Author: bbpeck

A few Wikipedia facts about Madeira and Funchal. Madeira is an autonomous region of Portugal in the Atlantic Ocean, about 500 miles southwest of mainland Portugal and 520 miles west of Morocco. It was discovered in 1418 and claimed by Portugal in 1419. The word Madeira means wood in English. The entire island (actually archipelago) has a population of about 250,000. Funchal is the capital of the region. Funchal’s population of just over 105,000.

Bob and I decided to stay in Funchal today and took a Bolt into the town center to check out the market and a bit of a Main Street that runs from near our hotel to near the market. It was hopping. We can’t imagine how busy this place must be in the high season.

After we left the market, we made our way along the Avenida do Infanta for a few blocks before Bob caught a Bolt back to the hotel (sort of — the driver left him at the sister property and Bob had to make his way up hill to our room).

Also along the street were a series of brightly colored vendor huts selling typical Madeira products, often including alcohol.

I checked out two very pretty parks along the street. The first one, in the direction I was headed, was the Municipal Garden. The next few photos are of this garden, which in 2000 won a Gold Award for the European Competition for Cities and Towns in Bloom.

Onward down the avenue where the sidewalks are covered in tiles (not unusual for Portugal), including a center pedestrian median that ran for a block or two.

The next park I explored was the Santa Catarina Park, which runs for a number of blocks from the Avenida do Infanta to the Avenida do Mar along the water. It is at a higher level than the seafront, so also provides some lovely views to the Atlantic.

Along the street were some government buildings and banners advertising the start of a European Summit here on Monday.

Today Bob and I took a full-day Discover Madeira tour to the west and then north of the island. We had a full van of a driver and 14 guests.

We learned a little bit about Madeira. First, bananas are a main crop, and we saw banana trees all over the terraced slopes of the island. The bananas are only exported to mainland Portugal due both to limits of production and EU standards for size, etc of fruit. Sugar cane is also a main crop, and we saw lots of eucalyptus and then laurel trees, one variety of which provides the bay leaf for cooking.

It is also an island of tunnels, with almost 200 on the island to facilitate transportation. We had 8 stops during the tour.

Stop 1: A viewpoint of the fishing village, Pico Da Torre

Stop 2: A pay to view stop at Cabo Girao. There is a glass floor viewing platform here.

Stop 3: The small, pretty community of Ribiera Brava.

Stop 4: We then drove to the top of the west part of the island to Fanal, which is a UNESCO site to help preserve the native laurel trees.

Stop 5: A brief photo stop at the Ribeira Da Janela, as we came back down the mountain before reaching our long stop for lunch

Stop 6: A 1.5 hour stop at Porto Moniz in the north of the island. This town is known for its rock with a window and its natural pools.

Stop 7: A photo-op of a waterfall near Seixal, also along the north coast

The 8th stop was another photo-op of a waterfall, this time near Sao Vicente

Last night we ate at the hotel restaurant. We had great seafood — clams and octopus — and a great local bread — bolo do caco (flat bread made with sweet potato and served warm with garlic butter).

This morning after breakfast (included with room cost and served in the same dining room), Bob and I walked around our hotel and walked down to the sister property. Almost all walking is up or down here. It reminds us of the Amalfi Cost, and is sadly less than ideal for Bob’s hip at the moment.

After returning to the room to collect some things, we returned the same way, took the elevator down from the bridge to the ground level, walked through the lobby of the sister property and out onto the street to reach the lovely and busy Avenida do Mar to see a bit more of Funchal. There were two cruise ships in, so it was hopping. Bob walked for about half of it, and then had to stop and took a Bolt (like Uber or Lyft) back to the hotel. I continued to the end of the pedestrian promenade along the water and then did my run.

Tomorrow, we have an all-day tour to the west part of the island.

Bob and I left our housesit in Tunbridge Wells and the sweet Nellie on Tuesday. Our very generous homeowners made a car reservation for us to take us from Tunbridge Wells to the Hampton Hotel at the Gatwick Airport. It seemed to be a good sign that our driver was from Portugal and the hotel receptionist was from Madeira (our Portugal destination).

Once we started on our journey today (after a good workout for me in the Hampton fitness center and then a free breakfast), it was a quick 5 minute walk to the EasyJet gate. We had asked for special assistance with Bob’s hip, so after we got through security, we waited in the special assistance lounge until 1:00 pm when we were taken by a special assistance hostess all the way on board our flight. It pays to be disabled,

It wasn’t as handy once we landed, as we had to wait to debark until the very end and then we were walked quite a ways to customs, where we went through the new enhanced EU screening before picking up our luggage.

We grabbed a cab ( number three in line that would take credit cards) to take us from the town of Santa Cruz to our hotel in Funchal (about $50). Once in our room, we unpacked while enjoying a free bottle of sparkling wine from hotel.com through which we had made the hotel reservation,

I took advantage of a Tuesday dog walker’s day to do a final train trip out of Tunbridge Wells. This time I went all the way to the coast (about a 35-40 minute ride depending on the number of stops) to the town of Hastings (as in the Battle of Hastings, which as we all now know happened in the current town of Battle).

Hastings has a current population of about 91,000, and Wikipedia tells me that it remains a popular seaside resort and fishing port, with the UK’s largest beach-based fishing fleet. I definitely saw a number of fresh fish vendors in my 2.5 hour walkabout.

My first walk was down to the beach to see the Hastings Pier, which I sadly deleted photos of when I was editing my photos on the train ride back to Tunbridge Wells. Lesson learned (hopefully) about multi-tasking on a moving vehicle.

I was walking along the coast towards the East Hill. Hastings has two hills — East Hill and West Hill — both of which you can ascend via funicular (when they are not closed for necessary maintenance). I wanted to go up to the top of the East Hill, as there is a country park there and the views (when not raining or foggy) are supposed to be good. As I learned through some posted signs, neither funicular was running, but I was still able to get to the top of the East Hill.

Some discoveries before I got to East Hill —

The rain had returned, so I made my way back down to continue walking east along the coast.

I briefly went into the Shipwreck Museum, but both this and the Fisherman’s Museum were being used for lessons for a school class. I did get to see the world’s earliest archaeological evidence of a ship’s steering wheel which was recovered on the Goodwin Sands in Kent. I also learned about Samuel Pepys role as Secretary to the Admirality during the reign of Charles II and James II. Prior to this trip, I only knew Pepys for his diary, but we saw a show on tv the other day about the Great Fire of London, in which Pepys played an important role. Both of these efforts (naval and fire) were likely detailed in his diary, but I don’t remember the contents of what we read in school.

I then walked back into Old Town to do more exploring there.

One of the most important battles in English history was the Battle of Hastings in 1066. If you have ever had a British Lit course or other American or World history course, you likely have come across this event at some point. To go to the site of this battle though, you would head today not to the town of Hastings, England, but to the town of Battle about 6 miles northwest.

I headed to Battle by train today to look at the site of the important battle, see a bit of the town of Battle, and then look at what remains of the abbey that was built by the battle’s victor to commemorate those who died in the battle.

It was a 30 minute train ride south to Battle, which gets its name from the Battle of Hastings. (Guess the only other option for the town name would have been “Of” since Hastings was already taken.). Its current population is about 6,700.

A bit of background on the battle and abbey. The English Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Confessor died without an heir in January of 1066 which set up a struggle for succession to the throne. The two armies at the Battle of Hastings were that of the Anglo-Saxon King Harold, who claimed that Edward had wanted him to be king, and William, Duke of Normandy, a region of France. Both wanted to be seen as the true ruler of England.

William’s armies sailed from France to Hastings for the attack. Harold brought his army to Hastings after hearing of William’s intent and after his army had just had to fend off an attack from his brother and a Viking army. After the day long battle, Harold and much of his army was killed, and William became known as William the Conqueror and initiated the Norman conquest of England.

William founded the abbey in 1094 to atone for the violence of the battle and to commemorate his victory. It was a Benedictine Abbey for up to 140 Benedictine monks until 1538 when it was closed as part of Henry VIII’s Suppression of the Monasteries to confiscate their wealth. For the next 400 years, the abbey was an aristocratic residence for a number of families. In 1976, Battle Abbey was presented to the State.

One of the places we like to check out in the areas we stay in are the theaters. Sometimes there are tours provided, but sometimes we’ll look for shows that appeal to us so we can see the inside of local theaters. There are two theaters in town, the Assembly Hall Theatre, which seems to be part of the same building as the Town Hall and Amelia Museum, and the Trinity Theatre which is in the former Trinity Church building.

The Trinity Theatre does a lot with children’s theater and also offers community classes like exercise groups for seniors. We decided to focus on the more varied offerings at the Assembly Hall Theatre. We found a program of short films that we used to go to see when we lived in Austin, Texas. These are part of the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour. They are always films about people doing active, adventurous things in beautiful parts of the world.

We thought we’d make it a big night out for us by going to dinner beforehand. Happily, last night was one of the few nights we’ve been here where it didn’t rain.

We caught a bus right at the end of the driveway that took us into downtown. We got off at the war memorial right in front of the Town Hall. It was a short walk from there to the Hotel du Vin where we had reservations for an early dinner.

We had a few minutes before our 5:00 pm reservation, so we had a quick look around the ground floor of the hotel.

We opted for the 3-course prix fixe menu for 29 pounds or about 40 US dollars. We both ordered the same starter and dessert but chose different main courses. We preferred the starter and dessert to the mains.

And finally, the lovely dessert.

After the posh meal, we walked across the street to the theater. The inside wasn’t near as attractive as many we have been in, but the seats were comfy and the staff was friendly.

We saw a total of five short films — from 6 minutes to 47 minutes. Most were just shy of 1/2 hour. The films we saw included mountain biking in Nepal, river rapids rafting in Gabon, running a 100+ mile race in Tennessee, two dads with their 2 year old sons biking in Switzerland, and rock climbing in Patagonia. There was a drawing for gifts after intermission (called interval here), but we didn’t have our names drawn. Still, a lovely night out.

Happy Groundhog Day if you’re a celebrator of this holiday and/or if your favorite animal prognosticator gave you the verdict you were hoping for in terms of length of winter. We don’t have any wild parties planned.

One of the Things To Do in Tunbridge Wells is to take a train ride on the short Spa Valley Railway. It runs from the old Tunbridge Wells West Train Station to the little town of Eridge, stopping at Groombridge and sometimes High Rocks. They offer both train rides on a steam train or historic diesel train (an out and back trip being about an hour if you don’t get off) as well as themed rides on the same trains for Burns Night or Valentines Day, etc.

We’ve been intrigued about these rides (me a bit more than Bob), but the trains currently only run on the weekends and the weather hasn’t been great. However, my recent research on Apple Maps showed me that one could walk to the High Rocks station (first one out of Tunbridge Wells) in about an hour from the house. Since this looked like the cutest stop, and the train doesn’t always stop there due to being a popular place for private events, I thought I might try walking there today.

No rain was in the forecast (but some fell anyway), and I headed out about 10:30 for a walk that would take me down to the busy road across from the Commons before heading west through a short neighborhood road before getting onto a path that took me all the way to High Rocks. It proved to be an inexpensive and close up way to experience the nature that the train would be passing, but it was not the easiest or cleanest of walks. Rain has consequences.

The Friezland Wood lies on the border of Kent and East Sussex. It is 8 hectares, has some impressive high sandstone rocks, and lies within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The High Weald National Landscape covers an area of 1,450 square kilometers and takes up part of Kent, Surrey, East Sussex, and West Sussex . The landscape has small farms and woodlands, historic parks, sunken lanes, and ridge top villages.

I may have missed some of the natural beauty while I was focused on my footing.

The following pics show some of the High Rocks that give the area that I was walking to its name.

Access to the train station was gated off as it lies just below the event venue.

Today I took the train to Tonbridge, a short 10 minute ride, to visit the Tonbridge Castle. Bob didn’t come with, as there a lot of uneven stairs in the castle and his right hip has been really bothering him.

The castle is conveniently located along the High Street in Tonbridge, a town that’s a good location for a fortified castle as it’s between London and seaports to the south. (Fun fact if AI can be trusted, Tonbridge was originally Tunbridge, but was forced to change its spelling in the 1870s to avoid confusion with Tunbridge Wells, which was faster growing due to its reputation as a spa town.)

The site of the castle was chosen for its views of the town and for its close proximity to the River Medway. It was originally a motte (mound) and bailey (courtyard) design — a fortified tower on a mound, surrounded by a timber wall surrounding a yard.

The old castle was gifted to Richard Fitzgilbert (later to be called de Clare) by William the Conqueror for coming with him from Normandy and fighting with him in the Battle of Hastings, the start of the Norman Conquest. The de Clare family owned the castle, in various iterations, for over 300 years. The castle was ultimately seized by Henry VIII in 1521 and bought by the town in 1897.

The tour cost 10 pound 50 (or 14.45 US dollars), and it included an audio guide for the self-guided tour. This being a slow season and a rainy day, I pretty much had the inside of the castle to myself, which was sometimes a little freaky.

Once I had purchased the ticket and received the audio guide, I went back out to the parking side of the gatehouse while the audio described the different features of the towers and archway. One of the features noted in the archway were the “murder holes,” square holes in the ceiling which guards inside could fire through to kill raiding armies. These will be seen later on.

I then used a fob provided with the audio set to gain entrance to the gatehouse, where I started the inside portion of the tour in the dark basement— by myself.

From here, I got to peek into a privy, where they had a guy sitting on the loo. Sorry, no photos of that. But then I got to climb all the way to the top and go out a door for some outside photos of the area. It was raining but still impressive.

After the tour, I popped into a couple of shops as I made my way back to the station. The train was on time in both directions. There was a fun mural in the Tunbridge Wells train station highlighting significant moments in their history.

One of the best parts of housesitting is being able to live like locals in all different parts of the world. Recently, that has meant finding a hairdresser and dealing with the same weather and transportation issues that everyone else is having to deal with.

On Tuesday, I had a much needed hair appointment with a local salon that had responded to my email inquiry and then provided the required patch test to make sure I wouldn’t react to the color solutions being used. It was a very wet day, so a good day to be inside and they even provided a proper tea set for me to enjoy while work was in progress.

Wednesday was to be a rain-free day, so we had purchased tickets on the Trainline app to go to Tonbridge (a 10 minute rail journey from Tunbridge Wells) to see the castle and whatever else we might find. Unfortunately, there was a break in a rail between Tunbridge Wells and Hastings (the other direction), but it caused all trains on the line to be cancelled, at least around the time we needed to go. So, maybe another day. Bob was able to get a refund through the app.

Thursday afternoons are house cleaner days at this house, so we leave about 3:00 pm and return about 6:00. Yesterday, we went back to the library downtown, which is co-located with the Amelia Museum, but this time, we explored the museum exhibits and learned a bit more about the local area. See below for a random set of fun facts about the local area.

The museum is named after Amelia Scott (1860-1952), a local activist, campaigner for women’s voting rights, humanitarian, and Tunbridge Wells Borough Councillor instrumental in the founding of the local library services.

The museum has thousands of pieces of local history, only about 1% of which are on display. One of the new things we learned about was the Tunbridge ware which began to be made by local artisans in the late 1600s.

The older retail section of town is called The Pantiles, named for the type of tiles that were used to pave the walk in the area. The name was derived from the wooden pans used to shape the tiles.

And Royal Tunbridge Wells acquired its Royal title due to the discovery of a chalybeate (iron-rich) spring on a local heath in 1606.

In 1901, the Tunbridge Wells municipal telephone service was launched. It was the first in England to be managed by a local authority, at least briefly. It was sold to the National Telephone Company in 1902.

Finally, there were quotes posted from various people of note. Here is one from the famed science fiction writer, HG Wells.

Last week after our library excursion, we walked back into our neighborhood to check out the local pub, The Bull. Yesterday, we just walked across the street to the local pub of the Wetherspoon’s chain, which is located in the former opera house.

The building has been a number of things since it’s heyday as an opera house, but Wetherspoon’s does clear away the tables and chairs once a year so that a full opera can be performed on site again. Some pics from inside.

Regulars to Wetherspoon’s likely go for the cheap prices, but since it was the first place we were taken by a homeowner for dinner (by a single woman from South Africa), they have a special place in our hearts especially when they are in historic properties.