The mystery has been solved—the loud clanging we heard for days that kept us awake? A brace that was lose in one of the elevator shafts—also not good to hear. But it has now been welded into place and we received a phone call to tell us we should have no more problems with it. Yay!
Today we stopped at our first port. Very cool today—62 degrees—which made the visit very pleasant, unlike other shore excursions to other islands where we were very nearly cooked to death. Ponta Delgada is on the island of Sao Miguel, one of the 9 islands of the Azores which lie 800 miles west of Lisbon, Portugal. The islands are the tops of undersea volcanoes and still experience frequent earthquakes. I think this is my very favorite island we've visited on cruises so far.
The Azores have a mild climate with gorgeous flowers, terraced hillsides, and coves with black volcanic sand beaches. The warm climate and ample rainfall allow the farmers to expect 3-4 crops per year. There was no serious attempt to colonize the islands until 1432 when Cabral claimed them for Portugal.
Sao Miguel’s snowy white cottages resemble those built in Portugal—low and squat with colorful doors and window frames to offset the white walls. Little of the style before the 17th century has survived the earthquakes. The last earthquake in the islands was in 1950 and it virtually destroyed the whole island where it occurred.
Today we drove through the verdant island countryside to Feteiras, passing picturesque small villages and farmhouses built of undecorated lava. Our guide told us that there are more cars than people on Sao Miguel. He also said that whales come here to these waters to have their babies in March-November, so we are on the lookout for them. They also like to eat the 2 metre long squid.
Our first stop was at the rim of an ancient volcano with a crater 8 miles in circumference. Separated by an isthmus of lava, the two crater lakes here inhabit an extinct volcano calderra. This calderra is believed to be the location of the legendary Sete Cidadas (Seven Cities) utopian cities settled in the early 8th c. Ancient aqueducts abound on this island. The two lakes—Azure (blue) and Verde (green) are today both mostly green because of nitrate fertilizer. Minerals in the lakes and sulphur springs here are good for arthritis and skin problems. A village of 700 people lives near the blue lake. The last eruption here was 4000 years ago.
One of the local specialties is a stew prepared in a lidded container put in the ground and covered with sand to cook for 6 hours. Restaurants gather these to serve to their guests.
The island also produces milk, cheese, butter, sugar, tea, beer, and Dom Pedro cigars. When the island was first discovered, there was nothing here. The wildest animal was the wild rabbit. They get a lot of rain here but no snow. No hurricanes either, even though they get a lot of red alerts for them. The crosswinds blow the hurricanes away.
Next we visited one of the island’s thousands of pineapple greenhouses. Pineapple was only introduced from Brazil in the mid-19th century. The Azorian pineapple has an exquisite flavor of its own, but the high cost of production keeps it from competing with cheaper varieties. It is said to be the sweetest pineapple in the world and is grown on a 2 year cycle, one fruit per plant. We can attest to the fact that it produces a very sweet juice, which was delicious.
Our next stop was at the Antonio Borges Botanical Gardens created in mid-19th c. He brought plants and trees from all over world to plant here. The gardens are lush with magical fern gullies, grottos with fantasy bridges, and a tranquil pond. We were greeted by a Dragon Tree and a Metrosideros Excelsa tree from New Zealand that has its roots on its branches. All of the trees and flowers were amazing.
After our tour, the tour bus took us on a drive through the city where we saw the old city gates from 1783, Sao Pedro Church, the statue of Cabral, and the pretty Portuguese-style cobblestone streets of Ponta Delgada. From the harbour we could see the Ermida da Mae de Deus Church (Mother of God Chapel) on the hill to the right.
We returned to the ship to have lunch just as the skies turned darker and began to rain. For dinner, it was Italian night and for dessert I had Tiramisu but my favorite was Princess-made Limoncello in a Princess shotglass that I got to keep. Yum! Beautiful sunbeams shined down on Sao Miguel as we caught our last glimpse of the Azores.
pictures from top: Church and town of Ponta Delgada; Crater Lakes; Old gates of the town,cobblestone streets and tower.
