Ponta Delgada, Azores

Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal

For the first time in as long as I can remember, Eileen was ready to turn back. I have never seen fog so thick in my life. Even though we were traveling at less than 25 mph in our who-knows-its-name, manual shift, micro diesel rental car, trucks, buildings, trees, cows, tractors, wagons, would appear out of nowhere on the winding hillside roads… and we were headed deeper still into the subtropical rainforest mountains of the Azores, near Ponta Delgada.

Luck somehow favors the foolish – who live to tell about it – and we finally emerged above the cloud cover to some of the greenest countryside this side of Ireland. We also laughed a bit when we saw the island tour guide Land Rovers peeking up over the hill to find the same spot to disembark passengers where we had just parked.

Photos below tell the story. It’s very fertile land that was formed in the craters of extinct volcanoes. Lots of livestock, fruit trees and food crops add to the pastoral vistas.

Driving a few kilometers (and I do mean a few, perhaps five) we found the second major island attraction, the green and blue lakes of Sete Cidades. We were promised to find a great place to have lunch there; perhaps they were exaggerating. There were three or four of what could only be described as cantinas. But we did find a charming church so we stopped for a few more photos and drove on to more sights.

Poking along the coastline we discovered this characteristic church. It’s interesting also that you can find new modern residences butted up against dilapidated, deteriorating properties.

Moving into the city a bit, we stopped for lunch. Many of the roadways/walkways are volcanic tile. I couldn't resist the car photo, a Renault, because it looked like a variation on Lauren's Audi TT.

The port is both a commercial port and a pleasure boat port. The large blue vessel is a ferry that I believe runs between Porta Delgada and the other islands of the Azores since Lisbon would be at least a full day’s voyage for it.