Friday, 14 March 2014

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!








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