Finding the Azores...

They must have one heck of a GPS on a cruise ship.  How they can find a little island in the big ocean is something that boggles my mind.  And they manage to get there on time.  Heck, coming home from a late meeting the other night, I bypassed the turn off to our street altogether and didn’t get home without a few well placed curse words.  And we’ve lived here for 20 some years.  But then, we can’t hear the Captain if he happens to veer off course a bit.  So who knows? 

 

Anyway, our first port of call on the Constellation cruise was the Azores.  Having recently watched an Anthony Bourdain in the Azores, I was looking forward to our stop and I wasn’t disappointed.

We ported at Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel, the largest of the islands in the Azores archipelago, which consists of nine volcanic islands located in the North Atlantic Ocean.  Our friend Bob arranged for us to take a tour of the island with a local tour guide whose name escapes me at the moment.  But I will edit this when I figure it out because he was terrific, very knowledgeable and had excellent English and I would like to recommend him to anyone going there.

I’ll let the photos speak for themselves, but I have to say that because I’m not sure we will ever be able to return to the Azores, I am so glad that I got to have a little taste.  Here’s to that big cruise ship GPS that got us there on time!  Maybe someday, with luck, we’ll go back…and I hope it’s when the hydrangeas that grow wild along the roads and in the fields are in full bloom.

Hydrangeas grow all over the island.

Ponta Delgada seen from the harbor.

Ermida da Nossa Senhora da Paz (Chapel of Our Lady of Peace)

Hot springs in Furnas

This little guy seemed to have the job of posing in front of the map in Furnas.

The only place in Europe where tea is grown.  This is a tea plantation.