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DESTINATIONS PORTUGAL | RESTARTING TRAVEL


Ben Ireland at the Eira do Serrado viewpoint


ravel Weekly news editor Ben Ireland joins Tui’s first restart flight to Madeira to see what package holidays to Portugal will look like this summer


a T


blur of streets slips by, the breeze picks up and my face mask almost goes flying as we hurtle around the corner of a steep


Funchal street on a toboggan. You might think I’ve gone dotty from the lack of travel in the past year, talking about what sounds like a winter sport in a year-round destination where the temperature rarely dips below 17C. But these basket-style street toboggans don’t need any snow – they’re made of wood, with a seat that is surprisingly comfortable for something that wouldn’t look out of place in your nan’s living room. Granted, we weren’t there for comfort but for speed, duly delivered by the straw-hatted toboggan steerers of Carreiros do Monte (€15). Their traditional get-up only added to the experience (as did stopping to grease the toboggan so we could go faster). Maintaining this tradition is a nice touch, with the


practice dating back to the 19th century when it was invented as a way to navigate the city’s steep hills. Wearing a mask is a modern addition, and currently a must in public places in Madeira including outside.


At the end of the route, I stop to speak to the owner of a souvenir stall, who says: “This is the first time I’ve spoken English in months.” Whether a savvy sales pitch (I bought a fridge magnet) or a sad pandemic truth, I sense a genuine relief in her voice that one of Madeira’s top-two tourism markets is back in town.


A VIEW TO A THRILL Tobogganing is the most adrenaline-fuelled way to experience the island’s views, and, boy, are there some views in this neck of the woods. (As an aside, Madeira is Portuguese for ‘wood’, so named by seafarers who took timber from this volcanic


archipelago to build ships). To get up to the starting point, we took the famous


cable cars, soaring over terracotta roofs, staggered gardens and the flora and fauna of this unique landscape (€11 one-way). The view is quite something, even for those of us with a touch of vertigo. That vertigo might be harder to manage when you’re looking out from Cabo Girão, the highest sea cliff in Europe. There was a slight wobble in my knees as


travelweekly.co.uk


² 27 MAY 2021 29


PORTUGAL


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