28 October 2017 – Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Azores

After docking at 8:00am Azores Time, and a beautiful sunrise, we met with our tour van driver, Hugo, and with 2 other couples we took off on our tour passing the old gateway to the city of Ponta Delgada.

Traveling west into the overcast and foggy weather, we drove toward the top of an old volcanic crater and on the way we stopped at the Viaga de Belugas (Whale Lookout) and snapped the following photos: Left is an old windmill and hedgerows made of hydrangea bushes to contain the cattle, center is a thermal spa that Robbi will come back to in the future (HA!HA!HA!), and right is the city of Mosteiros (Monastery).

 

Reaching the top of the crater we stopped to look through the mist and take pictures: On the left is the so-called “green” lake, in the center is a cottage on the so-called “blue” lake(building is no longer permitted there) and on the right is the bridge that divides them.  However it is just one lake with a shallow side that is green due to algae, and a deeper, larger side, which appears blue.  The lake is over 2 miles long and is the island’s main source of drinking water.

Halfway down we saw the ruins of an aqueduct that transported water from the west of the island to the south.

Descending we passed through the city of Sete Cidades, which is named for 7 different towns that are now combined as one – Seven Cities.  At the bottom we went to the blue lake nature park and took the some photos:  On the Left is the lake and surrounding crater side, and two well-known travelers who visited there!

Then we did a tour of the city and spent time at the Pineapple Plantation.  This is the only place in the world that pineapples are grown in greenhouses and it takes 2 years to mature from the baby to the ripe fruit.

Our last stop was at the restaurant Ondas da Mar for a typical Portuguese lunch.  First were pitchers of water, iced tea, red and white wine.  Cheese, pineapple, spicy blood sausage, fresh breads and ground pork spread for starter. Then a buffet of fresh, local fish kebabs, pork ribs, local potatoes, and salad.  Dessert was a pineapple cream.  EXCELLENT!! The last pictures are from outside the restaurant and shows why it’s called Waves of the Ocean.

As we leave, we learned why the archipelago is named the Azores.  When the Portuguese explorers discovered the 9 islands in the 15^th century, they looked for some common factor to name the group.  All 9 islands had an Azore hawk population, hence the name the Azores!  What a beautiful part of the world!!