It has been the most amazing 4 weeks. We have enjoyed having this time together exploring, learning and enjoying this beautiful place. After getting packed up this morning we had some time to kill. And we realized there was ice cream we hadn’t eaten. And because we are children, we ate the ice cream. We…

The day started with storms: rain and wind. And it stayed that way all day. It was cold and dreary and made us feel the same way. Wrapping things up on the most amazing time away is sad but we are ready to go home, sleep in our own bed, see our friends, get back…

I read about a bakery on the opposite end of town so we decided to walk for some bread this morning. The description I read was an old lady bakes bread and sells it from her home. This was more of a production than described but was still fresh from the oven goodness and no…

We decided to explore the town of Mosteiros on foot today. The town square is a cute area with a church, school, newsstand and a couple of eateries. A white van was driving from restaurant to restaurant selling the fish he had just caught. He had a large bicycle horn that he held outside the…

I expect our last remaining days to look awfully similar to each other. We have crossed off everything we wanted to see/do/eat and we are down to just soaking in the last few days of paradise. Waves crashing, familiar faces, running on island time. It has been amazing to say the least. We walked just…

Today was another day that was supposed to rain and be cloudy all day…. And it wasn’t. It was a gorgeous blue bird day. We have crossed off almost everything on my wish list but there was still one rock formation we hadn’t seen yet. The Elephant Trunk. I love sea arches and caves and…

We woke up to an unexpectedly sunny day so we decided to go up to Sete Cidades where there is a double lake inside a crater. One green and the other blue. There is also an abandoned hotel that I wanted to get inside. Read the story of the Monte Palace Hotel here. It was…

Today was a gorgeous, sunny day. Because of the rally we were limited to where we could go so we opted to return to the thermal pool in Furnas. Now that we are on the west coast it’s a 90 minute drive but still so worth it. We walked the sandy beach in Ribeira Grande…

Today we wanted to explore Sete Cidades. The crater of the volcano has a double lake – one side green, the other blue. We made it there in heavy fog and what water we could see was just gray. We will hope for some nicer weather up there next week. We were also turned away…

Today we said good-bye to our city house and moved to the west coast. But before we left town, we wanted to stop by Massa Mae Bakery. They specialize in sour doughs but they are only open Thurs-Sun 11-4 and we had not been in town yet when they were open. Heading west was a…

Today was our last full day in Ponta Delgada. We feel like we have done all the things, eaten all the foods, and seen all the sites. Certainly that cannot be true but we have given it our best and I think we did pretty good. And so, we opted to get our steps in…

Today we visited the Santo Antonio Pineapple Plantation and what a great education that was! Did you know that a pineapple plant produces only one pineapple? And that it takes 2-2.5 years to grow that fruit to harvest? The plant must be dug up and transplanted 3 times during its life. So much work goes…

After a harrowing adventure home, we slept like babies. A late start to the morning provided the perfect start to a blissfully empty day. The weather is sunny and breezy which is good when laundry needs doing. We returned to Tuka Tula for our meal of the day (lunch). I love that we are known…

Pico Island was a little bit of a bust. The mountain was completely shrouded in fog and almost everything is closed on Sundays. We spent the day driving around the island and toured the whaling museum. The wind was howling today at around 40-50 mph and we were afraid our flight would be cancelled. Heavy…

We had a lazy morning watching the waves roll in, ate a big breakfast and I even took a nap before we checked out of our hotel on Terceira. We had a few spare hours before going to the airport so we toured an old fort, visited a cool island overlook and just toured around.…

Today was an early morning wake up so we could fly to Terceira Island. We rented a car and started out on an impromptu sight seeing trip of the north coast. First, we stopped at a little inland park that had a river with several small waterfalls. Next we headed to the coast to check…

Today we finished the hike we started yesterday. This time we parked on the north end and had a very short hike to the ruins. What a payoff!! There, in the jungle, is an old power plant plus the keepers house. What a cool area!! You start off by following the aqueduct to the holding…

Today we hiked most of the trail that goes along the old hydroelectric plants. We got 2 false starts before we found the correct trail and we left our water in the car so we will finish the trail another day. There are 4 old power plants that are being reclaimed by nature but it’s…

Today was Mark’s golf day. He played 18 at Batalha Golf Course. It started off a little rainy and finished quite windy but the scenery was gorgeous and we had a great time. The course is a series of 3 9-hole courses. Today he played courses B and C. The C course was quite interesting…

Today the weather was divine – the nicest we’ve had so far. We started the day by walking down to the marina for a coffee and a ham and cheese pastry (6€ for 2 of each) and visited the local travel office to book some weekend flights. We wanted to go back to the thermal…

Today was a lazy day. We slept in and ventured out to Ribeira Grande midday. We got to watch a surfing competition for a bit before having lunch. Lunch was bacon cheeseburgers. It was a very nice restaurant Mark found but we were ready for some comfort food. Back to our house for a nap…

Today we wanted to explore the east side of the island. It’s the least populated and we went with no expectations other than a scouting trip. We made our first stop in the town of Provoacao – a little fishing village. Moving on we came across a hike we decided to do. Salto Do Prego.…

Today we visited Terra Nostra. It is an amazing botanical garden and mineral hot springs. TN develops their own cultivars of Camellias and they are in bloom. So many gorgeous flowers! After walking the gardens, we floated in the warm/hot water for a couple of hours. The muddy look is from the high iron content.…

Today was about getting our steps in. We decided to walk the waterfront from one end to the other and back again and then headed a little inland for more walking. We didn’t go in any attractions, just walked and walked. That being said, our goal today was to return to the British diner for…

Today we did a little exploring on the north side of the island. The island can be crossed north to south in only about 20 minutes. It takes around 2 hours east to west. I had heard about a woman who lived on the top of a mountain who weaves blankets and textiles on a…

Today we decided to head east. Our first stop was for a special pastry called Queijadas made at a bakery in Villa Franca do Campo. The history is that in the 15th Century, nuns were using egg whites to starch their habits and didn’t want to waste the yolks so they came up with a…

Upon landing we picked up our car, found our home and headed out on foot to find food and explore the city a bit. Breakfast isn’t much of a thing here so we weren’t finding much open yet but we did stumble upon a British-Azorean snack bar where for 3.5€ you got a bacon and…

We have spent the last week in Austin at Julie and Brian’s playing with the Theo and Alden and just soaking up some good family time. But today we headed off to Sao Miguel. A 4am alarm, flight to Boston, 10 hour layover and a red eye to Ponta Delgada meant that by the time…