TRAVEL

AZORES

April 2021

Over the past year, I have had new requests from honeymooners to plan a different type of honeymoon, and the Azores is high on their list of possible destinations. With all this interest, I decided to visit myself - after all, it is known as a beautiful archipelago 400 miles off the coast of Portugal, like Hawaii was before it was built up.

After a night flight, I arrived early in the morning at the Joao Paul ll Airport in Ponta Delgada, Azores. At the hotel I recharged, and then took a nice long walk orienting myself as I walked up the coastline, admiring the New Zealand Christmas trees, a coastal evergreen with red plumes, flowers, the port, hotels, markets, and local architecture. An early evening led to a fun day.

I met our guide early the next morning for my full-day tour of Lagoa Furnas and to visit Terra Nostra Park and the geothermal hot springs. On the way, not far from Ponta Delgada, we had the opportunity to stop at the Praia de Aqua D’Alto in Villa Franca, a black sand beach that sparkled next to the waves against the beautiful coastline. Rows of nearly weightless black pumice stones, created from volcanic lava that had air blasted through it, have been laid across the beach in thin strips by the waves. For the majority of this day, I spent in a volcano crater! After a walk around Parque Terra Nostra, the botanical garden, I realized that I really did not know that much about camellias. This garden has one of the largest collections of camellias in the world. Next, it was time for a 40-minute dip in the hot springs – it was relaxing and therapeutic. The springs are filled with iron and the water is orange. I never went in a hot spring before and found it so pleasurable! There are a few local hotels focused on SPA, or health by or through water, with this hot spring as its shining gem. Certainly, I could have stayed another hour - or a few more days! After the hot spring, we drove over to Lagoa das Furnas where you can

canoe and bike. It was lunch time, so we had traditional Cozido nas Calderas a Moda das Furnas– a stew made of chicken, beef, pork cabbage, local sweet potato, kale, and potato cooked in a special pot, and the juices of the meat and vegetables are used to cook the accompanying rice. The cooking is done with the volcano’s natural geothermal energy. We watched a family dig their pot out of the ground, at least 3 feet deep, next to the bubbling hot springs. The method is like a slow cooker, so our meal was put in the ground at 5 a.m. in the morning. Local cheese - St. George cheese, the best cheese of the Azores from the famed dairy cows - was our appetizer, and the finale of the meal was locally grown pineapple, small and sweet. After our tasty meal (so much food!) we drove up to two different viewing points along the edge of the crater to enjoy the bird’s eye view of the lush green landscape inside the dormant volcano. We headed to the tea plantation, Fabrica de Cha Gorreana, the only tea plantation in Europe. The setting was beautiful. From the small tea center, you could look up the hill and down the hill that led to the ocean. The beautiful deep green leaves are

used to make green or black tea. There were a few small rooms with equipment, and a table where ladies were sorting the tea, and I sampled the broken leaf, which was mild, and the orange pekoe the tea of the highest quality, was full bodied. The tea plant is a small relative to the camellias I saw in the botanical garden. Botanically, it is called camellia sinensis, meaning camellia from China. I purchased 5 different types and shared and enjoyed them. If we had had time, I would have been to bike ride through this plantation, with its lush tea plants on the rolling hills overlooking the ocean! To finish the day, we visited a lookout point, Santa Iria, also on the north shore of the island, where to the west was the US, and to the east was Europe.

We headed northeast towards Sete Cidades. On the drive we made a short visit to a local pineapple plantation – a small plantation where all the growing is done, due to the variations in temperature on the island, in greenhouses. We saw the different stages of growth and at the plantation’s goodies shop we sampled the locally made pineapple liquor. No artificial fertilizer is used to grow these sweet small beauties. Sete Cidades is considered one of the most photographed parts of the island! This parish has a unique double lake, one half green and one-half blue. There is a local folk story, which is told differently throughout the island of Sao Miguel, about why the same lake is two colors. Here is the version I heard and wrote down: A blond-haired princess was walking through the woods and heard beautiful music. It was being made by a dark-haired shepherd playing the flute while tending his sheep. They met in the woods daily and soon fell in love. When the King found out about this relationship, he forbade it and demanded that they not see each other again. They met one more time, and it is said the blondehaired blue-eyed princess cried and her tears filled the blue side of the lake, and the green-eyed shepherd cried and filled the other side of the lake. You can learn why these are the same lake yet two different colors when you visit

We decided to go visit Lagoa do Fogo, Lake of Fire, even though it was a foggy day. Through the fog we slowly wound ourselves up the side of the volcano through a slew of hair pin turns, and we finally got to our destination – a chance to see the caldera lake, Lagoa do Fogo. The fog was covering the lake, but we were still happy to experience the trip up this volcano. The wind was blowing at approximately 50 mph and that along with the ride made it feel more like an adventure than just a sight-seeing venture. After we came down the other side of the volcano, out of the fog, we headed towards Ribeira Grande, a beach community where the international surfing competition had taken place, new hotels are being built, and beautiful public pools and vistas are there to enjoy. The town center has quite an amazing view in front of the church, Our Lady of Stars. We wrapped up the day with a visit to the only pottery factory in the Azores, Ceramica Vieira where you can purchase handmade items.

A day walking around in Ponta Delgada gave us more than we had imagined. We visited the meticulously rehabilitated synagogue in town, Sinagoga Sahar Hassamain – the oldest in Portugal. The city has turned this building into a museum and Mr. Jose Mello was warm and friendly and wrote a book about his experience rebuilding this synagogue. We visited the local hotels on the coast and went to the local vegetable and fish market. The island also grows a small, sweet banana and I purchased some to snack on. The fish section of the market was small, but we got to meet the people who caught and sold the fish. There are many fish in the area and the Azores are known for their tuna, which they fish off the island and can for export. Right next door is the bodega O Rei dos Queijos, King of Cheese. That night we bought a two-month and 24-month St. George cheese, a mild goat cheese, and an herb cheese for dinner with local crackers. The walk led us to the old buildings with original wrought iron window railings - great variations, as it was the custom that owners of each house have their own design.

We took in the flowers, birds of paradise, the azaleas, and we were told the hydrangea will be big in the summer. We visited Jardim Jose do Canto for a quick walk on our last day and we visited the Carlos Machado Museum, founded in 1876.

Next time I can go whale and dolphin watching in a zodiac raft, or watch from the pool on the 5th floor of a 5-star hotel on the marina. Lava cave spelunking is on my list because the lava formations are only found in a few places in the world. Swimming with the dolphins in the ocean – not in a manmade pool sounds fun, for me and the dolphins! I would like to visit the two remaining museums of the Carlos Machado Museum trilogy. There is rappelling on Ribeira dos Caldeiros and paragliding from the volcanic mountains of Maderia. Taking the wicker basket toboggan ride through the streets of Madeira is high on my list! On the island of Terceira, I plan to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Village of Angra do Heroismo and taste the local wines of the town of Biscoitos. I’m looking at my calendar to see when I can plan another trip to the Azores.

Covid Travel

We drove up to Framingham, MA to get the shuttle to the airport. My Covid testing was also easy, booking through cic-health. com and taking the test at the Xfinity center, no insurance required, and no cost. I received the results in 24 hours, which is not guaranteed, but is typical. When you travel, make sure you check to see when your covid test needs to be taken by; for traveling to the Azores, the test needed to be taken 72 hours before landing there. Once there, our hotel gave us 3 options to take the test for the return to the US. A quick taxi ride and we were done in 5 minutes!

Lisa Martin, Travel Advisor, Luxury Cruise Specialist, ACC, Cruise Planners; Land and Cruise 860.929.0708 lisa.martin@ cruiseplanners.com TotalTravelToday.com