New Years Eve in Funchal

So this ship is not due to dock today, but sit out in the bay near Funchal and use the tenders to get ashore.  Trouble is, the weather is crummy, and they can't get the tenders ashore to start off with.  Visibility was poor, it was miserable, foggy drizzle over on the island and swell caused all sorts of problems.

Low clouds over Funchal in the morning.

As the day progressed, several announcements kept us up to date with progress.  To start off with, they could only use the larger tenders, on the port side, but eventually the smaller ones came into play, and then one of them got damaged due to the rise and fall of the swell. 

We sat in Scott's bar, making use of Peter's mi-fi (a really neat gizmo which has made using the internet much simpler for us this trip), and waited our turn. As we waited, I could hear the other passengers complain.  I sort of feel sorry for the crew, they have to listen to these complaints all the time. 

We finally got our tender after lunch, and after 30 minutes, we were on dry land again.  We know the main streets of Funchal reasonably well, and immediately aimed for the centre, where we knew the Christmas stalls were set up.

The stalls set up to make a speciality bread that's obviously very popular

And soup

Christmas costumes for the girls around the stalls. 

Moving on past the stalls, we eventually got to the Ritz, a wonderful little street cafe which serves the most delicious cakes and icecreams.  Unfortunately they'd run out of vanilla, which meant we settled for drinks on this occasion.  

Right across from the Ritz is a wonderful little park, which is pleasant at anytime, but especially so this time of year because they fill it up with wonderful little story book houses

The little park is set up like Santa's grotto

It's a wonderful place for kids to explore.

Eventually it was time to go back on board ship to prepare for the evening's festivities.  It's a formal night, and Peter is all dressed up in black tie.  He always looks good.  Looking out from the rear deck, Funchal looks quite gorgeous. 

The ligts from Funchal in the evening were quite wonderful.  

So now we're sat in the Palm Gardens all dressed up and ready for the main events.  11pm is the "Horn Chorus" - I think that's when all the ships let loose and make a racket.  And then of course at midnight we are due to see a firework spectacular spread right across the island.  Time for another cocktail I think.