Funchal: flowering gardens on the island of Madeira

The Mercado dos Lavradores, a covered market of peasants, sells tropical flowers, exotic fruit and fresh fish among colorful stalls.

A few minutes away, the Tropical Gardens of Monte, reachable by panoramic cable car, host plants from every continent in an unusually mild microclimate.

Continuing toward the center, you visit the Se Cathedral of Funchal, a Fifteenth-century cathedral with a ceiling carved in wooden Moorish style.

Toward evening, a descent in a wicker sledge car from Monte to the city center remains a unique local tradition practiced for over a century.

The wicker sledge descent from Mount, guided by two 'carreiros' dressed in white who brake using their boots, originated in the nineteenth century as a practical means of transport before becoming a tourist attraction.

Madeira, thanks to its Atlantic position and mild year-round climate, hosts one of Europe's richest botanical collections, with tropical plants that elsewhere survive only in greenhouses.