I always wanted to visit Iceland...but Iceland is far away and airplane connections from here (Romania) are really bad. So, a while ago, i found an article saying the Azores are a green alternative to the icelandic landscapes.
The Azores are an archipelago of 9 volcanic islands, some 1600 km west of mainland Portugal, right in the middle of the North Atlantic.
After some research i found that the wonderful Ryanair has frequent flights from Lisbon to Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel island - the biggest of the nine. And they are dirt cheap (return flights go as low 20 euros per segment). And you only fly about 2 hours.
For accommodation, we picked a room in a shared house, with private bathroom, for about 30 euros per night. It was located about 5kms away from Ponta Delgada, but as you will read on, you will find location doesn't really matter that much on the island. And i say that because the island is about 60km in length and 15km in width. The public transport is quite erratic and unreliable. So, you will need to rent a car to enjoy the island.
We began our journey with a trip to the Vista do Rei, the closest Vista or viewpoint from our lodging. Just when we thought we got there we found the quite famous Monte Palace Hotel. A 5* Hotel opened in 1989 then closed a little more than a year after. Which is now an eerie, ghost-like structure you must explore.!
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The inside was...even creepier. Rooms were empty and damp. This was a perfect place to film a horror movie.
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Yet, when we made our way to the first floor room's balcony, we were greeted by a breathtaking view - the small, white city of Sete Cidades and the Lagoa de Sete Cidades - a lake that narrows in the middle and is crossed by a small bridge in the narrowest part. Each half of the lake was supposed to take a different color - one blue and the other one green. Didn't actually happen when we got there.
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For an unobstructed view, the more daring can climb to the windswept rooftop. Great photo oportunities await the daring.
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From there on, we started searching for our next stop - Miradouro da Boca do Inferno. Basically we wanted to look inside hell's mouth. And, it proved a bit hard to find by car, but in the end we found it and set afoot on a small red path !
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When we reached the viewpoint, my skin started to tingle. All around me everything was green. Even the rocks were covered with green grass. The sheer beauty of it sent shivers through our spines.(
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On our way back we didn't speak much. We were all curious what would be the next surprise this beautiful island will throw our way. Next stop? Ferraria!
What is Ferraria you might ask. Well, it's a natural hot spring. On a rocky beach. In a rocky hole. That gets filled with cold water by the waves and the tide. We were intrigued and we had our swimming suits on. The outside temperature was 20C. It had rained a couple of times but, when we set out it was sunny.
The road to Ferraria was quite a drive - winding, narrow, at times unpaved, but otherwise beautiful. When we got there we were met by waves crashing into mighty black cliffs. The scenery was impressive.
Still? Where was the natural hot tub everyone was speaking about? Next to the parking there is a man made pool...but that is not what we came looking for. We soon found the footpath to the spring.
It was high tide and a small crowd of people had gathered next to the natural pool. One brave soul dared to enter the pool that was swept by some quite large waves. Let's just say it was a short, cold and eventful dip but nobody got injured.![20170503_143902.jpg]
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By now it was noon and we were getting hungry, so we searched for a restaurant. We picked one that was a 40 mins drive away. When we go there we realized it was inside a farm, as we were greeted by farming equipment. But the restaurant was nice and clean. We thought it was only fitting to ask for a beef steak on an island where the cattle population far exceeds the human population. We were not disappointed. Also, we found out that Azorean wines are absolutely wonderful.
After our copious lunch we set out to find the only tea plantations in Europe. Again, the island did not disappoint, even though it rained all the way there. But one hot tea and the rain stopped.
Now it was time for a local beer. What better place to have on than on a black sand, empty beach?
After that? Back to Ponta Delgada for some flaming chourico (portuguese for chorizo) and live fado.
Liked it? Come back tomorrow for day 2!