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If the United States of America has New York’s Times Square for New Year’s celebrations, Portugal presents its own version to the world in the city of Funchal.
Aside from being one of the country’s richest and most profound cities in terms of historical value and cultural impact, Funchal is also a fun place for chasing away the blues of your typical tourist destination.
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Revel in the city’s suburban vibe and immerse yourself into the local’s innate hospitality. Funchal should now be on your travel list as you won’t have anything to regret on your way there.
Location
Funchal is specifically located in a well-carved amphitheater-shaped valley and all the things that surround it provide a good, sheltered environment for human settlement.
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Slopes go as high as 1200 meters, providing the best type of land setting for those who live here. Funchal has a current population of 111,000 and is under the Autonomous Region of Madeira.
Climate
Some of the things that should make Funchal your first stop whenever you find yourself in Portugal are its uniform temperatures and tamed climate. According to the Koppen Climate Classification, Funchal follows has a Mediterranean climate type, which equates to nice and warm summers and rain showers fit for a relaxing afternoon siesta.
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Since Funchal is slightly elevated from the rest of the country, expect lumps of clouds always sheltering the place from blistering heat, providing for more manageable weather all year long. The months of August and September are the hottest with an average temperature of 23.2 degrees Celsius, which drops to 6.4 degrees Celsius when December kicks in.
Transportation
Madeira considers the port of Funchal as a major transportation terminal where tourist boats, cruise ships and cargo vessels dock on a daily basis.
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The city is also well connected to other Portugal towns via sturdy highways such as the Camara de Lobos, Ribeira Brava, Santa Cruz, Machico and Canical. If traveling by air, Funchal visitors are served by the Madeira Airport which is conveniently located to the east of the city.
What to See
Mercado dos Lavradores
When you’re about to leave Funchal after a splendid stay, get your feet walking to the illustrious Mercado dos Lavradores and be delighted with the textures and colors you’ll see. Built in the 1940s, this commercial area has retained its original structures, only growing as the years pass by.
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Here, you’ll be able to fill your luggage with lots of locally-grown fruits such as anone, banana ananaz, tomato ingles and papaya. You can also dive into their bountiful fish market for some awesome produce.
IBTAM
They say that one of the best things that you can get as a souvenir from Funchal is a locally-made piece of cloth since it represents how and what the place really is.
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If you’re one of the many people who have a close affinity with weaving and embroidery, then visiting IBTAM would be a great choice. Here, you’ll be able to witness locals literally crafting Madeiran inspired textiles and you’ll be in luck since there’s a store which sells these masterful pieces of labor.
Quinta das Cruzes
Aside from the fact that the Quinta das Cruzes is the former home of the person who discovered Madeira, Joao Goncalves Zarco, the very architecture seen on the manor’s facade will definitely invite you to come in.
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Now, it serves as a comprehensive museum for Madeira’s rich 15th to 19th century life and museum lovers would be delighted to see antiques gathered from all over the world in full display.
See More:
Funchal, Madeira Island
http://www.madeira-web.com/PagesUK/funchal.html
Funchal, the ideal base for your Madeira holiday
http://www.madeira-tourist.com/madeira/funchal.html
Images:
(1) http://www.portugalexperiences.com
(2)https://www.flyedelweiss.com
(3) http://madeirapropertytorent.com
(4) http://4.bp.blogspot.com
(5) http://static.lido-tours.com
(6) http://www.ruralea.com
(7) http://essential-madeira.com
(8) http://portal-services.netmadeira.com
Paul Intalan
