{"id":14238,"date":"2025-11-18T16:30:04","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T16:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=14238"},"modified":"2025-11-18T16:32:53","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T16:32:53","slug":"monte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=14238","title":{"rendered":"Monte"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">500 vertical metres above Funchal is a mountaintop district called Monte. We got a taxi up there, but there is also a modern gondola.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"665\" src=\"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1017-1024x665.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14237\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1017-1024x665.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1017-300x195.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1017-768x499.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1017-1536x998.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1017-2048x1331.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1017-462x300.jpeg 462w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Monte&#8217;s altitude means it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" src=\"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1018-1024x680.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14236\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1018-1024x680.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1018-300x199.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1018-768x510.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1018-1536x1019.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1018-2048x1359.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1018-452x300.jpeg 452w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And a very grand one, this is the Church of Our Lady of the Mount, built by Ad\u00e3o Gon\u00e7alves Ferreira in 1471. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"695\" src=\"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1022-1024x695.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14234\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1022-1024x695.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1022-300x204.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1022-768x522.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1022-1536x1043.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1022-2048x1391.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1022-442x300.jpeg 442w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The interior is very ornate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_0329-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14233\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_0329-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_0329-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_0329-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_0329-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_0329-400x300.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_0329.jpeg 1746w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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 <em>Carreiros<\/em>. They wear rubber soled boots in order that they can slow the toboggan on its perilous descent back towards Funchal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"719\" src=\"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1019-1024x719.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14235\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1019-1024x719.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1019-300x211.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1019-768x539.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1019-1536x1079.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1019-2048x1438.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1019-427x300.jpeg 427w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"688\" src=\"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1023-1024x688.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14232\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1023-1024x688.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1023-300x202.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1023-768x516.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1023-1536x1032.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1023-2048x1376.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_1023-446x300.jpeg 446w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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 &#8216;one of the world&#8217;s coolest commutes&#8217;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We opted to walk down, stopping at a roadside <em>Cantinho <\/em>for a drink on the way. Another lovely sunny day on this beautiful island.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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&#8217;s altitude means it\u2019s quite a bit cooler than the port in summer, and this made &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=14238\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-travelsandtribulations"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14238\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikeeasley.co.uk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}