With the defunding of NPR and PBS, Bob Ross and his “happy little trees” has been on my mind, especially after John Oliver raised nearly $2 million for public broadcasting by selling a Bob Ross painting. Well, Bob Ross would’ve LOVED the Azores!
We decided to come here because Luke wanted to celebrate his upcoming 50th birthday with hot springs in a place we’ve never been. That’s actually tougher than you’d think because we’ve been to many of the world’s great hot springs already, and the others are awfully far away. Japan is far, Iceland we’ve done. Turkey is far, Chile we’ve done. While we’ve been to Portugal twice already this year, the Azores felt different enough to qualify, so here we are!
I did not know before researching for this trip that the greater Boston area has one of the largest Azorean populations outside of the islands. Sad for Azoreans who settle in the hostile New England climate, but good for us since it means a short, direct flight.
We arrived on Thursday at. 6:00am. There is absolutely no way that a 4.5 hour flight contains anything close to sleep, so we headed directly to our hotel. One perk of middle age is that we can afford a nice hotel, and we can afford to pay for the hotel when we land early in the morning. I just can’t stay awake for hours waiting for check-in any longer. So, we got our teeny-tiny rental car and headed for several blissful hours of sleep at the Hotel Octant.
Once we woke up, we hit the streets to see what Ponta Delgada had to offer. Sadly, it was a rainy day, and even with new umbrellas, the weather got worse. A quick lunch of wine and cheese and fresh tuna, a short walk around the city center, and then we were back at the hotel.
One reason I booked the hotel that I did is that it apparently has a hot spring fed pool. I’m not sure about that, but it does have a warm pool, a Turkish steam bath, and a sauna, and I like all 3 of those things.
After a delightful hour of roasting in hot liquid/steam, we got dinner in the hotel bar. I was wary of the “tuna hot dog” but must report that it was DELICIOUS!! It’s a seared spear of fresh tuna covered in crispy fried onions and garlic mayo served in a hot dog bun. Luke had tuna ceviche, which he said was also delicious, but it couldn’t have been as good as my tuna hot dog.
After the best night of sleep and a hearty breakfast, we went out toward the Sete Cidades area to see the volcanic lakes. This island is filthy with rainbows from the ever-present misty clouds.
After 20 minutes of driving, we got to the lakes This was a real Taj Majal moment:
We drove around the region for about an hour, stopping at various pull-out vistas. The town proper had a delightful church, which was striking on the outside in its white and black, and austere on the inside.
We explored the northwest coast for a bit since there were some modestly clear skies there. Luke teased me relentlessly over my love of the cows. Just because I find adorable cows novel doesn’t warrant endless teasing! Bob Ross would approve.
As we continued along the way, the skies intermittently cleared. We got photos when we could, and didn’t worry about it when we couldn’t. After all, there’s not much to be done about fog and clouds.
We drove around to a lookout point. Again, only fog and clouds and mist. I remember when Melissa and I were at the Taj Majal and out poor guide thought we would be upset about the fog. I mean, what are you going to do? Fog is fog. Embrace the moment, use your imagination, and move on!
Azorean leaders built aqueducts back in the 1500s to provide fresh water to residents. It’s a little hard to imagine a lack of fresh water bedding a problem here given the perpetual rain, but I suppose in the coastal areas it could be. It’s cool that the islands have worked to preserve the aqueducts over the past 600 years, despite the fact that they haven’t been used for centuries.
Of all the vistas, I liked the last one best – from here, we could see both the northern (left) and southern (right) coasts. The island of São Miguel feels big when driving up in the mountains, but also feels tiny when perched atop a hillside where both coasts are visible at the same time.
Last stop for the day was the pineapple plantation. Nearly all pineapples in the US are from the Dole mega-farms, and they taste like corporate pineapples. Azorean pineapples are delightfully delicate, tender, and sweet, without the aggressive tang of US pineapples.
These pineapples take 18 months to grow to maturity, and even full-grown, they are smaller than what we are used to in the US. They are sweeter, less aggressive on the tongue, and have a smoother texture, all of which results in a more delightful culinary experience.
After returning to the hotel, we enjoyed another hour in the hot water circuit of our hotel. A lovely sunset on the balcony, a delicious dinner at a local fish restaurant, and a game on the balcony wraps up the day.
Vacation Days 