A second image dump of pictures I took while wandering around Funchal.
I think the first, third, and sixth image would be my favourites from this set.
The first is of another of the town’s forts, this time Forte de São Tiago, which sits right beside the sea. The final shot is of the same location, but taken a few days later.
The third image is a view out to the Atlantic from a bridge that crossed a deep ravine not far from out hotel. The building at upper right is Reid’s Palace Hotel which supposedly does very nice afternoon tea (although we didn’t try it for ourselves). It’s a pretty view and I shot it more than once during our trip.
And, finally, the sixth image is the most mundane of my faves, but I liked this view towards the harbour with the buses in view. We used those buses a lot!
Just another three rolls of film to go through…
Nikon F70, Nikkor 28-80mm f.3.5-5.6 AF-D & Fujifilm Superia 100 (expired in 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro
Following the pictures I shared from my walk to Pico Fort a couple of days ago (the picture sharing, not the walk), here are random bunch of pictures I took on my walk back down the hill and into Funchal centre.
Nikon F70, Nikkor 28-80mm f.3.5-5.6 AF-D & Fujifilm Superia 100 (expired in 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro
One morning during our holiday in Funchal I decided to take a walk to one of the old forts that are dotted around the city, namely São João Batista Fort, also known as ‘Pico Fort’. I chose this one based on an online recommendation as it has panoramic views across the city.
While not far from out hotel as the crow flies, Funchal is a hilly place and the route was far from a straight line. Nor was it flat – requiring the ascension and descent of a couple of ridges on the way – the final stretch in particular was pretty steep.
While I didn’t set out to document the trip, the photos included here today were shot on the way. The first shows a view of the fort as I began my descent from the first ridge. While it looks like I could walk straight towards it, the twisting route instead took me to the right – effectively where the neck of the bottle on the advertising hoarding points.
The next two pictures are a couple of buildings that just caught my eye. I like the layering of the first shot.
After paying the entrance fee, I gained entrance to the base of the fort before climbing to the main gate, which provided a nicely framed picture of the ocean beyond.
The views over the town were nice, both down towards the Atlantic, and also looking north to the cloud covered mountains, their foothills blanketed by homes.
The final shot is of a tree that stood in the courtyard within the fortress walls and which I photographed with both film and digital. The digital shots were nice, but I think this film shot looks pretty good too.
The fort is quite big but, sadly, much of it is closed to public access with only a single chamber accessible, containing pictures and descriptions of the fort through its history. I spoke to a member of staff about the rest of the building but he only said that it would be accessible “in future”. Nonetheless it was still worth the walk and I enjoyed the hike and views.
I took more pictures on the way back down, but I’ll save those for another day.
Nikon F70, Nikkor 28-80mm f.3.5-5.6 AF-D & Kodak Portra 160 / [shots 4 & 5] Fujifilm Superia 100 (expired in 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro
The last of the pictures from Ciutadella that I’ll post (although I might put out some of the digital shots I took at some point).
I’m quite fond of this one because of the placement of the figures; the man reclining on the bench; the couple looking at directions; the mannequin in the shop window; and, most of all, the bewigged individual watching us from the doorway.
Olympus 35 RC & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
I had a very pleasant time wandering around these narrow residential streets in Ciutadella, what my wife would call “backwhacks”- a word she uses to refer to places in towns that are off the beaten track, or warrens of narrow alleyways.
I’m not sure if backwhacks is local vernacular only used in Sheffield or something used everywhere. Despite having lived in Sheffield my entire life, it’s not a description I tended to use until I met her. It’s a good word though.
It was nice to find these streets almost completely empty of other pedestrians, and very few vehicles (assuming they would even fit!), perhaps as a result of it being the afternoon siesta time when I ambled up and down them. I really enjoy these types of location when I find them. It’s rare to find anything similar in the UK.
Olympus 35 RC & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
A job-lot of pictures today, all from my solo visit to Ciutadella, and all linked by the fact that I took them while walking along the inlet that leads to the city’s marina area. I think I’ve got them in consecutive order, so you can follow the route I took vicariously.
Olympus 35 RC & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
I think this ship’s propeller was placed here for decorative purposes, rather than some sort of commemoration, but it made for a striking sight.
The three people give a nice sense of scale. They also kept wandering into my shots of other things, such as the fort I posted pictures of yesterday, which was a bit frustrating as they would stand there for several minutes admiring whatever my subject was while I waited to take my picture. Obviously, they had every right to do so, but it felt like some sort of minor karmic retribution for something I must have done wrong at some time.
Olympus 35 RC & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
