Reaching dizzy new heightss

On Monday we headed down to the old Town to take the  Teleferico (cable car) up to Monte. As expected I was shaking like a coward as we waited in line to board the cable cars. They terrify me, but sometimes you have to push your boundaries! We shared a cabin with two German couples which was probably a good thing, because I really didn't want to embarrass myself by crying in front of them!! The journey up to Monte was actually not that bad and not as fearsome as I had thought it would be. The views are stunning as you head up the mountainside and leave the ocean far below you.

On arriving in Monte we set off to explore, we had decided against visiting the Botanical Gardens . Firstly because it was expensive and secondly because it late November would we be seeing the gardens at their best? So instead we visited the beautiful church and just ambled around this little mountain top town. The views from up there are fabulous, you feel like you're on top of the world! We found a café right under the cable car station and stopped for a beer, you could watch the cable cars come and go which was amazing.

When we came back down to the old town we had lunch at a lovely café and then visited the Palacio de Sao Lourenco. We came across this fort while wondering around the city, and found it was open to the public for free tours at random times during the week. We were able to do one of the tours on Monday afternoon. It was about half an hour and though the guide spoke little English, you were given an information card to read as you walked through each room. Beautiful interior and I feel so lucky to have had a peek inside!

After spending the rest of the afternoon ambling about (something we do well!) we headed back to our hotel.

We had dinner at an Indian restaurant called Bombay Spice, this made us smile as we have a restaurant of the same name very close to where we live! Dinner was lovely, and the service was excellent. Everyone in Madeira is so pleasant! After dinner we headed over to the Forum shopping centre which is open till 11pm, a great way to walk off dinner. The place is well laid out, and all the Christmas decorations were up so it looked very festive! Lots of recognisable names too like H&S, Zara etc.  By the time we walked back to the hotel we were definitely ready for bed!