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Urban Entrances.68



Small Wonders.167


City Views.167


Urban Garden.137

Urban Garden.136

This means getting out to parks is quite simply hard and minimally appealing. Seeing anything visually appealing once there, let alone bothering to take the phone out and photograph it? Even harder. Nonetheless, there was sufficient break in the rain — even a fleeting moment of sun — to lure me into the park on my way home from the gym this morning. By the time my camera was out, the sun had vanished. In the seconds between when I took the photo above and the photo below, the sleet had begun. Ah, well, gardens are still gardens, even in the sleet and wind. 🙂
City Views.166
More of Monte, and of the more-urban parts of Funchal as seen from high up in Monte or from the cable cars on the way back down to the more-urban parts of Funchal. Also, the two lovely churches of Funchal, one much more famous than the other, for a very strange reason. I learned when I visited Vienna in October that the very last person to hold the title of Habsburg Emperor ended his life in exile on Madeira, because when Austria decided after experiencing WWI that it wanted to be a Republic, he refused to give up his title and become Joe Citizen instead. So he went into exile on Madeira, ended his life up here in Monte and is buried in the main church. It’s his image on those banners because it was the centenary of his burial and some folks find this a big deal. Or at least a way to attract more tourists. 😊 If you’re looking closely, you’ll also see people in metal-railed sleds that tourists use to slide down the steep streets, guided by two guys in those white caps and suits whom you see walking back up to the starting point, from the parking lot where the employee bus drops them (and possibly the paying tourists also – I didn’t do this ride since it felt silly, single) after each ride down.











