Top 10 Madeira (Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides)

% Ground Floor
In the arcades surrounding
the central
courtyard you can shop
for leather bags and
wickerwork, fado tapes,
Madeira wine and honey
cake. Farmers up from
the country for the day
sell bread, bunches of
herbs and seasonal fruits
from upturned crates.
* Herbalist
On the first floor near
the stairs, one stall is
devoted to fresh and
dried herbs, all carefully
labelled. There are bunches
of feverfew for headaches,
and fennel and
eucalyptus sweets to
soothe a cold.
( Fish Market
If the fruit stalls are a
taste of the Garden of
Eden, the noisy fish market
(right), in the basement,
looks like
a scene from
hell, with its
knife-wielding
stallholders in
blood-stained
aprons, hacking
into tuna and
espada fish.
) Butchers
and Bars
The butchers’ shops,
selling fresh, cooked and
dried meat and sausages,
are in a separate area
reached from streets
around the market hall.
Ringing the perimeter of
the hall are hole-in-thewall
bars, where
shoppers and market
workers snack on little
dishes of garlic-flavoured
beans, salty olives or
sweet custard pastries.
^ Cobbler
As well as bargain
leather bags, you can
also buy handmade – and
hard-wearing – Madeiranstyle
ankle boots and
stylish natural leather
sandals from Barros e
Abreu (left). The stall of
this cobbler is located
on the right-hand side of
the entrance.
Fruit and Veg & Upstairs is the
domain of the fruit and
vegetable sellers, packed
with colourful and sweetsmelling
local produce.
As you negotiate the narrow
aisles, don’t be surprised
to be offered a
free slice of mango,
passion fruit or blood-red
tomarillo as you pass, in
the hope that you will
linger and buy.
The Fruits
of Madeira
In Funchal’s market,
even the commonplace
can take you by surprise:
the tiny honey-scented
bananas, no bigger than
your finger, are the best
you will ever taste.
Ignore shiny imported
apples and tomatoes in
favour of flavoursome
varieties that have been
grown on the island for
centuries. Now is your
chance to taste lanternshaped
pitanga (Brazilian
cherries), sugar cane,
prickly pears, loquats,
custard apples, guava,
pawpaw, passion fruit,
pomegranate and quince
– all grown locally.
Madeira’s Top 10 19