We had to change our room. Although it had the best view in the hotel, towards the sea and toward the hills, it also had too many oddities and inconveniences. A glass-enclosed bathroom with a curtain on one of its walls was a nuisance. A double sink was unnecessary. the toilet ran and various other things were awkward. Fortunately, the room next door, much more conventional and comfortable was available and we moved there after a decent buffet breakfast.
Then, out and about. First the farmer's market, notorious for exotic fruit ripoffs, but very picturesque, especially different varieties of one of Emma's favorites, passion fruit. On the way, a sighting of our beloved 1999 E320 Mercedes in use as a taxi.
On to the gondola 15 minute ride up to Monte
where the park and buildings belonging to a tycoon named Jose Berardo are a tourist sight. https://montepalace.com/desktop/ This very interesting fellow is involved in a dispute with the Portuguese government for about a billion and has spent some time in jail. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Berardo The gardens were nice although we didn't particularly care for his collection of 20th century African stone carvings.
Back to the hotel for a nap and on to Akua restaurant for a fine fishcentric meal by the same chef who owns the Veggie resort where we ate last night. Fish sausages were particularly enjoyable as were the razor clams in curry broth.
The day will conclude shortly with a !0:30 PM fireworks display which is a regular June Saturday night feature of what they call the Atlantic Festival. We will watch from the roof of the hotel.
Tomorrow we hike with a guided group. Good night!
END
The food looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the greenish-scaled, banana-sized fruit is called "...monstera deliciosa, pineapple-banana or ananas-banana in Madeira. Safe to eat if the fruit is ripe; unripe pieces are poisonous and toxic."
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