Uncover Travel's Azores Guide by Uncover T Ravel

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AZORES GUIDE

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THE AZORES The nine islands that make up The Azores sit around 1,600 kilometres from mainland Portugal, in the Atlantic Ocean. The islands are divided into three groups: the eastern islands, the central islands and the western islands.

All nine islands are of volcanic origin but are very different from each other. Portuguese writer Raul Brandao gave each of the islands a colour to reflect their ‘personalities’.

Uncover Travel’s guide covers four of the nine islands with a seven night itinerary and recommended hotels, tours and restaurants.

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SÃO MIGUEL São Miguel is one of the two eastern islands and is nicknamed ‘The Green Island’ due to its lush greenery and abundance of pastures and forests.

It is the largest of the Azores islands at 61.1 kilometres long and 15.8 kilometres wide at its widest point. More than half of the Azorean population lives on this island and it has around 137,865 inhabitants.

São Miguel is a beautiful island and the city of Ponta Delagada has plenty of shops, cafeterias, parks and restaurants, all within walking distance of Hotel Marina Atlântico.

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Three Nights on São Miguel Island Day One - Check in to the Marina Atlântico hotel in Ponta Delgada. Take a wander through the town and have dinner at Conves Açores in the marina - we highly recommend the tuna!

Have lunch in Restaurante São Nicolau, near the church. Return to Ponte Delgada and take a walk through the municipal garden, Jardim António Borges. Have dinner in Taverna Açor.

Day Two - Take a day trip to Furnas, home to the natural hot springs. Visit the Caldeiras das Furnas and watch the local dish of ‘cozido’ being dug out of the ground by Lagoa das Furnas. Try cozido for lunch at Restaurante Tony’s. Visit the Terra Nostra Botanical Gardens and take a dip in the thermal pool (in a swimsuit that you are happy to throw away afterwards as the water will turn it yellow). Return to Ponta Delgada and have a ‘tapas’ dinner at A Tasca.

Day Four - Visit Arruda Açores, a unique pineapple plantation on the island. Don’t forget to try the pineapple liqueurs in the gift shop! Drive to Maia on the north of the island to visit Cha Gorreana Tea Estate. Try the locally produces teas and buy some to take home with you. The tuna fish in different sauces that is sold in the gift shop is delicious! N.B. Booking a guided tour is the best way to see the island we recommend Azores Private Tours. Be sure to book in advance!

Day Three - Take a day trip to Sete Cidades to see one of the Natural Wonders of Portugal, the twin lakes of Sete Cidades. Enjoy the view from the Vista du Rei and then drive down to the lakes. Rent a kayak to paddle across the lake and then wander through the parish to see the typical houses. 3

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Where to Stay & Eat on São Miguel

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Request a room with a sea view - the view over the marina is lovely ❖ Make sure to book a table, these restaurants are always busy! ❖ Try the tuna on a bed of glazed vegetables at Conves Açores ❖ Taste the typical dish of Cozido das Furnas in Tony’s and order some Azorean wine and cheese to go with it! ❖

Hotel Marina Atlantico is located in front of the marina, close to many restaurants, bars and shops. The seafront rooms have lovely views over the marina and most also have balconies. The hotel has an excellent Health Club with indoor, heated swimming pool, sauna and jacuzzi. There is free wi-fi throughout the hotel and the reception staff are friendly and helpful. The airport is approximately 10 minutes away by car. A Tasca is a small tapas restaurant in Ponta Delgada. It doesn’t look very special but the food is delicious and the menu offers a wide variety of dishes, including typical, Azorean cuisine. Conves Açores is located in the marina, a few minutes from Hotel Marina Atlânico by foot. The outdoor seating looks over the marina, creating a lovely setting. Restaurane Tony’s in Furnas is an excellent place to try the traditional dish of Cozido das Furnas. The portion is huge and can easily be shared between three or four people.

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Furnas Furnas is a parish in the municipality of Povoaçao (meaning ‘village’), located inland from the south-eastern coast of São Miguel. Furnas’ main attractions include the beautiful Lagoa das Furnas (Furnas Lake) and Caldeiras das Furnas (hot springs). The valley is actually a seven kilometre wide volcanic crater. As soon as you step out of the car you will be able to smell the sulphur. It is a curious landscape. Surrounding the hot springs are green hills, trees and beautiful flowers. Where the hot springs are located is barren and desert-like, dotted with large holes lined by rocks with steam rising from the middle. The two scenes, although strangely harmonious, appear to be from two very different worlds.

Don’t forget to watch the cozido lunch being dug up at Lagoa das Furnas

In 1630 a powerful eruption took place and since then the area has had a great variety of volcanic activity. The water in these springs is hot enough to boil an egg in two minutes however

food cooked in this water would be impregnated with sulphuric acid and therefore would become unfit to eat.

make sure to keep an eye on them in the pool as the water is so murky that it is impossible to see just under the surface.

Each of the springs is named; the big spring, the dry spring, the small spring, the muddy spring, etc… ‘Caldeira de Pêro Botelho’ is the hottest of all the springs, spitting water at temperatures of up to 99ºC into the air.

In the gardens is Memorial of the Viscondes, which is surrounded by eight Canary Island palms and a little pond with stepping stones leading to a tiny island in the middle. Although the water is cool, tell-tale bubbles remind visitors that the hot springs are not too far away.

Also in Povoaçao is Terra Nostra botanical garden. Around 1775 a wealthy merchant from Boston built a simple summer house in front of a pool that had an island in the middle. Surrounding the pool were trees that were imported from North America. In 1848 the house was bought by the Visconde de Praia, who built a new house and, together with the Viscountess, enlarged the existing two acres of gardens to include shady groves and parterres of flowers. Later, their son continued their work adding water gardens, a serpentine canal, grottoes and an avenue lined with Australian King palm trees. Many new species were imported from North America, Australia, New Zealand, China and South Africa. In 1935 the Hotel Terra Nostra opened to the public and shortly after the gardens expanded to their current size of 12.5 hectares.

Lunch in Furnas is slightly different from what one would usually expect and before going to the restaurant make sure to drive back to Lagoa das Furnas to watch the food being dug out of the ground. Approximately six hours before lunch time pots are buried all over the ground by the lake, next to the hot springs. The heat from the springs cooks the food all day and in the early afternoon tourists (and some locals) gather to watch as the massive, metal pots are revealed. One by one they are dug out of the ground and carried to waiting vans. Once the pots have been dug up, head back to the village to try the traditional lunch of ‘Cozido das Furnas’. The meal is made of all different types of meat and vegetables including beef, pork, chicken, yams, carrots and chorizo. It is delicious and and is best enjoyed with locally made bread, wine and cheese.

Within the grounds of Terra Nostra is a large, outdoor thermal pool. Visitors may swim in the pool but be sure to wear a costume or shorts that you are happy to throw out, as the water will turn clothes yellow. If you have children with you, 6

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Sete Cidades The area of Sete Cidades is an extinct volcano that sits approximately 575 metres above sea level. It was named ‘seven cities’ due to the seven peaks surrounding the lakes. In the middle of the crater sits the twin-lake, Lagoa das Sete Cidades. The twin lake is made up of two lakes separated by a man-made bridge. The smaller of the two lakes appears vivid green in colour, giving it the name Lagoa Verde (Green Lake). The larger lake is deep blue, giving it the name Lagoa Azul (Blue Lake). Vista do Rei is a lookout high up on the rim of the Sete Cidades crater overlooking the tiny parish and one of the seven natural wonders of Portugal. This is one of the best places to see the twin lakes. Behind Vista do Rei is Miradouro Candelária, overlooking the parish of Candelária which extends from the crater of Sete Cidades to the seaside. It is covered in a majestic, green mantle interrupted only by caves, orchards and houses. Igreja de São Nicolau, a Neo-Gothic church that sits at the end of a tree-lined avenue

Legend has it that in the Kingdom of Sete Cidades lived a king and his daughter. The green-eyed princess was an only child 7

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and the king was very protective of her. She was never allowed to leave the castle or to speak to anyone other than her father and her nanny. The princess would sneak out of the castle and on one occasion she heard the sound of beautiful flute music. She followed the music and met a young, blueeyed shepherd. The two fell in love and the shepherd asked the king for his daughter’s hand in marriage. The king forbade his daughter from seeing the shepherd again. The starcrossed lovers embraced and wept as they bade farewell on their final encounter. The two lakes were formed from their tears with the water coloured by their eyes. The real reason for this natural phenomenon is somewhat less romantic. Lagoa Azul is around 33 metres deep and reflects the colour of the sky, giving it the deep blue colour. Lagoa Verde is comparatively shallow at around 19 metres deep and it reflects the colour of the algae on its bed and the greenery that surrounds it, giving it a rich green colour. The area of Sete Cidades became a civil parish on the 18th of February 1971, making it the 20th parish in the municipality of Ponta Delgada. Within the parish is Igreja de São Nicolau, a Neo-Gothic church that sits at the end of a tree-lined avenue. The church was built in 1857 under the order of Nicolau Maria Raposo Amaral and became the seat of the parish in the 20th century. Inside it is modest and quaint and outside sits a fountain decorated with seven triangular sculptures, representing the seven peaks.

As you drive around the island make sure to stop at some of the many view points

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Arruda Açores Pineapple Plantation Arruda Açores is a unique pineapple plantation, where the fruits are grown in greenhouses. Following the end of the orange cycle in the Azores, pineapples that were brought to the islands in the 19th century provided another source of income for farmers. The islands do not have the sort of climate that pineapples require to grow and thrive and so pineapple greenhouses were created. It is estimated that São Miguel now has around 6,000 greenhouses and all sorts of products made from pineapples can be found on the island including cake, jam, chutney, mustard, liqueur, sweets and chocolate.

help catalyse simultaneous flowering. The smoke also helps to ward off insects and bugs that could damage the plants, as pesticides are not used. Pineapples are not just one fruit but a composite of many flowers whose individual fruitlets fuse together around a central core. Pineapples are a great source of vitamins and minerals such as thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B-6, folate, pantothenic acid, magnesium, manganese and potassium and antioxidants and polyphenols such as beta-carotene. Fresh pineapple is also the only source of an enzyme called bromelain, which is though to help alleviate join pain and arthritus, reduce inflammation, inhibit tumour growth and shorten recovery time following plastic surgery.

The plantation starts in the nursery, where pineapple roots are planted in soil made of organic matter. Once the plants reach maturity they are transferred from the nursery to a greenhouse where they are neatly planted in rows. It takes approximately one year for one fruit to grow and so each greenhouse contains around 1,000 plants. These plants are watered regularly and the greenhouses are smoked to 9

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Fábrica de Chá Gorreana - Tea Factory The Chá Gorreana factory is located in Maia to the north of São Miguel island. Chá Gorreana’s teas are recognised internationally as a rare collection of fine teas and this is Europe’s oldest tea producing factory.

Both green tea and black tea contain antioxidants

Tea was first discovered in China around 5,000 years ago and, as European explorers began to explore the orient, information about tea began to filter back to Europe. When sea routes to the Far East were established in the early 1600s tea began to gain a presence in Europe. The mandarin word for tea is ‘cha’ and so many countries such as Japan, Tibet, Russia and Turkey continue to use the common root of ‘cha’. It was the Dutch traders who first brought tea to Europe in the early 1600s who changed the name from ‘cha’ to ‘tea’. They imported the tea on junk ships from the port of Amoy in the Fujian province. In the Amoy dialect tea was called ‘te’ (pronounced ‘tay’) and hence the Dutch began to call it ‘thee’. As they were the first importers they spread this name and now most European countries

including France, Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy, Denmark and Hungary use this root.

It is the top three leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant that are used to make the tea and each leaf produces a different taste. The uppermost leaf is the ‘orange pekoe’, which produces the black tea that is the most aromatic of the three black teas produced here. The second leaf is the ‘pekoe’, which produces the strongest black tea. The bottom leaf is the broken leaf, which produces the lightest of Gorreana’s black teas.

Oranges were once the main source of revenue in the Azores and several million oranges were exported every year. In 1860 a blight began to destroy the crops. By the 1870s all of the orange groves in São Miguel had been affected and the orange production came to an abrupt end. The main producers of oranges on the island had to find other sources of income and crops of tea, tobacco, sweet potatoes and pineapple began to appear. Two Chinese masters were hired to visit the Azores and to teach the tea culture to those interested in the industry. In 1874 the Fábrica de Chá Gorreana gained its first seeds and the first teas were produced in 1883. During World War II many factories were closed and later the growth and government support of African teas led to the closure of all remaining factories except Fábrica de Chá Gorreana. The factory now produces 60 tons of tea per year.

Inside the factory are the machines that make the tea. Both black tea and green tea are made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant however the way the leaves are processed produces different results. At Chá Gorreana, the tea is made using the traditional processing methods. To make the black tea the leaves are harvested, withered, crushed, torn, curled or rolled and allowed to oxidise before being dried. This process allows the leaves to darken and to develop a stronger flavour and aroma. To produce green tea the leaves are harvested, withered and then heated through steaming or firing, which halts the oxidisation, allowing the leaves to retain their green colour and delicate, fresh flavour.

Outside the factory is the tea plantation, where visitors can see rows and rows of tea plants. In olden days, the tea was planted in small, round bushes, to allow the leaves to be easily collected by hand. With the introduction of machines such as tractors that could collect the leaves the tea can now be planted in long rows instead. This plantation is ecofriendly and no herbicides, pesticides or fungicides are used.

Both green tea and black tea contain antioxidants and that green tea contains properties that may help to prevent cancer. Certain chemicals, called polyphenols, are found in green tea and appear to inhibit two proteins that promote tumour cell growth and migration.

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TERCEIRA Terceira is known as the ‘Lilac Island’ for its many hydrangeas, which turn lilac in colour due to the high iron content in the soil. The island is located around 145 kilometres from São Miguel and the flight from Ponte Delgada takes approximately 30 minutes. Terceira is the second most populated of the Azorean islands, with approximately 58,000 inhabitants, and the third largest in surface area.

The capital city of Angra du Heroísmo is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is the oldest Portuguese city to be included on the UNESCO list. The city is considered a witness to the Age of Discoveries.

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Two Nights on Terceira Day One - Check in to Pousada Forte Angra do Heroísmo and set off for a walking tour of the city of Angra do Heroísmo. Have dinner in O Chico restaurant.

Pousada Forte Angra do Heroísmo is located just a few minutes by foot from the UNESCO World Heritage city of Angra do Heroísmo (although it is at the top of quite a steep hill). The hotel is a converted 16th century fortress. The construction of the castle started in 1555 and it is closed in by high rising stone walls. The hotel has an outdoor swimming pool, a restaurant and bar. There is free wi-fi however it doesn’t work very well in some of the rooms (it works in the bar/restaurant areas). The views from the hotel grounds are quite spectacular, as the hotel is located right on the edge of a cliff overlooking the city of Angra do Heroísmo and the Atlantic Ocean.

Day Two - Take a day tour to Praia da Vitoria and have lunch in one of the many restaurants by the marina. Visit the Algar do Carvão Lava Tunnels in the centre of the island. Return to Angra do Heroísmo and have dinner in Beira Mar restaurant. Day Three - Take a day tour to Biscoitos to visit Casa Agricola Brum, the main winery on the island. See the vineyards and try some of the locally produced wines. Visit the natural swimming pools of Biscoitos.

O Chico restaurant is located in the city of Angra do Heroísmo, just a few minutes by foot from the Pousada Forte Angra do Heroísmo. It is a small restaurant and usually quite busy, so it is recommended to book a table. The food is good and reasonably priced with lots of local dishes on the menu.

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Walking Tour of Angra do Heroísmo Following a violent earthquake that damaged over 75% of the buildings in the city, Angra do Heroísmo became the oldest Portugese city centre included on the World Heritage List and was considered a witness to the Age of Discoveries. A walking tour will take you to Museo Angra do Heroísmo, the church of Nossa Senhora da Guia, Palace of the General Captains and Sé Catedral de Angra. The museum is situated within a former Franciscan convent of the seventeenth century. Here you will learn more about the city that has become a UNESCO world heritage site. The city centre is comprised of twenty long and wide cobbled streets that are bordered by beautiful houses that are characterised by two main features. The first feature is that the terraced houses that line the streets have no front or back gardens. The second is that the majority of the whitewashed houses have two floors when seen from the front and three floors when seen from the rear. After the tour relax in one of the cafeterias overlooking the bay

The city is directly and tangibly associated with an event of universal historical significance: the maritime exploration that allowed exchanges between the world’s great civilisations. Due to its location in the mid-Atlantic, the port of Angra is the eminent example of a creation linked to the maritime world within the framework of great explorers.

Within the museum is the church of Nossa Senhora da Guia, meaning Our Lady of Guidance. The church was built between 1666 and 1672 and is an example of what George Kubler called plain style, a Portuguese architectural style known by the strictness of shape and the use of straight lines over the decoration. However, the church also features elements of pre-Baroque style, therefore including niches, sculptures and a mixtilineal pediment, which is a typical characteristic of the Azorean architecture of the 17th century. On the walls of the choir gallery are beautiful, glazed-tile panels. They depict elements of the Franciscan hagiography, such as The Profession, The Stigmata and The Transitus.

The port of Angra was set up as an obligatory port-of-call by Vasco de Gama in 1499 and Pedro de Alvarado in 1536 for the fleets of Equatorial Africa and of the East and West Indies during their voyages back and forth from Europe. The site was protected from the prevailing winds by a series of hills. The port comprises of two natural basins, that of Beacon and that of the Anchorage (Angra), from which the village took its name.

Next you will visit the Palace of the General Captains. The Jesuits had been established in Angra since 1970, at the bottom of Rua du Jesus. At the beginning of the 17th century they built a college on the site where the Távora family houses once stood. Following the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1759, the building was given a new façade and became the headquarters for the General Captain of the Azores.

An impregnable defence system was installed immediately following the founding of Angra du Heroísmo, with the construction of the large fortress of São Sebastião and São Filipe (today named São João Baptista). At the same time it was decided to set out the city based on an original layout: the characteristic chequerboard plan of new cities was altered to take into account the prevailing winds. Thus, it is believed that Angra du Heroísmo offers a unique example of adaptation of an urban model to particular climate conditions.

The final stop on the walking tour is Sé Catedral de Angra, an imposing 15th century building that was built upon the site of an ancient Gothic church. Inside the main chapel, the walls and ceiling are sculpted in cedar, beautiful tiles and 17th century paintings. Pedro Anes du Canto, the former administrator of Terceira island fortress is buried inside the cathedral. 15

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Algar do Carvão Algar do Carvão is just one of the many lava tunnels on the island of Terceira but this is the only one that is open to visitors at the moment. The word ‘algar’ means a natural cavity in the earth that, unlike most caves and caverns, is vertical. ‘Carvão’ is the Portuguese word for ‘coal’, as the cave walls are formed by dark, black lava. There are 271 known volcanic caves in the Azores, spread over all the archipelago with the exception of Corvo island. This site has been declared a geological nature reserve and is approximately 40.5 hectares in length, making it the second largest on the island. The tunnels were created from an eruption about 2000 years ago and consist of many grottos.

An opening in the roof of the cave provides natural light

At the end of the man-made tunnel one emerges into daylight as an opening in the roof of the cave provides a natural light. This is one of the only places in the world where visitors can enter into the cone of an extinct volcano.

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Biscoitos Biscoitos is located on the north of the island and is home to Casa Agricola Brum, the main winery on the island. The factory was opened in 1890 by Francisco Maria Brum, known as Chico Maria. The museum was inaugurated 100 years later and is run by the fourth generation of the family. Visitors can tour the vineyards and learn about the winemaking process before tasting some of the locally produced wines in the tasting room.

retentive walls of black basalt rocks that protect the vines from the wind and seawater while allowing the grapes to receive enough heat. At the end of the tour, visitors enter a large tasting room full of old barrels. At one end of the room is a bar and behind it is a selection of wines produced by Casa Agricola Brum. Be sure to try some of the locally produced wines!

Tour the vineyard at the back of the museum where you will see the grapes growing in ‘curraletas’ (small, square beds) protected by black basalt walls. The vine, as well as other types of cultivation, was first introduced to the region by the Portuguese settlers in the mid 15th century. During the Portuguese Discoveries period there was a rising demand for strong wine. Verdelho du Biscoitos, the fortified wine produced here, supplied the fleets that undertook the “India Run”. The low lying vines that produce the Verdelho wine grow in the deep soils comprised of volcanic rock, surrounded by high heat-

Biscoitos is also the home to beautiful swimming pools that are formed along the black rocks created by ancient volcanic eruptions. The rock formations were adapted to swimming pools in 1969 and now have various safety features including boardwalks, handrails and a lifeguard. As you return to Angra stop at the one of the many ‘vigia de baleias’, land-based lookouts for whales and dolphins.

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FAIAL Faial Island is one of the Central Group of the Azores Archipelago and is nicknamed ‘The Blue Island’ due to the many blue Hydrangeas that can be found growing wild on the island. Hydrangeas can be found in many different shades of pink and blue and their colour changes depending upon the soil.

Horta Marina is the fourth most visited marina in the world and the walls are beautifully decorated with paintings made by the yachtsmen who have visited. It is said that painting on the marina wall will bring luck for future sea travels and this tradition has transformed Horta Marina into an open-air museum.

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Two Nights on Faial Day One - Check in to Pousada Forte da Horta and then take a day tour to see the Caldeira du Faial. Follow the trail around the rim of the crater. On your way back to Horta see the village of Flamengos. Have dinner in the hotel restaurant.

The Pousada Forte da Horta is a converted sixteenth century fortress that was classified as a National Monument in 1947. The hotel is located in the city of Horta, within walking distance of various restaurants and bars (including the world famous Peter Café Sport). The hotel overlooks the marina and has a lovely outdoor swimming pool. The buffet breakfast is very good and the outdoor seating area overlooks the swimming pool. The hotel has a nice lounge area downstairs and a bar. There is free wi-fi however it does not work very well from some of the rooms (it works well in the lounge and communal areas).

Day Two - Catch the early ferry to day trip to Pico. See the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Landscape of Pico Island Vineyard Culture and the volcanic rocks made from the lava flow from the last eruption. Have lunch in São Roque do Pico. Drive up the Mount Pico, Portugal’s highest point for a great view. Return to Faial in the late afternoon and take a walk through Horta Marina to see the paintings on the walls. Have dinner at the world-famous Peter Café Sport.

Peter Café Sport is a must visit. The legendary bar is world-famous in the yachting world and has a lovely terrace area overlooking the marina. A reservation is recommended as this place gets very busy. The menu offers a great variety of dishes including typical Azorean cuisine, snacks and sandwiches. There is often live music on the terrace after dinner, making it a great place to enjoy a drink after your meal.

Day Three - Drive to Dos Capelinhos, the youngest landscape of the Azores. Visit the interpretation centre and see the volcanic mound from the top of the lighthouse. Take a hike up to the top of the mound for some incredible views. 19

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Caldeira do Faial The Caldeira do Faial is the vast crater of a volcano from which the island of Faial originated. It reaches 1,043 metres at the island’s highest point and has a diameter of approximately 1.5 kilometres. On the way up to the crater you will be able to enjoy fantastic views of nearby Pico Island on a clear day. The Miradouro da Calderia allows visitors to look down into the crater from a viewpoint around 900 metres high. The area was established as a natural reserve and a special protected zone in 1982 and therefore walking within the crater is not allowed. There is however a trail that leads hikers around the rim of the caldeira and takes around two and half hours. Another, more adventurous trail, called The Route of the Ten Volcanoes, starts here and leads all the way down to the Capelinhos Volcano, covering 20 kilometres. The Caldeira is the starting point for two great hikes

There was once a lagoon at the bottom of this crater however the seismic activity created by the eruption of the Capelinhos Volcano created fissures that led to the draining of the water. 21

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Pico Island Pico Island is around 30 minutes away by ferry and perfect for a day trip (or an overnight trip). Pico island (meaning Peak Island) is named for its imposing stratovolcano, rising from the middle of the island to a height of 2,351 metres. Mount Pico is not only the highest point in the Azores archipelago but also in Portugal. Pico Island is around 300,000 years old, making it one of the youngest Azores islands. It is also one of the largest, having a length of 42 kilometres a maximum width of 15 kilometres. It is nicknamed ‘the black island’ for its black, volcanic earth, strange rock formations and black lava rocks. The volcano’s most recent eruption occurred in December 1720, and in 1562 an eruption began that lasted for over two years, sending lava flowing all the way to the sea.

Arcos do Cachorro is a set of volcanic rock formations named after a rock that resembles a dog’s head

Arcos do Cachorro is a set of volcanic rock formations in the municipality of Madalena. The rock that gives the site its name, which means ‘Arches of the Puppy’ resembles a dog’s head.

Pico is home to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture. The site consists of spaced-out, long linear walls running inland from and parallel to the shore where grape vines are grown in ‘currais’ (small, soilless, rectangular plots) to make the Verdelho wine.

Luzia and the features of the pahoehoe lava remain. There is no beach and instead the black, volcanic lava fields have created small sea cliffs. In Lajido du Santa Luzia is the Núcleo Museológico do Lajido de Santa Luzia. This single-storey, rectangular building was used as a warehouse and contains barrels and vats in which fermenting fruit was stored to make aqua vitae (an especially strong, distilled liquor).

The UNESCO site is 987 hectares in size and represents the best remaining area of a once much more widespread practise. Around the island you will be able to see currais in many other areas too. Currais that are no longer used are often restored by locals, as many of the residents of Pico island grown vines to produce their own wine.

The Mistérios du Sul do Pico walking trail leads hikers through the two ‘mysteries’ of the Island, São João and Silveira. Historically, the name ‘mistérios’ was applied to the lava fields created by the volcanic eruptions that formed the islands. The first inhabitants did not know how they were formed and therefore began to call them ‘mysteries of nature’.

While on Pico Island a trip to Adena “A Buraca”, a local winery and museum is highly recommended. The museum displays various traditional tools used for agriculture but the highlight of “A Buraca” is the tasting room where visitors can sample the locally produced wines and moonshine liquors.

On the way to and from Pico Island look out for the two islets; Deitado (meaning ‘lying down’) and Em-pe (meaning ‘standing up’). As the ferry passes Em-pe you will be able to see a hole in the rock that resembles both a dolphin and the Virgin Mary from different angles.

The civil parish of Lajido du Santa Luzia is located on the northern coast of the island and is very picturesque. All of the houses here have been built out of black, volcanic rocks and painted white in parts. This is the ‘border area’ of the Pico’s Vineyard Culture Protected Landscape and is one of the greatest examples of the ancient art. The name ‘lajido’ is applied whenever broad pahoehoe lava flow fields exist. Lava from the last volcanic eruption flowed into the sea in Santa 23

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Ponta dos Capelinhos The eruption of the Capelinhos volcano in 1957 created the youngest landscape of the Azores. The Capelinhos eruption began on the 27th of September 1957 and lasted thirteen months. It brought huge physical changes to Faial, burying the lighthouse and increasing the size of the island. The Capelinhos eruption started approximately 1 kilometre off the island of Faial, at low depths of between 20 and 60 metres below sea level. On the morning of the 27th of September 1957, the earth began to shake and a horrible smell began to stench across the island. By seven o’clock in the morning smoke billowed from Capelinhos and an hour later ash began to appear.

The views from the top of the volcanic mound are spectacular

The submarine activity lasted around seven and a half months and was marked by a sequence of large explosions and the emission of black ash, along with a large column of water steam and volcanic gases. During the early stages of the eruption a small islet was formed however it submerged in October 1957. Some 24

days later the volcanic activity resumed and a second islet appeared and also disappeared. In early November a third, larger island was created and connected to Faial island by an isthmus. This mound remained and later became known as Ponta dos Capelinhos.

The eruption caused over 2,000 inhabitants of the island to lose their homes as the houses were buried under a thick blanket of ash. The natural disaster spurred the biggest emigration wave the island had ever experienced, with almost half the population leaving the archipelago, and brought a change in the law of emigration to the United States.

In May 1958 the characteristics of the eruption changed from submarine to subaereal, due to the isolation of the eruptive centres from the sea, and was marked by a seismic crisis. This phase lasted around five months and was marked by a moderate explosive activity, with some effusive episodes in between. During this phase several basaltic lava flows with variable viscosity were extruded, of both ‘pahoehoe’ (‘lajidos’ or ‘lajes’) and ‘aa’ (‘biscoitos’) type. Basaltic pyroclasts of different shapes and sizes were thrust from the eruption and throughout the interpretation centre visitors can see samples of the lava bombs, blocks and lapilli that were collected.

The ambiguously terrifying and fascinating phenomenon changed the people and the lands of the island. It plotted a new course in the history of Azoreans and in the international scientific panorama. The eruption also led to a better understanding on submarine volcanic activity. The Subida ao Vulcao dos Capelinhos trail takes around two hours and has a distance of approximately 3.2 kilometres, beginning and ending at the Interpretation Centre. Hikers follow the sandy trail up to the top of the mound, across the barren, lunar landscape. At the top one will find a small cairn and beyond it is a huge crack in the ground, from which steam can be seen rising. The view is quite breathtaking. For another spectacular view, visitors can follow the trail back down, in between the two hills. At the edge, between the two mounds, is a drop overlooking some interesting rock formations with wave-cut sea caves and benches.

A scoria cone was formed and the volcanic activity slowly decreased until it finally ended on the 24th of October 1958. The main cone produced by the eruption reached a height of 160 metres and the volume of extruded material was around 174 million square meters. It increased the island of Faial by 2.4 square kilometres, however this area is now only 0.6 square kilometres due to intense erosion.

Sources Seven Night Guide Adapted From: Uncover Travel, The Azores

http://www.azores-adventures.com/2013/12/caves-below-the-azores-lava-tubes-lead-to-an-amazing-new-world.html http://www.azores-islands.info/uk/places/terceira/algar-carvao.html http://www.lajes.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=14530 http://www.hasslberger.com/terceira/pages/wine-terceira.html http://www.getportugal.com/en/poi-piscinas-naturais-dos-biscoitos-18610 https://gsc350.wikispaces.com/Capelinhos+volcano+in+the+Azores http://parquesnaturais.azores.gov.pt/en/faial-eng/what-visit/interpretation-centres/capelinhos-volcano http://www.azores-islands.info/uk/places/faial/ponta-capelinhos.html https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/radiocarbon/article/view/17957 http://www.azores-islands.info/uk/places/faial/caldeira-faial.html http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00445-015-0930-2#page-2 https://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC2B84N&title=caldeira-faial&guid=c083154f-f4c3-43c0-ab99-f9c957d37c47 http://www.azores.theperfecttourist.com/?p=3655 http://www.itervitis.com/index.php/en/regions/the-azores-adeliacor.html http://www.madeinazores.eu/en/content/12-landscape-pico-island http://www.azoresgeopark.com/media/docs/Azoresgeopark%20EGN%20Aplication%20Form%20-%20Annex%202.pdf http://adegaaburaca.com/conceito.php http://www.azores.com/pico

http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/mount-pico http://www.azoresweb.com/pico.html

https://www.visitportugal.com/en/node/73825 http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1117

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http://www.picotheazores.com/gastronomypicoislandazores.html

http://www.azoreschoice.com/the-azores/pico

http://www.yachtingworld.com/blogs/elaine-bunting/peters-cafe-sport-3097 http://www.azores-adventures.com

Information provided by Núcleo Museológico do Lajido de Santa Luzia Information provided by the Interpretation Centre at Ponta Dos Capelinhos Information provided by the museum of Angra du Heroísmo

Itinerary planned by Viajes El Corte Ingles, departing from Lisbon, Portugal