Day 11: Fish and a Fag

Don't get me wrong, I love the beautiful bits of places - but I am at my happiest when furtling around the real parts of a place, not the touristy bits. Which is why my favourite bit of today was rootling around the older parts of Funchal and wandering around the market, smelling the fresh fruit, marvelling at the flowers and watching the fish being bought and sold.

There are more photos, which will end up in other places, but the blip had to be this fish seller, having a quiet moment with his cigarette.

After our wander, there was coffee, ice cream and a daft decision to go up to Monte on the cable car. I've never paid so much to be so scared - especially when the wind picked up at a couple of points. Coming back down was fine, thankfully and afforded great views over the sea.

And I stumbled across a small shop owned and run by a local artist who does amazing t-shirts. Really lovely guy and he printed one specially for me as he didn't have it in my size. I could have bought his whole stock - dark and quite subversive work, some of it and if he was surprised at a middle-aged woman in shorts and a flowery top buying his wares, then he didn't show it. He also does some street art which was commissioned to decorate some of the older buildings.