Month: August 2022 (Page 1 of 2)

Mark and Minda had recently discovered a beach at one of Faial’s few fajas, the steep drops down to basalt flows that are so common on Sao Jorge. This one ended in a black sand beach as well as a basalt swimming hole that we managed to have all to ourselves.

Lijia and George had kindly included us for dinner with Mark and Minda on their last night on the island. We started with all sorts of appetizers and wines from the Azores, including the famous morro cheese (half way between a brie and a burrata), and figs from their backyard. It was almost so much food that we wouldn’t need dinner.

We took a break and wandered down to the field where neighbor Andy was milking his herd. The life of a farmer is hard here on the islands, as you rarely have help (spouses and family have other jobs outside the home), and you often have another job yourself. The cows that day were mostly cooperative and were milked and fed without issue.

It was then off to dinner with the group (which also included Lijia & George’s friends Rosa & Emmanuel) for a most memorable meal at Pasquinhas with a beautiful view. It was a wonderful way to cap off a visit.

After Mark, Minda, George & Lijia flew back to the States, we took the time to engage in one of Horta’s long traditions – painting a small mural about your boat, passage, etc, on the marina walls, benches or walkways. There are at least a thousand paintings all over, so finding a spot faded enough so that it’s completely illegible is tricky, but we persevered.

Legend has it that leaving a mural brings good luck on future journeys.

We started the day with brunch at Porto Pim. The quiche was ok, but more importantly it was loaded with vegetables, which I was craving (the Portuguese like their meat and seafood, not so much the vegetables). The bacalhau fritter on the side was outstanding.

We spent the afternoon out at the Capelinhos Volcano. The Capelinhos volcano eruption started as an underwater eruption in 1957 that created a new island. Within months, by 1958 the continued eruptions and lava flows caused the island to join Faial. The spread of volcanic ash on the island destroyed farmland, and led to the immigration of thousands of families to the US. The land around the volcano is still barren and resembles a moonscape, in comparison to the lush fields elsewhere on the island.

The information center at the lighthouse that survived was remarkable. The videos that showed the progressive explosions that created this part of the island came to life, and then you stepped outside to witness the aftermath in person.

We walked down to yet another local swimming hole from Capelinhos, but determined that the swell was a bit too much that day. We watched one intrepid swimmer, and a bunch of locals sitting sunbathing who would call out if they saw a portuguese-man-o-war. Minda showed me the hook left at the beach where good samaritans pull the jellyfish out of the water and leave them to dry on the rocks, well away from swimmers.

The night was finished off by a fabulous meal back in Porto Pim at Taberna do Pim.

Pico can be reached by just a 30 minute ferry from Faial. Our first mission on landing in Pico was to find a cab to take us to Lajes. Trip had been on a hunt for a specific local book about Azorean volcanoes and humanity as a final birthday present for me. Every place where we thought we could buy it was closed or no longer offered it or (the worst) had copies but were not allowed to sell them (???). Local and home friends (thank you Linda and Meghan) had joined the search. It was a local government worker in Ponta Delgada that took up the challenge and found the book in a local Pico bookstore, conveniently emailing Trip the day before we were to go there! Never has a present been more appreciated (I’ve been savoring it, reading bits and pieces each day in the cockpit).

We had enough time after the bookstore for a too-short visit to the local whaling museum. There we saw a video made about the final days of whaling on the island in the late 1960’s, and toured exhibits featuring scrimshaw and the whaling boats themselves.

We had recommendations for a particular winery to visit, and our cab driver dropped us off just as it opened for the afternoon. Over the next few hours we learned about the currals of basalt that provide sunny structure to growing vines and protection from the wind. We tasted 5 different wines that the vineyard produces, along with tapas that included local cheese, homemade blood sausage, and spicy garlic crabs.

Minda and I went to the local wine museum later, while the boys went looking for a beer. We met up for a quick swim in the local watering hole before heading back to the ferry.

The sun was going down, Pico’s summit was in complete view, and it was nearly a full moon. The result? Lots and lots of fabulous photos…..

We’ve had our share of good and meh restaurants in the Azores, but Faial had it all. The service is very peculiar here, we had one restaurant begrudgingly let us back in after dinner to sit at an empty table with a bottle of wine during a sudden rainstorm (why not take additional money from paying customers?). Another very nice place had the most inept, untrained staff, where our experience started with ’we have no fish of the day’ (we were sitting in front of docks where the fishermen unload daily), to the inability to get lights to work as the sun set, leaving us to eat by the glow of the swimming pool (they eventually found us candles). No restaurant has carried our favorite local wine, even though they list it on their menu, and it’s on the shelves in the mercado across the street. You learn to smile at island life and move on.

Two restaurants, however, stood out. Taberna do Pim, at the edge of the beach, found us seats at 9:30 pm in their cozy dining room (who needs the view, we see the water every day). We proceeded to have the best alcatra (pot roast specialty) I’ve had anywhere in the islands, and a steak in the most amazing beer-brandy-mustard sauce that had us licking our plates.

The other was Pasquinas, on the other side of the island with the most spectacular view of both Sao Jorge and Graciosa islands. Mark and Minda’s local friends George and Lijia took us there one night, to show just how good local Portuguese food can be. It was all fabulous, but Minda’s caramel almond mousse and Trip’s passionfruit mousse sealed the deal.

After our unglamorous entry to Horta, we cleared in with the authorities the next morning, and then met up with Mark (Trip’s cousin) and Minda (Mark’s wife). As they had aready been on the island for a few days, they were ready to show us the sites! We sped up the hill and around the coast to Praia do Almoxarife. Faial actually has a few beaches, unlike the others, and this one was covered in delicious black sand. It’s also home to a much nicer and quieter restaurant owned by the same folks that own Peters, the famous sailor’s pub in town. We had the restaurant to ourselves and I tucked into yet another fabulous order of octopus. After a glass of wine or two we wandered down to the beach. We had forgotten our suits that day, but it was still nice to wander into the water to feel how refreshing it is.

We decided to head back into town for the festival (Semana do Mar, Sea Week), but got stopped by a police blockade for the festival. Unfortunately we also needed gas, and it was just a few hundred feet out of reach. Trip and Minda got creative and walked to the station to buy a one gallon container and enough fuel to get them home that night. with that taken care of, we wandered into the festival.

It was wall to wall people eating from food trucks, drinking from 4 oz recycled cups that get re-used, and wandering from performance to performance on different stages. We had a bunch of appetizers – chicken wings, shrimp empanadas, chicharrones, farturas (fried dough sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon), and bifanas (pork sandwiches), all washed down by local red wine and beer. The main band was Portuguese, but covered a lot of American classics, so it was a fun listen.

That night and the next morning brought some crazy thunderstorms, the worst the islands have seen in a while. We did fine in the anchorage, but the cracks of thunder were intimidating. Nearby Pico island lost power.

For my actual birthday we took a bit of a risk. It was back to the bus, but this time only to Vila Franco do Campo. Off the bus, then in line to try and buy ferry tickets. Ferry tickets in hand, then in line for the actual ferry. (Whew, didn’t know if we’d make it as tickets looked to be sold out and they only allow 200 people at a time on the island).

The island was once a volcano that blew and sank back into the sea. The crater rim forms the island, but the crater itself is sunk below sea level, and there’s a single cut that allows free flow of the ocean in and out. And by local Azorean tradition, it’s a public beach!

Not a bad way to spend one’s 50th birthday……

Furnas was our next big day trip. Another public bus, another random charge (3.41 per person), another ride through the villages up into Furnas. We first walked around town and found the thermal vents that reek of sulfur and are used to cook a local dish of meat and vegetables. The idea of meat virtually boiled for several hours in sulfuric water did not sound appealing (described as an acquired taste), so we did a much milder lunch.

We wandered the Terra Nostra gardens for a couple of hours, admiring the collections so painstakingly cultivated from all over the world. Then it was back to the thermal baths that Furnas is so famous for.

Iron Studded Thermal Pool

Sete Cidades was our first big excursion and we almost bailed because the weather looked awful. However, if there’s one thing we’ve learned here in the islands it’s that if the weather is bad where you are, just go to another part of the island. We hopped the local bus, and 90 minutes later we descended into the sunny village of Sete Cidades.

We walked around the blue lake and discovered Laranjada, a local fizzy non-alcoholic drink that is totally refreshing. We then managed to catch a cab with another couple heading up to one of the view points for only 10 euro. The couple was going further, so Trip was kind enough to pick up their cab fare since we had rather poached their cab (and cabs are very hard to come by in this remote part of the island).

From the King’s Viewpoint, it’s a 7 kilometer hike around part of the crater’s rim and then back down into the village. The viewpoints were absolutely breathtaking – open ocean to your left and the crater interior to your right. Of course the obligatory Azorean cows and hydrangea were everywhere you looked.

The bus ride home was a bit of a nightmare as way too many people boarded and it was the last bus of the day. We were hot and sticky and so hungry we could chew our arms off by the time we got back to the city, so we went straight to dinner at Calcada do Cais, where Meghan and I had the best steaks of our lives. We went for coffee and dessert at a local cafe, and as we were finishing, we heard bagpipes (not Azorean), and the next thing we knew the square was filled with strange musicians, stranger flame throwers, and the wildest looking people on stilts dressed in white, smeared in fake blood, adorned in animal bones. I’ve since been told very emphatically ’these are NOT our people’, so it obviously was not a local tradition, but it was fun nonetheless.