Funchal was built on the side of a mountain/hill and it looks beautiful as your ship pulls into port. Once ashore we walked 1.5 - 2 miles, where we took a cable-car high above, to a little town that looks down on Funchal and the sea. There's a church at the top that may or may not have Charles I of Austria, the last emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, entombed. Charles I died here, just a couple of years after being sent into exile. 
Anyway, Elenka and I decided to try and walk down to the from from the church. It didn't work. We got maybe two-thirds of the way - maybe 2 miles - before our legs went into cramp state from going down such a steep grade. We cabbed it the rest of the way down.  
Funchal is a very modern city with lots of old-town charm. It was the best stop of all our cruise-ship landings.  Notes only