Day 9 (March 15, 2014): Homeward Bound

Today was "return to Canada day". All good things come to an end, it's life. 

We took it easy this morning, having breakfast and getting packed. Pam deserved some "retail therapy", so we went into the centre of Angra do Heroismo and went to a few shops, where she had some purchasing success!  By noon, we had checked out of the hotel and were on our way to the airport in Lajes, site of a former American base. 

Flight approach to Ponta Delgada

Our Air Azores flight left at 2:30 PM for Ponta Delgada. We had just enough time to clear security and customs before boarding our SATA International flight to Toronto at 4 PM.  Our Airbus A310 was a packed flight but with great service. We even arrived in Toronto half an hour early.  We took a shuttle to our airport hotel, from where I am writing this entry. 

Pam preparing to board our SATA Airbus A310

In the morning, we will catch a 7:15 AM Westjet flight back to Halifax.  It will be nice to have a day to rest up before heading back to work on Monday. 

What a great vacation!  Thanks for following this blog. Maybe you will find your way to Madeira and /or the Azores!  If you do, you will not regret it. 

And nothing like a totally cheesey pic with which to end a blog!!

Unabashedly and totally cheesey!

Day 8 (Friday, March 14, 2014): A Loop Around Terceira

Today was our last full day of touring these amazing islands.  After our buffet breakfast (I am officially tired of bacon... for a few days, anyway), we got ready to get out into the sunshine of this perfect 20C day and were in our VW Polo rental by 9:20 AM. 

The plan for the day was to circumnavigate the island of Terceira and then see the sights of the island's capital, Angra do Heroismo, late in the afternoon. By and large, we stuck to that recipe.  Before setting out, however, we went to the summit of Monte Brasil, a mountian overlooking Angra, which has a Portuguese working army fort occupying part of the base. 

Monte Brasil, as seen from our hotel 

The thing that strikes you most about Terceira is that it is almost completely sectioned off into parcels of the greenest pasture through the use of centuries-old lava rock walls. They are literally everywhere. As are the cows that eat the grass!

We drove for three hours, passing through town after town, each with its perfect cement houses, Portuguese-style church, townsfolk going about their daily business and yes, even cows blocking traffic!

By lunchtime, we had covered 3/4 of the island's coastline and stopped for lunch on the waterfront of the second largest town, Praia da Vitoria. Pam felt very at ease in Praia da Vitoria -- isn't it obvious?!

The owner of a souvenir shop there gave us two excellent ideas of things to see inland, so instead of completing the last quarter of the coastline, we veered towards the centre of the island. The first stop was Serra do Cume, a 545m vista that overlooks the entire eastern part of the island.

The second was the geothermal steam vents of Furnas do Enxofre. Not nearly as impressive as those we saw on Sao Miguel island yesterday, but interesting all the same. 

By 4:30 PM we were back in Angra do Heroismo and launched into the city sights here, including the following:

Residence of the island's Governor at Palace of Capitaes Generals 

Main cathedral 

Bettencourt Palace, now home to the library, features many ' azulegos' (glazed tilework recounting Portuguese history)

City Hall, which has seen better days!

Church of Conceicao

Church of Misericordia

Fort of St. Sebastian 

Fort of St. Philip

Three final comments about Terceira before I close this entry. First, we learned that bull fighting in the streets originated here. Every year from May to September, the men taunt the bulls and try to escape their fury.  We passed a bull farm on our journey around the island today. And boy, did those bulls ever give us the evil eye!

The second neat thing we learned today is that Terceira has "imperios" -- tiny chapels dedicated to the Holy Spirit -- literally everywhere!  Here are three examples we saw...

And finally, we learned that March is a great month to see wildflowers all over the island - take a look:

Dinner was had at the hotel restaurant again. A wonderful last supper for this holiday. Here is a picture of our hotel, by the way -- taken from Monte Brasil.

Well, that's a wrap on day eight. Tomorrow is a travel day. Canada, here we come!

Good night from Terceira!

Day 7 (March 13, 2014): Two drowned rats

Into every sojourn a little rain must fall. And fall it did on our sojourn today. It fell and fell and fell. In buckets. We were up at 7:30 AM and out the door to start tearing into the capital, Ponta Delgada at 9 AM. "What's a little rain?" we boldly said to each other. 

Well, by the time we had seen the major sights at 11:30 AM and headed back to check out of the hotel, we were soaked. 'Two drowned rats' couldn't have described us better. We had bought a brand-new umbrella just before the trip, but when we pulled it out this morning, part of the main apparatus was cracked in half.  And we could not find an umbrella to buy anywhere in the city center this morning.

We started our walking tour at the City Hall, where we were allowed to climb the stairs to the top of the bell tower.  Although I whacked my head on a low hanging stone near the top, the view was great.  From what I can remember anyway. ;-)

Ponta Delgada's City Hall

The view from the  tower of City Hall. 

Ponta's streets are paved in geometric patterns of black and white stones. This Square, in front of the parish church of St. Sebastian, shows the city gates and is a fine example of the geometric paving designa used throughout the city. 

Church of St. Senastian and the city gates 

Our next stop was the Church of All Saints. With its boxy exterior, you would probably never think it was a church. But inside, the magnificent carvings are really something to write home about. A female pianist was practicing at the front of the church of a grand piano for a concert she is giving tonight. It was great to hear her, it felt like we had a private concert!

Church of All Saints 

The amazing carvings at the Church of All Saints 

Getting wetter by the minute, we continued on past the 16th century convent and church of St. Andre, arriving at the large covered city market. One of the most common items for sale was pineapple. There are over 7000 hothouses in the Azores growing pineapples, and they deliver over 3 million pineapples every year to European and North American markets.

Some of the 3 million annual pineapples

We left the market and walked through the city center, back to our hotel. We checked out at noon and then got in our rental car and drove to Furnas, where you find thermal pools and boiling mud pots!  Yes, it may have been raining, but the rain did nothing to stop the heat coming out of the ground. 

Just ourside the town of Furnas, you see an emerald green lake. Adjacent to the lake, there are many geothermal mud pots.  Every morning at 4 AM, local restaurants bury pots of stew in the ground in this area, where the natural heat slowly cooks it until noon.

Loago do Furnas (Furnas Lake)

Boiling water near Furnas

Boiling mud near Furnas

Buried stew pots, ready for lunch

There are 22 thermal baths in the town of Furnas. We found one with water at a temperature of 37 Celsius. I went in, and had the whole place to myself!

Dave, simmering away at 37C

Just before leaving the town, we saw a procession of men, carrying what looked like spears, on their way to the local church in a Lenten ritual. 

Our Air Azores flight from Ponta Delgada to the island of Terceira left on time, just after 6 PM. By 7:30 PM, we had arrived at our hotel in Angra do Heroismo. A quick dinner of turkey scaloppine in the hotel restaurant, and then I did a run in the town. The topography is much gentler here than in either Madeira or Sao Miguel. Here's a taste from the air of what tomorrow holds. A "sleep tight" wish from terceira. 

Terceira -- looks oddly like Prince Edward Island?!

Day 6 (March 12, 2014): Volcanic Craters and Thermal Pools

Today was the start of our Azorean exploration -- our first full day on Sao Miguel Island, the largest of the nine islands in the Azores.  150,000 of the 250,000 residents of the Azores live on San Miguel, with its capital city of Ponta Delgada.  And here's another interesting factoid before we recount today:  did you know the soil on Sao Miguel is so fertile that in some years it bears four harvests?!  Amazing.

We were up bright and early, ate breakfast in the hotel restaurant, and were in our rental car at 9 AM.  The Island was formed around two huge volcanic craters, each containing large lakes, so this morning we set out to explore the Sete Cidades crater in the northwest of the island, which is 12km in circumference.  The crater's caldera contains two lakes: Lagoa Azul (a sapphire blue) and Lagoa Verde (an emerald green).  From the crater rim, we took the hairpin road down, where the town of Sete Cidades lies.

 Overlooking the Sete Cidades caldera

                     and its 2 lakes 

       Sete Cidades, inside the crater

       Sete Cidades, inside the crater

After exploring the neat-as-a-pin, quiet little town, we headed back out of the caldera and drove to the coast to start taking in the incredible lava shoreline, the rock formations jutting up from the ocean floor, and the green pasture land with more rock wall divisions than you can imagine.  

             Lighthouse at Ginette

                 Lava rock coastline 

         North coast rock formations

                     at Mosteiros

At Ferraria, we found a geo-thermal pool right next to the ocean.  Although the air temperature didn't get past 18C today, the green thermal water was at 37C, making it easy to get in.  Natural walls of black lava rock were piled up around the pool, creating the most amazing backdrop.

         37C thermal pool at Ferraria 

For the next couple of hours, we meandered down the north coast of the island, passing through town after town of white cement houses, churches, and pastures filled with cows.  We observed the Azoreans going about their daily lives, which is largely centered on agriculture.

       Windmill along the north coast

We had heard that many farmers still take their milk to market in horse-drawn wagons, and sure enough, we spotted one such farmer doing just that.

         Farmer taking milk to market 

By 2 PM, we arrived in Ribeira Grande, the second largest town on Sao Miguel, founded in 1507.  We were starving at that point and needed a cappucino badly.  B A D L Y.  But we hardly saw a restaurant or cafe all day.  The Azoreans are definitely NOT into fast food or eating out, especially outside of the capital.  Finding a restaurant, even in the second largest town, proved difficult.  A local guy eventually directed us to the Let It Be Cafe overlooking the ocean, which has a Beetles-inspired menu and decor.  And great cappucinos!

            Church in Ribeira Grande 

The north shore highway is a slow, twisty-turny thing.  In contrast, the highway from Ribeira Grande back to the capital is a divided highway with almost no traffic where you can drive at 100km/h.  We were amazed at the infrastructure in place for a small island with 150,000 residents.  More proof of the heavy borrowing Portugal has undertaken to build its infrastructure since joining the EU.

In any event, we drove 20km past Ponta Delgada on the way back to visit one of the most iconic sites on Sao Miguel:  the "Stairway to Heaven" as it is dubbed, or the Church of Nossa Senhora da Paz in Villa Franca do Campo.  The church is located on a mountain overlooking the town of Villa Franca do Campo and features 12 stations of the Cross.  The picture explains better than I can.

     Church of Nossa Senhora da Paz

            in Villa Franca do Campo

By 5:30 PM we were back at the Hotel Talisman in Ponta Delgada.  We had our afternoon coffee on the balcony and at 6:30 PM headed to dinner at Restaurante Nacional, a local cafe that has been serving Portuguese fare since 1947.  We both had pork prepared in a Portugeuse style, with goat cheese and olives beforehand, and a Portugeuse red wine.  

              Portuguese appetizers 

We skirted the rain today but will be hard pressed to avoid it tomorrow.  We plan to visit more thermal springs and sink our teeth into the capital city, before flying to the Island of Terceira in the early evening.  G'night from Sao Miguel!