500 vertical metres above Funchal is a mountaintop district called Monte. We got a taxi up there, but there is also a modern gondola.

Monte’s altitude means it’s quite a bit cooler than the port in summer, and this made it an attractive place for the wealthy to build summer residences. There is a modest church.

And a very grand one, this is the Church of Our Lady of the Mount, built by Adão Gonçalves Ferreira in 1471.

The interior is very ornate.

We had a good look around at the grand houses and the even grander views down to the port. There is a novel option for getting back down. Toboggans made from wicker are driven by 2 drivers called Carreiros. They wear rubber soled boots in order that they can slow the toboggan on its perilous descent back towards Funchal.

Almost incredibly, the toboggan run is a public road, shared with cars, buses and pedestrians. They go at quite a speed around the many hairpin bends.

The toboggans were originally devised as a method of rapid transit between Monte and Funchal in the 19th century. A recent CNN news report called the route ‘one of the world’s coolest commutes’.

We opted to walk down, stopping at a roadside Cantinho for a drink on the way. Another lovely sunny day on this beautiful island.