SQ26/25 SIN-FRA-SIN A380 Biz & Suites: Frankfurt Xmas Markets & 2 Weeks in Portugal

[yflyer]

From there, Diogo explained that we would be heading down, through mountain trails, to the other side of the island, to Santana...



For this part of the tour, which was off-road, we took our seatbelts off and stood up through the sunroof in the Land Rover, taking care to duck whenever low-hanging branches came along...



Along the way, Diogo stopped to introduce some of the flora and fauna of the region, even stopping occasionally to pluck a leaf or berry for us to smell or taste.

We arrived at the traditional houses of Santana -- small triangular cottages which looked like a precursor to today's tiny homes movement. They were a marvel of compact efficiency and utility, although you could forget about any privacy living in one of these as a family...



These houses were just the exterior shell though, with the interiors converted to shops selling snacks and handicrafts...



It all seemed a bit touristy to me...I was much more interested in the one traditional house which looked to be lived-in by an actual person, but it was of course private property...



We drove past some of the vineyards in the area...



...before stopping for lunch at Quinta do Furão.

[yflyer]

Quinta do Furão is a hotel and restaurant set on high on a cliff at Achada do Gramacho in Santana.

The restaurant at the Quinta was well known for its excellent cuisine...



There was a large indoor dining room....



But we sat outside, on the verandah, where we dined amidst stunning views of the rugged coastline...



The menu focused on traditional Portuguese dishes...



We couldn't resist revisiting some of our favourite dishes from past meals in Madeira, beginning with traditional roasted limpets...



These were so plump and juicy!

Then we had tomato soup with onion and poached egg, which also hit the spot...



We sampled the local scabbard fish next...a wonderful dish!



Then the traditional Madeira beef skewer, "Espetada" served on a bay leaf wood skewer...



What an amazing place to dine!

[yflyer]

And then it was a drive down to the coastline on the north side of the island, for more sightseeing...



There was a glass walkway built for visitors...



Lots of great photo-ops...



We saw some folks walk along a clifftop trail to a rocky outcrop...



We followed and also headed to the cliff edge for a few photos.



In retrospect, we probably should have heeded the warning sign about the dangers of cliff erosion, and stayed off the cliff...

[yflyer]

Our next stop was Engenhos do Norte, a rum distillery at Porto da Cruz.



We headed into the Rum House...



...where equipment for the production of rum, as well as stored barrels of rum, were on display...



We tasted some of their rum...



...along with other traditional beverages, such as Poncha...



...and a festive rum-based Christmas drink, which Mrs yflyer really liked...

[yflyer]

We drove on to Pico do Facho, the last stop of our tour...



This was a hilltop vantage point with great views of Machico as well as Funchal Airport...



This was a very good spot to see planes take-off and land.



When Diogo learned that I was an aviation enthusiast, he told us that there was an even better spot he could bring us.

We drove down from Pico do Facho, parked the car near the airport perimeter, and invited us to walk along an elevated walkway, right up to a spot close to the end of the runway.



This was a great spot to watch planes take off and land.



"Look down, you are actually standing within the airport perimeter! Isn't that crazy?!", he said.



He used flightradar24.com on his phone to check if there were planes landing or taking off.



We were in luck!



I wish I had a telephoto lens with me...



From there, we drove back to Funchal, passing under the elevated runway in the process...



What an amazing feat of engineering...they actually built an elevated runway extension strong enough to withstand the weight and forces of aircraft as large as a 747...

[yflyer]

That evening was our last dinner in Funchal. It was a memorable meal for the good food, but also because we tasted a very rare and old Madeira wine by accident.

Our dinner was at Avista restaurant, just a short walk down the road from Reid's Palace.



We initially picked an outdoor table...



...but it was a little too windy for our tastes...



...so we asked the staff if we could shift to an indoor table, and they were happy to oblige...



The menu...





Wines by the glass, including a nice selection of Madeira wines...

[yflyer]

As an apertif, Mrs yflyer ordered a Poncha, a traditional drink made with Madeiran liquor, lemon, honey and passionfruit...this was really balanced and fruity, far tastier than the one we tried at Engenhos do Norte earlier that day.



When we ordered, we mentioned that we would be sharing all our food, and began with Gazpacho, which we indicated we would also be sharing.



To our pleasant surprise, after presenting the Gazpacho (in the pic above), our server took the trouble to split the garnish between two smaller bowls, before pouring in the Gazpacho -- talk about excellent service!



Our next course, scabbard fish was very fine...



As was the black pork...



Both these dishes went well with a white wine from Quinta de Santiago...





Our sides were white rice and roasted pineapple...

[yflyer]

Incredibly, after all that food, Mrs yflyer and I found that we had a little space left for dessert or cheese.

We decided on a cheese platter. It looked spectacular...



We ordered a couple of glasses of Blandy's 10 year Madeira to go with the cheese...



"You know...", Mrs yflyer began, "...it's our last evening in Madeira, and we might never ever be back. Can we try one of their old vintage Madeiras?"

"Ok, why not!"

I glanced the wine list, and picked out a glass...

The waiter came by, and a bottle of Blandy's Terrantez 1976 was carefully presented for inspection....



This was a magnum-sized bottle, and looked really impressive...I snapped photos of both sides of the bottle...



With a graceful flourish, a single serve was carefully poured from the bottle...



Mrs yflyer took a long slow sip, then handed me the glass for me to do the same...

Wow..such richness and complexity...so different from 10 year Madeira's we had tasted moments before...

There were flavour notes, and an intriguing interplay of fruit and spice, that was absent in the 10 year bottles...

I could have sipped a lot of this!



Why do I say we tasted this by accident? I think by that point in the evening, I was already slightly inebriated, and either picked out an incorrect wine from the menu while ordering, or read the wrong price...I had thought I was picking out a glass which cost EUR 34, which is not inexpensive either, but when I received the bill, I was momentarily stunned to see that this glass of Terrantez 1976 had cost a whopping EUR 54!

Was that really what I had ordered? A EUR 54 glass? From the photos on my iPhone, apparently so! Well it had already been consumed, what was done was done.

But then again, what a delicious wine it was. I don't think I would ever knowingly spend EUR 54 on a single glass of wine, but let's chalk it up to an expensive life lesson on reading the menu carefully. Later on in the trip, I saw the same bottle of Terrantez 1976 retailing in a wine store for EUR 350. Looking back, no regrets about tasting it. At least my tastebuds now knew the difference between regular Madeira and the really fine stuff, and regrettably for our wallets, there really was a difference!

So, a very memorable dinner at Avista. I would recommend this place if you wanted a very fine dinner in Funchal. But do read the wine list carefully!

[yflyer]

The next morning, we woke up early and caught a taxi to Funchal Airport for our 8am flight to Lisbon, TP1698. Scheduled time for this flight was 1 hr 40 mins.



At that hour, the airport was quite deserted.



Our remaining TAP flights on this holiday were in Business Class. We checked in at the TAP Premium Counter for Business as well as Star Alliance Gold.



The Funchal Airport TAP Lounge was closed at this time, so we were given USD10 vouchers each for use at the F&B outlets in the airside area.

Boarding was called, and we walked across the tarmac to our aircraft, TAP Airbus A320 registration CS-TNV, a 13 year old aircraft...



Although this was a 13 year old plane, the interiors looked as if they had been refreshed, and looked fairly new.

Our seats were in the first row of the plane, 1A and 1C.



The aircraft was fairly lightly loaded in Business that day, however the gentleman seated in 2A, directly behind me, looked to be unwell, and kept coughing, so after take-off, we shifted to 1D & 1F across the aisle.

[yflyer]

We pushed back at dawn, with the sky a brilliant orange...



A final look at the terminal building...



A powerful takeoff to the north east...



As we climbed out, I could see the Pico do Facho viewpoint, where we stood the day before watching planes take off...



As we climbed above the clouds, looking back, I could even see the mountain peaks of Funchal above the clouds, with Pico do Arieiro, with it's distinctive white radar installation, clearly visible to the naked eye (Although it's a bit hard to pick out in the photo)...

[yflyer]

Flight time today from FNC to LIS was 1 hour 26 min, with clear blue skies the whole way.



On this sector, TAP offered a full breakfast service in the business class cabin...



I thought the breakfast spread was pretty good, with quiche, cheese, cold cuts, as well as fruit, chcocolate brownie, with bread and croissants served from a basket...



Reasonable load factor in Y, with just a handful of pax in J.

[yflyer]

There were great window seat views as we made our final approach to LIS...



We flew over the 25 de Abril Bridge...



...with great views of the statue of Christ the Redeemer out the right hand side windows...



Then we were over Lisbon itself...



This was a busy morning at LIS, with many aircraft waiting to take-off...



On the ground in Lisbon...



Yet another bus gate this morning...



This was a very comfortable flight, with good food and friendly cabin crew. Although the "business" cabin on this flight was just regular Y seats with an empty middle seat, for this short sector I didn't feel that I was missing out on too much.

Just a short wait for our luggage at the terminal. Outside the terminal, we headed to the taxi line to catch a taxi for the short drive to the Ivens, our hotel in Lisbon.

[yflyer]

Our hotel in Lisbon on this leg of our stay was The Ivens, a new and very elegant property in a great location in the Baixa neighbourhood, close to Chiado and Bairro Alto.



The Ivens was part of the Marriott Autograph Collection. While it didn't have typical Marriott property features like an Executive Lounge, it did give good recognition to Marriott Platinum in other ways.



This was a fairly intimate, compact hotel in an old, historical, neighbourhood.

The lobby was small, but very luxurious, with a dark wood, old school elegance.



The reception was on the 2nd floor verandah, accessible by both lift and staircase.



The hotel had an adjoining bar, whose decor was just beautiful.



This was a lovely place to chill or meet up with friends...



The restroom for the hotel and bar, in the basement level, was one of the most striking we had ever seen.



Upon check-in, we were warmly welcomed, and given two "gold coins"...



...which were good for a welcome cocktail at the bar.



Also as Marriott Platinum, our daily breakfast in the lounge was complimentary.

The hotel was named after 19th century explorer Roberto Ivens, and the public areas of the hotel had an explorer theme, decorated with artifacts and themes from Ivens' exploration of Africa, along with his fellow explorer Hermenegildo Capelo.

[yflyer]

Our room, like many of the standard rooms in this property, was not large, but it was beautifully styled, also with an explorer theme.



The Ivens did offer Marriott Platinum members complimentary room upgrades based on availability, but the hotel was full on this occasion, so no upgrade was available. No matter, this was a very elegant and luxuriously appointed room.



Our room had two large windows...



...which could be fully opened, unlike many hotels where windows opened just a tiny crack...



More exploration-themed design elements...



Leather-covered bench integrated into the base of the window...



Flat screen TV, along with two plush seats...



There was a brass dome on the table...



Lifting the dome revealed 2 beautiful sweets...



There was a large bug on the wall...



Thankfully, we realized it was a quirky mounted sculpture, and not a real big. Glad we noticed it then, and not in the middle of the night with the lights off...



A very elegant writing desk on one side of the bed...



High quality bluetooth speaker doubling as a bedside table on the other side...

[yflyer]

Complimentary tea and coffee...



Except for the Champagne and vodka, all minibar contents were complimentary for Marriott Platinum members, and refreshed daily.