Fun in Funchal, 1

I arrived in Funchal, the main city on the island of Madeira, around 1:30 pm on Friday, 15 Nov. After a light lunch, I went for a walk with Iain, our tour guide, and most of the 23 other guests on the trip. We walked along a promenade near the hotel and he pointed out a bar with outdoor seating where he likes to sit in the evenings. The rest of the trip was busy enough that I never made it back to that spot.

Our first full day started with a tour of the botanical gardens, which were created by William Reid, a Scottish entrepreneur who built Reid's Palace, the most famous hotel in Funchal, which opened in 1891. His house is here in the garden.

I was thrilled by the variety of things in bloom. There were cruise ships in Funchal Bay every day – here is one from the perspective of the garden, which sits way above the city.

The garden has been a public garden since 1960.

I took many more photos but I'm being selective.

The guests consisted of five married couples, two pairs of sisters, two mother-daughter pairs, one pair of friends and four ladies travelling solo. They were from Limerick, Kerry, Cork, Ballina, Dublin and Monaghan. A range of gorgeous accents. I could listen to them talk all day long. Not only the accents but the rich idiom. On a windy day, Lola, the eldest among us and one of the solo travellers, said "You'd be away after your toast" as we sat outside eating breakfast. Lots of little things like that, which I love. I sometimes think, if I wrote down all the colourful phrases I hear, I could easily write a book because the book would write itself.

We had lunch in a restaurant with a roof terrace, from which I got a good view of the funicular cars.

Next up was a tour of an orchard farm given by its owner, who was a wealth of information about growing orchids – pretty much all of which I've forgotten.

For instance, they are experimenting with different types of bedding material. Bark is the best, but is expensive, so they are mixing it with something I can't remember.

My favourite plant was the jade vine, which isn't an orchid. It is pollinated by bats so doesn't need to be a flashy colour.

Here's a close up:

Back to the hotel for a swim in a bracing outdoor pool and then the buffet dinner we enjoyed every night.

I'm traveling with a trip organiser called the Travel Department, which advertises heavily in the Irish Times and Belfast Telegraph. Friends have taken their tours and spoken highly of them. I found travelling with them much less stressful than travelling on my own. They mailed me a boarding pass – so much easier than checking in on my phone and downloading a QR code. Iain helped me check my bag in. On arrival in Funchal we were escorted to a very nice bus and transported to the hotel, where checkin was very efficient (I didn't have to download and scan anything, for instance, or download an app). Meals were all set, including vegetarian options. So travel without the stress – so relaxing.

15-16 November