Thursday, October 25:
Ponta Delgada, Azores. Tour the island.
Ponta Delgada is a city and municipality on the island of São Miguel in the archipelago of the Azores, an
autonomous region of Portugal. Populated since 1444, the island has approximately
60,000 inhabitants. Portuguese is the official language.
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic
islands situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located
about 930 miles west of Lisbon and
about 1200 miles southeast of Newfoundland. São Miguel is 2800 nautical
miles from St.Thomas where we are headed and I want to look that distance up. Mt. Pico (sp?) is the highest mountain, 7700 ft.
(not sure if ft. or meters). The whole island was very clean. I also found out
that the U.S. military base that uses our Medal of Honor character development
program/curriculum is on the island Terceira, which is about 120 miles from São
Miguel/30 minutes by airplane (cost $150).
The main industries are agriculture (pineapples, grapes,
grain, sugar cane, flowers-particularly carnations), dairy farming
(for cheese and butter products primarily), livestock ranching
(chickens, rabbits, sheep, goats, hogs), fishing, and tourism, which is becoming the major service
activity in the region.
Today was 68 F and partly cloudy. We were lucky since
this lush island gets lots of rain. We did experience fog and wind and a little
mist. Carmen, our beautiful port guide, met us outside the ship at 8:30 a.m. We
toured with 3 other couples from Florida, Dallas, and Scotland. We really like
these tours of 6 to 8 people, so much more personal than the cruise ship buses
of 60.
We headed up the volcanic mountain to see Lagoa do Fogo
(which I think means Fire Lake), a large lake in a volcano crater and many
scenic views of the Atlantic Ocean. From there we traveled the countryside to a
site where we walked to Caldeira Velha, natural boiling water in a small pool the
size of a basketball court. Because of the geothermal properties of the island,
this phenomenon is common. Along the windy
drive we saw blue, purple, and pink hydrangeas with flowers as big as soccer
balls growing along the roadside. It was like we were in a lush rain forest
without the humidity. Unique palm trees, sycamores, pine trees, cedar trees,
tall grasses followed our path. We also saw many many fields of Holstein dairy
cattle as well as beef cattle. At one point four cows were in our path,
although Carmen said that is not common.
We stopped at a tea factory for a tour, Cha Porto
Formosa. We viewed a video that showed the difference between orange pekoe (the
first leaf on the stem—more caffeine, stronger taste), pekoe (the 2nd
leaf—a little less caffeine, still sort of strong taste), and broken leaf (the
rest of the leaves—less caffeine, mildest taste). We could see the small tea
bushes on the property with delicate white flowers and a yellow center. After
the small factory tour, we all sat for a cup of tea. The tea was nicely
packaged and I bought the “Broken Leaf” for Mary Lou---the tea is loose and I
am sure she has an infuser.
After Logoa das Furnas (another volcanic crater lake), we
went to a hot springs (Posa da Beija) where people swim, a charming area. I
waded into the pool and the temperature was divine. There are a series of such
pools, one deeper than the other as you go further toward the cave that is the
source of this spring. Others did swim, but we did not. After this stop, we
found out that a small candy “factory” was nearby, so we went to see—it was a
tiny kitchen and one employee was indeed making candy: caramels (more like
caramel on crème brulee), and lemon, anise, honey drops nicely packaged. We all
bought some!
We stopped at Restaurante Vale das Furnas/Buondi Caffe
for an amazing lunch! Because of the hot steam that pours out of the earth, the
Azoreans have devised a way to capitalize on this situation. Roast beef, pork
ribs, blood sausage, pork sausage, carrots, kale, cabbage, potatoes, and sweet
potatoes are placed in a pot that is lowered into a stone hole dug over a steam
vent, covered, and left for six hours or so. Then the pot is removed and taken
to the restaurant. Restaurants that use this method of cooking have their own
stone holes in the hot steam area. This “Cozido das Furnas” has an unbelievably
fantastic “background” taste because the steam is also infused with sulphur
from the earth. Add special fluffy bread made today and mild fresh goat cheese
made yesterday and you have the greatest feast! Reminiscent of the New England boiled
dinner I am so fond of.
To top it off, Carmen took us to a magical forest where the steam holes are—trees with intertwining roots above ground, soft moss, careful steps, all open up to the barren muddy area of hot steam rolling out from the earth. The sound of the water boiling and bubbling like that is beyond describing. I bet my brother would like the Azores!
Visiting São Miguel was an enlightening, mystical
experience, the serenity, the lush foliage, the flowers, the vistas of crater
lakes, and the Atlantic Ocean, all perfect. I asked Carmen about hurricanes in
the Azores. She said that for hundreds of years and all the years she was
growing up, there were no hurricanes until recently. The climate change has
made a difference in the Azores and hurricanes now affect them frequently.
We arrived back at Ponta Delgada with only a half hour to
spare, so yet another fantastic port with barely enough time to buy any
souvenirs. That has been a great disappointment for us me.
Back
onboard the Epic we settled in again with prime rib extraordinaire.
No comments:
Post a Comment