Have Some Madeira, My Dear

Our next port of call was Madeira where we would be for 1 1/2 days.  We arrived in the early afternoon and I had booked a tour with an independent company.  Where possible, I try to do that when I am on cruises rather than use the company's shore excursions.  There are several reasons including they tend to be less expensive; the size of the group is usually much smaller; and, the destinations often interest me more than what the ship offers.  That approach doesn't always work for reasons such as where the ship is docked and the timing of the ship's arrival and departure. However, when it does work, you can save sometimes up to 50% of what the ship's shore excursions cost.  The company I used for this tour in Madeira was called Madeira Food on Foot Tours and there were several to choose from.  The one I chose was their Madeira Food, Wine and Cultural Tour.

It started at 4 pm and there were only 6 people in the group – three women from the ship plus a German couple and me.  We started at a tea house where we were given the option of several kinds of teas – one a blue one which I later bought – and a choice of pastel de nata (Portugal’s famous custard tart) or a local ricotta cheesecake with jam.  I chose the latter as I will get the former at some point while I am with John and Pedro.  The cheesecake was sort of dry and, without the jam on it, it would have been very boring. 

From there, we walked to the market (Mercado dos Lavradores) where we had a chance to learn about local fruits and vegetables.  

We also stopped there to have a fruit plate.  It was interesting to try the local fruits including dragon fruit, passionfruit, something called English Tomato, banana, mango and avocado.  The market was very pretty; however, if you ever go there, it is important to know it is closed on Saturday afternoons.

Next, we walked to a store famous for its cakes and cookies.  We got two little bags, one with a piece of Madeira honey cake and the other with a sample of cookies.  

We then went to a bakery where we were given a sort of hollow donut which was covered in a dark sugar cane syrup.  It was very filling and somewhat sickeningly sweet!  

Next up was a chocolate shop where we sampled two chocolates (sour cherry and passionfruit) and a glass of secco Madeira.  I think I would have preferred a sweeter one.  

Our last stop was a restaurant where we had a glass of wine and sampled local foods.  I didn’t try them all – like the tuna casserole – but did sample the garlic bread, the beef stew with French fries in it, the tempura vegetables, and deep-fried black scabbard fish (an eel-like fish which is seriously ugly and looks prehistoric), and squares of fried polenta.  Our meal finished with a glass of Poncha, a very famous Portuguese cocktail made from orange juice, lemon juice, rum and honey.  It is very popular here, said to be drunk for medicinal purposes and there are poncha bars everywhere.  I didn’t particularly care for it.  

The less than attractive black scabbard fish

With that, we were at the end of the tour.  The tour was very good but it wasn’t lost on any of us that we started with all the sweet stuff and ended with a meal.  Ana explained the order of the tasting was driven by when the places – shops, cafes, restaurants are open - but the other gals and I were thinking it was sort of a backwards meal.  Needless to say, I didn't head for any restaurant when I got back on board the ship!