Joao Carlos Abreu Memories Memoriestea House

Noticed the tea house on the way up to visit the fort, and popped in for a cup of tea. Made welcome by charming staff. Beautiful location, big pot of English breakfast tea. We liked it so much, we visited again on the way back, this time trying the lovely lemon scones with home made raspberry jam. Delicious! The home made lemonade also hit the spot nicely on a hot, August day. We will certainly visit again next time we are in Funchal.

Tea and coffee served. The scone was very good. Although only served with low quality jam. The lady serving is very smiley and welcoming. A bit different than the other places serving drinks in Funchal. Would visit again.

On the walk back from the Fortaleza do Pico (well worth the uphill walk for the views alone) there are a collection of museums which are not exactly swamped with tourists and which all give you a glimpse of old Funchal. One of which is the Joao Carlos Abreu house which has, in its shaded garden, the most welcome and peaceful Teahouse. Serves only tea/coffee/soft drinks and freshly-baked scones (with gorgeous jam) and brownies. No Coke or other carbonated soft drinks, only freshly squeezed juice or water. Exactly what you need when the sun is out and you want to pause before heading back down into town. Well worth seeking out!!

This is NOT a museum! said our guide firmly. It is the collection in one place of the objects collected by João Carlos Abreu SO FAR. He is still alive and collecting. However the council had obtained the building as a home for the collection, which he has donated to Madeira. So, there is no single theme, the objects are not displayed in any chronological order, but what one sees is an amazing array or artefacts from all over the world laid out to be admired by everyone as instead of being locked away, they are all on public view. Last year, my wife and I came here and realised that we could not do both the tour (visits in to the house are strictly guided and times and visit the splendid cafe on site. Tea and scones won last year, but if you can spare 2 hours, you can do both. Our tour was in English with an excellent pair of guides (one did 2 floors, the other then took over and completed the house collections . We both loved it. Rooms with porcelain, jewellery, paintings scattered round every wall (some by well known artists . If you visit, look out for the room of ties (no typo here, a room of neck ties!! But do not stand near the edge of the room or you will become dizzy (for an explanation, visit it! and my favourite, the room of the horse. If memory serves correctly, there are over 600 horses of various periods, style, size, geographical origin and construction on that floor. Sadly no pics allowed inside the house so the only way you can experience this treasure trove is to visit. And to end the visit, the café! Tea and scones what more could one wish. My wife decided on herbal tea. Next thing, our waitress came over with an offering to seek her approval it was the herbs she was suggesting for the herbal tea (lemon verbena, lemon grass, mint and something lemony whose name she did not recognise all freshly picked from their garden We both really loved our visit. NOT a museum, no labels, no chronology, but an eclectic collection with something for everyone. I have included a pic of our table as we had our tea even the cups and saucers are best described as eclectic . Each cup matches its own saucer but the 2 sets are completely different (and beautiful .

It is a remarkable collection of this unique person. So many lovely items. The most astonishing is the small room with the mirror on the ceiling. The house itself is lovely.