The Casino Park hotel and casino were designed in the late sixties by the legendary architect Oscar Neimeyer, who at the time had fled his native Brazil in exile and was living in Paris. Niemeyer was responsible for many great buildings throughout the world and specialised in modern designs, using curves rather than straight lines wherever possible and maximising open spaces in the interiors. The hotel and casino are both great examples of both these traits and I'll post more about Niemeyer, who has recently celebrated his 101st birthday, shortly.Before the hotel was built, the land it sits on was previously occupied by a grand villa with a history: the Empress of Austria, Elisabeth of Bavaria, came here in the 1860s and again in the 1890s for extended stays on health grounds. Today, Sissi's statue stands in front of the hotel as a reminder of the history of the site and the enduring popularity of the island.
The hotel gardens overlook Funchal harbour, and many of the guests left their sunloungers to watch a large cruise ship moor up in the harbour. Funchal is a regular stop for many cruise ships, and whilst today's ship, the Valletta-registered Atlantic Star wasn't the biggest in these parts, it was still intriguing to watch it manoeuvre towards the dockside.
Having returned with my camera, I also took the opportunity to snap the American frigate which has been anchored in the harbour all week. There doesn't appear to have been a great deal of activity on board, so I guess there's no immediate crisis to worry about in this part of the world.In between sunbathing and swimming, I took the camera up to the top floor of the hotel to take some shots, and the result is this panorama looking out across Funchal and the harbour, with the unique hyperbolic shape of the casino in the foreground. The casino was where we were heading in the evening - we'd booked to see the show 'Viva la diva' together with a four-course meal, and a fantastic time was had by all.
1 comment:
Very nice blog. All the best.
Post a Comment