So I’m in Portugal, specifically, the Azores. Even more specifically, the city of Horta on the island of Faial. It’s absolutely gorgeous here. A smattering of what I’ve done so far:
read more ↓• Slept, because even though it’s only four hours ahead of EST, it’s seven for PST… which kicked my behind on the first day.
• The next morning we had a late start, but spent the morning hiking up and around a volcano on the 50th anniversary of its historic eruption, which sent many Portuguese running for America because they thought the world was ending.
• We had fantastic lunch at a place that was named after a sea bird (I don’t recall which one right now.) Azorean cuisine is fantastic for my palate – lots of fish and veggies, things cooked in olive oil, fruit for dessert… delicious.
• Which reminds me, they grow pineapple here… but they actually have them in smoke houses that make the flavor kind of spicy and smoky. It’s hard to explain, but it tastes incredible.
• After lunch I ran across the street to a black sand beach and rolled up my pant legs to go wandering into the water, which was perfectly temperate. (BTW, the water is this incredible shade of sapphire blue. I’ve never seen anything like it.)
• We took a driving tour of the interior of Faial and stopped at the top of this mountain that has this huge cavernous crater. The wind collects in it and creates this tornado-like effect, whipping the clouds around. It looked like middle earth.
• We stopped in Porto for a quick jaunt around a campsite and old abandoned snack shop, at which one of my travel mates theorized teenagers likely sat around drinking booze, complaining about how they were going to get off the damn island to make something of themselves.
• After a break, we took off for dinner, where I ate barnacles for the first time in my life. They were surprisingly tasty, which is why I hoovered down more than my fair share. (In my defense, not everyone liked them. I was just doing my part for the environment. Or something.)
• We followed up dinner with a stroll down the street that landed us at a café in search of a specific dessert item. See, I’d sung the praises of Magnum ice cream bars earlier in the day. If you’ve never had a Magnum, you haven’t lived. They’re sold all across Europe, and they’re incredibly rich and delicious vanilla ice cream dipped in sinfully pure Belgian chocolate. They don’t sound like much, but seriously, they’re a religious experience. So we stopped to pick some up for interested parties, and wound up sitting outside having grappa and blackberry liqueur, the latter of which tastes like liquid candy.
• While we did this, I took advantage of free, city-wide wi-fi and answered e-mail.
• We finally toddled back to the hotel after midnight and settled in.
• First thing this morning we went whale watching for several hours. We didn’t see any whales, but we did see half a million dolphins – none of whom were shy about the boat and swam right up to it, jumping out of the water in front of it, swimming upside down next to us… it was really amazing to watch.
• We docked just in time for it to start raining, and went to Peter Café Sport, a famous restaurant that hosts sailors the world over when they come to port. Ate more veggies and garlicky food. Yum.
• I visited the world’s largest scrimshaw museum. (Short definition: art on whale teeth.)
And now I’m taking the afternoon to get work done before I split for dinner, where we’re cooking our own meals on hot basalt rock. Tomorrow is hiking through lava caves on Pico, the island just across the channel from Faial. Happy happy, joy joy!
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