The theme for our travel pics this week is M for Madeira.
One of the most famous tourist attractions on Madeira is the Monte Toboggan ride.
At the top of a hill above Funchal is the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte, or “The Church of Our Lady of the Mountain.”
It’s a beautiful Catholic church dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries (although there was an earlier chapel on the mountain as early as the 1400s.
And from that church there’s a 2km downhill stretch of road, where tourists can ride a wicker sleigh, or toboggan, at speeds of up to 50km/hr.
The sleds are man-powered, and for around €30 ($45) per couple it looks like a hoot.
I say ‘looks like’ … because there were so many tourists in the queue in front of us there was a 40-minute wait for a ride.
So we didn’t go. And this shot was taken from a taxi following a toboggan down the hill. Next time, Gadget!