Third Island: Sao Jorge

Saturday, May 18, 2019
Velas, Azores, Portugal
Had a more leisurely breakfast with Nuno still cooking. Edna was given a few days off to allow here to celebrate her daughter's birthday.  The B&B was started with duties equally shared between Nuno and his wife, however, after their baby was born, Nuno was spending more time with B&B duties, giving Mom more time caring for an infant.  Today Sue had fried eggs and no muesli and Dave had muesli. We also said goodbye to both German couples who stayed at the B&B. Everyone was headed out that day. 
We liked the Calma do Mar very much. We had a very large walk-out basement room and the Moody’s had an upstairs room. There was a very pleasant breakfast room, a public living room, cheery kitchen (often with special treats) and a very nice backyard with a gazebo, grill and tables. We would highly recommend it.
Dave bought a small jar of homemade jam from Nuno.
Nuno II had warned us about having “Pico legs” and he was absolutely right. All of us were having a hard time going up and down the stairs.
We had told Ana Isabela that we would meet her at 10:30 at the ferry terminal in Sao Rogue (about a 20 minute drive).   Carol asked Nigel, her GPS, for directions to a nearby gas station, but after circling Sao Rogue we could not find it. Dave, inspired by all the locals, double parked and asked someone in a cafe where we could find gas. Turns out it was not far down the road. When we got to the ferry terminal we could not find parking and Ana Isabela was not there. After passing a woman with a clipboard, we realized she was our car rental agent. We were all a bit relieved not to have the Anal One! We checked out fine and went into the terminal. We were too late to check our bags, but were able to give them to the baggage handlers on our way onto the boat. This ferry was smaller than the last one and did not carry cars.
We sat on the top level and watched as Sao Rogue disappeared. There were some angry looking clouds ahead toward Sao Jorge, but we only had a few sprinkles.
Upon docking in Velas, we went to a rental car window, but it was not the one we had contracted with. After a couple minutes, a woman with the car company name, Velasauto, appeared. We went outside and completed the paperwork. It was a completely different experience than with Ana Isabela. When we got to the car, we realized quickly that all of our luggage was not going to fit in the trunk. We put some in the backseat and Karl carried one on his lap. The young woman from the car company told us we could follow her to our hotel. We did, and luckily, it was close and her office was across the street. 
When we checked into the Sao Jorge Garden Hotel, we asked about getting a tour of the cheese factory, Finisterra, that afternoon. The clerk tried several phone numbers before getting through. We were told that we would have to leave immediately and arrive before 2:30. We also learned that part of the Coop was being renovated and that we would not get to tour all of it. We dropped off our luggage and headed to the cheese factory. The coastal drive was beautiful and we arrived around 2:15. We were greeted by a woman who was packaging the cheese. She explained that there was no one in Administration that day and it was impossible to have a tour. We told her that our hotel called and she was baffled. We will never know who our hotel talked to, but a tour was not in our future. She let us taste three ages of cheese: 2 month, 7 month and 24-month. Sao Jorge cheese is quite famous and is exported to Europe, the US and many other countries. We were starving so the cheese definitely hit the spot. Carol bought a wedge of the 24-month cheese to go with our Pico wine. 
As we were leaving, the woman told us to come back to the same town, Topo, for a religious festival (Espíritu Santo) tomorrow around 3:00. She said the community would have food and processions for the 5th Sunday after Easter. We took note of her invitation and hoped to make it the next day.
We continued down the road to the end of the island where there was a small island just off of Sao Jorge which was a protected area for birds. As we approached it, we spotted a beautifully well kept lighthouse so we made our way up to it. From this high point, we could see many birds and cows on the island. We marveled at the picturesque landscape and Sue even found a couple of hogs in a pen. All the while we were taking in the scenery, the lighthouse keeper was washing his car. As we were returning to our car, we greeted him and he asked if we wanted to see inside the lighthouse. We all jumped on that opportunity. The place was immaculate and the view from the top spectacular. He tried to explain things to us, but he did not speak much English. We were able to understand that the light was out at one point and he showed us the backup that was used. We were feeling pretty special when he asked us to sign the guest book and we then realized many, many people had visited.
While near the lighthouse, we looked down below and saw the parking area with signage for the protected area. We drove down and then found a trail along the coast that intrigued us. We walked down some stairs to one of the natural swimming holes where dozens of crabs were scurrying in the lava rocks. We felt the water which was protected and yet, chilly. We continued up the trail to a view point and marveled at the beauty of the coastline. As we retreated back to the car, we saw a flock of sheep in a totally pastoral setting with the lighthouse in the background. We stopped to watch them and take pictures. 
We retraced our route back to the hotel with a slowdown to look for a particular restaurant which we never found because we believe we only had the street name and not the restaurant name. We also stopped at the trailhead for tomorrow’s hike so that we would know where it was, the distance, etc.  
Since we did not find the restaurant on our way back to Velas, we started researching restaurants in town. We decided on a small one not far from our hotel. Upon arriving, we found it closed and it looked like a small coffee shop. On the same street was Booka, one that got good TripAdvisor reviews, but it was also closed.  We didn’t want three strikes so we went back to ask for a recommendation from the hotel. The clerk recommended two: Acor (behind the church) and Clube Naval at the harbor. We, unfortunately, chose Clube Naval. Our first mistake was getting the local clams for the two of us. We asked the waiter if it would be enough along with a salad and he said, “yes”. Wrong. Even with bread, it was nothing more than an appetizer. Plus, Karl and Carol’s food did not come for at least 45 minutes to an hour. When we inquired about the delay, we were told that it had something to do with Karl’s cod dinner. They seriously must have had to catch it. Luckily, Brennan was playing baseball at the time and we watched it on Game Changer as a diversion.
When the food finally arrived, it was good and Carol and Karl shared with us. We also had a salad and asked for some tuna to make it more substantial. Although you don’t leave much of a tip in the Azores, we left nothing!
In walking back to the hotel we did a little sightseeing and found the beautiful church square with a cool dragon fountain, a pedestrian shopping street where we met an interesting Azorean who ran a souvenir shop and showed us pictures of when he was a child who emigrated to Angola. The Lisbon soccer team had won that day and we encountered many revelers. We also happened by a town park square with a beautiful white gazebo highlighted in fire-engine red, surrounded by brightly colored benches.
Our hotel had a postcard perfect view of Mount Pico so we decided to sit on the patio near the pool and share Karl and Carol‘s port-like wine and some chocolate truffles. Very nice.
Brennan was playing another game so we sat up on our balcony and enjoyed the view and some baseball.
The baseball and Mount Pico views were both great!

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