Celebrating 47 years in Madeira!

Tuesday 9 April
We had a wonderful day today, celebrating our 47th wedding anniversary in Madeira! We visited the Botanical Gardens today, and decided to take a taxi, rather than waiting around for a bus, so we walked down to the main square, where there are always three or four waiting. We noticed that the Igreja do Colegio church was open, so we went in there first to take some pictures of its richly ornamental interior, before taking the taxi up to the Botanical Gardens.
The Botanical Gardens opened to the public in 1960. The area was previously part of an estate belonging to the Reid family. The Garden houses more than 2000 exotic plants from all continents, and also offer glorious views over Funchal. We enjoyed a coffee and a Pastel de Nata, the traditional Portuguese egg custard pastry ( see extras) at their cafe. When we were finished there, we returned to town and visited the market (see extras). Unfortunately we were too late to see the fish market, which is apparently quite a sight - they were just hosing everything down when we were there. We returned to the hotel and had a quick dip in the roof top pool, and then showered and changed for dinner, which we took out at a restaurant I had noticed on the waterfront, and turned to be excellent and good value