap, the way we went after leaving Nossa Senhora da Conceição in Câmara de Lobos is also labelled “Passeio Público Marítimo”.)


OpenStreetMap screen-capture to which I’ve added places seen or visited after we left Vidamar Resort
Click on image to enlarge

We stopped at a bar, where I noticed they had cider on tap.


Friday 23 September 2022 15:08:36
Fortim do Lido bar, Funchal


Friday 23 September 2022 15:18:54
Fortim do Lido bar, Funchal


Friday 23 September 2022 15:23:36
View west from the Fortim do Lido bar, Funchal


Friday 23 September 2022 15:30:36
Gardens by Funchal Marine Biology Station, Funchal


Friday 23 September 2022 15:32:48
Leaving the gardens to rejoin Promenade do Lido / Passeio Público Marítimo, Funchal

We ended our walk, before turning back, at another bar, Cris’s. I had a 500ml glass of San Miguel and Janet had a Pepsi Max, then I had an americano coffee and she a sparkling water. With the beer I was presented with a little wooden board with tapas-style nibbles on it.


Friday 23 September 2022 15:48:40
Cris’s, Edifício Tecnoparque, Passeio Público Marítimo, Sítio da Quinta Calaça, Funchal


Friday 23 September 2022 15:52:42
Cris’s, Edifício Tecnoparque, Passeio Público Marítimo, Sítio da Quinta Calaça, Funchal


Friday 23 September 2022 16:27:36
Cris’s, Edifício Tecnoparque, Passeio Público Marítimo, Sítio da Quinta Calaça, Funchal


Friday 23 September 2022 16:48:12
Jardim do Lido, Funchal


Friday 23 September 2022 16:49:36
Fortim do Lido / Fortim do Gorgulho, Funchal

On the way back to the hotel we paid our usual visit to Bar El Silêncio, where I had a beer, and before that was finished a bagaceira “chaser” (“Bagaceira Aldeia Velha”, I wrote in my notebook: a somewhat aged (“velha”: “old”) bagaceira, as evinced by its slightly yellow colour. I think that this was perhaps the only brand and type of bagaceira that I had in Madeira.) Janet had two bottles of sparkling water.


Friday 23 September 2022 17:15:30
Bar El Silêncio, Estrada Monumental 191, Funchal


Friday 23 September 2022 17:34:08
Bar El Silêncio, Estrada Monumental 191, Funchal


Friday 23 September 2022 18:12:38
Banana plant, seen on the way back to the hotel


Friday 23 September 2022 18:12:50
Banana fruit and inflorescence

“We staggered back to the hotel,” Janet wrote. “Unusually, I felt really relaxed (doesn’t happen often), so it was quite an effort. We were both weary — and knackered! We had a quick wash-and-brush-up then went for dinner.” I think I only had soup once, maybe twice, during our stay. This evening there was “fish soup” (as I scribbled in my notebook), so this was not one of those occasions. I don’t think I had anything more than “tuna & chicken salad”, because I had “no appetite for anything else”. Indeed, I noted that I “left half the beer”. Janet concluded today’s journal entry: “I had a shower and ‘sorted my bits’. I was so tired. We were both in bed at ca.9.30pm. Yet another great day. Marvellous time so far.”
 I… transferred 81 photos from my from my camera’s SD card to the WD Elements HDD (20:55–20:56), then copied them from there to “Pictures” on the Samsung computer (20:58). Played Solitaire (20:57–21:05): won 1; lost 1.…

[Saturday 24 September 2022]