Madeira has to be our favourite stop so far. Not a Canary island but one belonging to Portugal, it is really our kind of place.  
From the moment we saw the busy modern town from the ship we knew we would be in for a treat.  Madeira is pretty, very pretty and I suspect that one day just is not enough to appreciate the beauty of the Island. Lush green mountains stretched up to the clouds and, nestled within the mountains were brightly coloured houses and villages.  
We decided not to take a tour today because it seemed to us that the town had plenty to offer.  The walk from the ship to town was only meant to be around 20 minutes.  We had intended to go on the cable car first and then come back to the town for some shopping.  After we had been walking for around an hour and a half we decided that we must have gone wrong somewhere.  It was then that a man approached us to ask if we were okay.  He was Portuguese but his English was good.  After explaining that we were looking for the cable car, this man started laughing and said we were MILES away. 
It turned out that we had walked around two miles too many and had gone right past the cable car.  This man, we later learned was called Roy, then took it upon himself to walk us back the right way and to ensure that we got to the cable car safe and sound.
He didn't ask for a penny and he happily posed for a photo before waving us goodbye and carrying on his own way.
So.....the cable car!!  Gary does not like heights much but decided he would join us on the ascent.  It was a really nice and really LONG cable car ride.  Both Gary and Barbara really enjoyed it.  
David and I were planning on taking the street toboggan ride back down the mountain and Barbara assured us, very loudly, that neither here nor Gary would be doing that.
Gary then said that he wanted to give it a go and that Barbara ought to as well.  To be fair, she did not take much convincing and, once we got to the top of the mountain we hunted out the toboggan place.  
it did not take too long to find and I admit to being a bit nervous when I saw the contraptions we were meant to be riding in.  It was basically a basket on metal, sled like runners.  Each basket would hold two passengers comfortably.  I could not really figure at first how a sled would slide on a road with no snow..... Then I saw the road.
It looked so steep and the surface had been polished to a shine by countless sled rides.  (100s of years of tradition) it was clear that anything would slide on this surface.
Barbara and Gary climbed into their sled first (Barbara protested slightly about going first!) and David and I got into one behind them.  Then we were off!  There are two men, one on each side of your sled who drag their feet on the road to steer the thing and to prevent it from going too fast.  
The speed isn't too bad mostly around 10mph but can reach as fast as 30kph on long straight bits.  Whatever speed we were doing was fast enough!!  The road used to slide on is a road used by cars......taxi's....other people walking....it's a road!!  
We could hear Barbara squealing all the way down but she kept waving her arm up at us so we knew she was loving it!
The trip down the mountain is about 2km in length and, as you go round the twisty bends, the sled skews sideways on giving you views of the ditches you are skidding ever closer to.  
It really was brilliant and the best way to get part way down the mountain.
Once we had all finished our ride we headed off walking the rest of the way back down to the town.  This was a mistake.....it was simply too steep and impossible to walk normally or without doing yourself an injury.  Only mountain goats could have managed that walk and we did around a mile before giving up.
We knew we had about 6k left to go and so David managed to flag down a taxi who took us the rest of the way.  
Once back in town we hit the shops and each of us got lots of nice things including wine, rum and natural cork bags.  We had a memorable, fun filled day and all did things we never ever thought we would do.
Madeira is a place we would come back to in a heartbeat.