City Sidewalks/Enchanted Forest/Cave/Barnacles

Tuesday, April 03, 2018
Angra do Heroísmo, Azores, Portugal
With four others, we were picked up about 9:30am by Marina at our hotel for a half-day walking tour of Angra do Heroísmo.  The driver dropped us off at a high point in town, Obelisco Memoria.  This a “downhill” walking tour!
The impressive white and yellow trimmed obelisk sits on the top of a hill which had been the site of the royal palace and fortress. However, when the fortresses on Monte Brasil and Sabastiao were built, the palace was removed. All that remains are remnants of its walls. The views of the city, harbor and Monte Brasil are stunning. Marina pointed out that the darker of all the building’s red-tiled roofs were the ones that survived the 7.8 earthquake of 1980. Our estimate, fewer than half of the buildings had the darker roofs.
We descended into the beautifully manicured terraced gardens and walkways of the Jardim Publico. We could only imagine how amazing the gardens and trellises would look in the summer. Leaving the park, we headed to the Palacio dos Capitals. This replaced the palace that had been on the site of what is now the memorial obelisk, and is painted the same, white with yellow trim.
With the monarchy dissolved in 1910, the palace is now the residence of the Azores’ Vice President. The President lives on the island of San Miguel, but when here on Terceira, stays in a wing of the palace.  
The tour of the palace took us through several rooms, all ornately decorated. The paintings depicted the long lineage of the royals. Marina pointed out that Angra actually served as the capital of Portugal for two brief periods, once in the 1500’s and again in the mid 1800’s. Marina was a great (and funny) guide and made things interesting with her descriptions, ie, the room with all the former royalty was called “the bad and ugly” room.  
It was time for a break. Marina led us to the city’s market which had fresh fruits, vegetables, fish and meats. There were also several gift shops and restaurants. Our 15 minute break was spent with 5 minutes touring the market and 10 having a coffee and cookie. 
Next stop, the Teatro Angrense.  Beautiful building with a pink facade. The theater itself had a large stage, seating bowl and four levels of balcony seating - all VERY red. Comfy seats!!
Stopping in the Cathedral where we had Easter Mass, Marina pointed out the Stations of the Cross. All very modern and unique; still scratching our heads?!?! See pics.
Our last stop was City Hall via the harbor and Vasco de Gama Plaza. Just off the Plaza is the beautiful blue church that was built as a welcome to seafarers. Just next door was the hospital. Marina’s humor suggested that those buildings were perfectly positioned: if you were sick from the boat you needed the hospital and if you were dead, you needed the church for burial! Along the route, Marina pointed out all of the best food and shopping options.  
City Hall is the working center of local government where the mayor and council meet. There was some pretty impressive art and decor. This serves as the city hall for Angra and the surrounding 29 villages. 
Over the years we have had lots of tour guides, but Marina ranks near the top. She was knowledgeable, funny, energetic and helpful. Having spent her entire life on Terceira, she told many personal stories, both yesterday on the full-day bus tour and today’s walking city tour.
From City Hall we were driven back to the hotel where we packed a lunch and headed out for a hike to Misterios Negros, the one we got rained out of on Sunday.  Driving there, it started to rain! Luckily it was a brief, light shower and the sun was shining by the time we reached the trailhead.
The first part of the hike is through open terrain, then low forest. However, it quickly turned to climbing up and over lava rock on a thick, almost jungle-like trail. There was a constant tangle of roots and rocks required your full attention. If you slipped, the jagged lava rock would definitely leave a mark. 
After nearly an hour of this jungle gym like climb, you popped out into the open and could see huge lava fields covering the hillsides. The last of the hike descends through mostly cedar forest and passes through a pasture or two where you are reminded to be sure to close the gate. 
We aren’t sure of the distance, but the hike was all of two hours.  Back at the trailhead is the entrance to the Gruto do Natal. This is the second of the two caves we would do. We paid for the double entry the day before. If you did them separately, they were 6 euro each, we paid 9 for the two.
The experience of the two couldn’t be more diffident. With Gruto do Natal, wearing a hard hat was mandatory. We each bumped our heads several times and more than once had to seriously duck. A few short sections were almost like hiking the lava fields on the Misterios hike. The path itself was wet and was the texture of a lava flow. The caves were much more horizontal that at Gruto do Algar do Carvao.  
Back at the hotel by 5:00, we had a lazy couple of hours before heading out to dinner at Restaurante Beira Mar.  It is in Mateus, a village just a few miles up the coast from Angra.  It had come highly recommended from various sources as serving the best seafood on the island. 
The restaurant overlooks the small harbor of Mateus, and just above it is the town’s beautiful twin-spired church. We had reservations, a good thing, the place was packed.  At previous dinners we had seen barnacles on the menu but didn’t feel quite adventurous enough to try them; well, here they were again.
Thankfully, a woman we met on our cave tour earlier in the day came over to say hello. She said that we had to try the barnacles! They were listed as an appetizer at a euro each. We ordered four along with a bottle of local white wine (they produce no reds), Sue had two shrimp, squid, wreck fish skewers and Dave the fried hake. 
The barnacles were actually very good. With a small hooked nail, you pulled out a bite-sized piece of firm meat, similar to crab? You then washed it down with the juice in the shell. The winner of the week’s meals was Sue’s jumbo shrimp skewer! And the check only totaled 41 euro!  
As we were leaving, we saw that a woman we had met on our full-day bus tour was paying her check.  Knowing she was at our hotel, we offered her a ride back.  She is a very interesting woman from Puerto Rico. She and her family had just left days before the hurricane. Her description of the devastation made the event much more personal. 
Sad to think we only have one more full day!

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