Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal
Up at 7:00 and our first breakfast at Sao Francisco. The breakfast room was framed with windows looking into a private garden, one side was lined with 100+ potted orchids. The opposite wall was filled with cabinets and a countertop with our breakfast spread. Teresa explained the multiple cheeses, breads and fruits - all with the tag, “local”. Eggs were made to order and we were brought a pot of coffee. This would continue the next two mornings with new types of cheeses, breads and fruits each day.
Teresa was a great advisor on planning our three days on San Miguel. Sue had everything we wanted to see and do, but Teresa suggested Sete Cidades today because of the clear blue skies. Then moving onto Furnas, the tea plantation and Laguna Foga on our second day.
After breakfast, the Moodys were waiting below in Sao Francisco Square. We waved at them from our balcony and headed out to get our rental car. We knew AutoAtlantis was down at the harbor, but the harbor is a huge area. After asking several times for directions and some wandering, we found it and were on our way in a brand new Peugeot 208; only had 400 kilometers on it.
Our destination would be Sete Cidades. This is a huge caldera, stretching miles across. It is north and west of Ponta Delgado, and up! Like everywhere we have driven, there is nothing flat or straight. Third gear would regularly not sustain a climb and several times we had to reduce to first.
Other than several quick mirador stops for pictures, our first real stop was an area with the remains of a centuries old aqueduct system. This section had nine remaining arches. We hiked to the crest of a ridge above the ruins to watch cows grazing and admiring the views of the sea, several thousand feet below.
We descended down to the village of Sete Cidades, situated on the shores of the twin lakes, Laguna Azul(Blue) and Laguna Verde(green). We just drove in and out of the village with Sue hopping out to take a few pictures.
The real purpose of our trip was to walk the rim of the caldera with the spectacular views of the lakes and villages a thousand feet below. On the advice of a German couple we spoke with at the aqueduct, we parked at a huge, deserted hotel located on the rim.
We only walked about two miles of the rim but the views were amazing. One direction you looked down on the lakes within the caldera, the other down to the sea.
The legend of the lakes is a real Romeo and Juliet story of forbidden love. The rich father of the son forbid him from continuing to see the girl. However, the father did permit one, last visit. At the end of the visit, the boy’s tears produced the blue lake and the girl’s the green because of the color of their eyes. The distinctive color difference of these two adjoining lakes is unreal!
After another Grand Prix-type drive back to Ponta Delgado, we had a stressful time finding a place to park. The city, and especially, Sao Francisco Square were gearing up for Cristo Miracle Festival. The entire center city is paid parking from 8:00am til 7:00pm. There are meter boxes on every block. After entering the plate number, you deposit coins for the needed time. The cool thing is that you can pay in the evening and the slip you put on your dash calculates from 8:00am the following morning.
The Moody’s headed back to their hotel and we headed out for a glass of wine. We found the Central Cafe on a pretty square right in front of a beautiful, traditional Azorean-styled church. A great way to relax after a long day of sightseeing.
Last night we attempted to have a burger and brew at Suplexio and when we got there it was packed and none of us were in the mood for an hour wait. Today we got an earlier start, arriving before 8:00, and were told it would be a 30-minute wait. We wanted that burger and told them we’d be back!
To fill the time, we decided on a cocktail at a sidewalk place only a few blocks from the Suplexio. The young man holding down the place was on his own. He didn’t know the ingredients in some of the drinks we ordered, but did assure us that the “book” would tell him how to prepare them. 20 minutes later, Dave went inside and returned with three local specials. The waiter, bartender, server, was still muddling Sue’s mojito, which came out five minutes later. We were all pleasantly surprised how good all of our drinks were.
It was almost 45 minutes before we got back to Suplexio, but our table was waiting. The menu had a dozen very unique and gourmet sounding burgers along with a good selection of microbrew, bottled beer. We think we all left feeling really good about making the extra effort to eat here. Service was very good and friendly. Deserves a 5 star TripAdviser review.
The end to yet another near perfect day.
2025-02-17