Blog 37: Sao Miguel
We left Vila do Porto, Santa Maria, before dawn, just as the all-night festival was coming to an end in the fortress up on the hill!
The day dawning...
It was a grey passage most of the way, but calm, no wind, so we had to motor.
But - great excitement! We saw whales! This pod of (I think) pilot whales just cruised past in a relaxed manner, and a bit further off we also saw a humpback blowing out of his hole and flicking his tail! We turned off our engine and just drifted while they went past so as not to disturb them.
It brightened up in the afternoon ...
... but then unfortunately it greyed over again before we arrived which makes Ponta Delgada, the main town on Sao Miguel island look like quite a grim place! Which it isn't!
By the following morning, the sun had come out and it looked like this!
Looking to the left towards the old town ...
...and to the right towards the more modern part which boasts the only tower blocks in the Azores!
I'm not so keen on the tower blocks, but I do find it amazing to have such a modern, sophisticated city in the middle of the Atlantic ocean!
A wander through the older part of Ponta Delgada:
... traditional horse-drawn transport
... attractive arcades
... shady squares
... beautiful tiled pavements
The old fortress
One of the fortress look-out towers
Sao Miguel - what a beautiful island! Hydrangeas in shades of blue, purple and pink are everywhere, lining the sides of the roads. And I think we saw it at the best time of year too. Charles and I went back later and the hydrangeas were just beginning to fade.
Next stop was the Lagoa das Sete Cidades, the famous Blue & Green Lakes, Verde Lake and Azul Lake. They are twin lakes inside a dormant volcanic crater, two ecologically different lakes connected by a narrow strait which look different colours depending on the sunlight. Of course there is also a legend about a princess and shepherd boy falling in love and shedding tears matching the colours of their eyes when their love was thwarted!
Next stop was Chá Gorreana, the only tea plantation in Europe! We could wander freely among the tea bushes and watch the process of the tea leaves being rolled, crushed, dried and packed as it was happening - it was a working business, not a museum.
The equipment was made in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, and looked very traditional, but still doing good service.
Afterwards we would enjoy unlimited free cups of tea in the café, served without milk and delicious and refreshing.
Blue and Green Lake
Hot springs
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