During the first week of October 2000, my mother and I went to the beautiful island of Sao Miguel in the Azores.
We didn't know much about the island before we left.
The reason we choose to go there was that we wanted some sun, some nice air, to see some new surroundings. The Canary Islands could have been an alternative, but since those islands now are too crowded, too much touristic, too commercial that was not a good alternative. My mother had seen an ad about the Azores, and asked if I was interested to go there instead. That seemed to be a very good idea, and we booked our tickets.
The Azores are beautiful islands, made long time ago by vulcanos. Our guide told us that 360 vulcanos spread fire and lava and built the islands.
The islands are very green. Lots of flowers. There are parts thats reminds you of being in a rain forest, other parts looks more like a part of the Alps.
My mother and I went to the biggest of the islands - Sao Miguel.
Our hotel was located quite far from the capitol of Ponta Delgada.
The hotel was supposed to be a four star hotel. My mother wanted comfort, not much noice like nightlife or sounds from traffic. Our expectations were met, more than we ever could have imagined. The hotel had once been very close to bankrupcy, the management had left and disappeared, the administration was on course in Portugal...There were no shops of any kind and there were no shops in the hotel either. Buying stuff like water, bread, or souvenirs was by necessity made in the closest village 5 km from the hotel or on our excursions. We were part of the biggest group of tourists for a very long time to come to the hotel, and quite obviously the staff weren't prepared for that. All the guests couldn't eat at the same time in the dining room. It was fascinating to see old people almost fight to be the first into the dining room to get a table.
That was the negative part.
The first day was a cloudy day. Mother and I decided to visit the biggest town and capitol Ponta Delgada. We took a local bus and spent 40 minutes seeing the gorgious landscape on our way.
Local Bustable
The second day was really nice! Clearblue sky and sunshine. Mother and I decided to spend the day by the pool.
The third day was the first excursion. Quite soon we could notice that the streets of Sao Miguel are not build for heavy traffic and large vehicles like busses. But the driver was really good at was he was doing and took us around corners, sometimes just with centimeters between the bus and the house.
Our first stop was the Fountain of Youth in Furnas Botanic Garden. It's said that if you swim in the pond you'll be 20 years younger. But you have to do that three times, and since we just swam around once nothing happened...
Mother in the pond
The speciality there is to prepare food in the hot ground. The pots are places in the ground, covered and left for four-five hours. When dig up, the food is ready to eat. And yes, the vulcanic hot soil adds a special, very delightful taste.
This dish was offered at a restaurant. We enjoyed the food very much. Despite what it looks like, it tasted great!
From having seen the landscape from the highest top in the neighborhood, we passed an area of fountains and wells. It smelled quite awful, like rotten eggs due to the sulphurdioxide and other chemicals the earth disposed. went to a complex that makes tea. From growing it to selling it in different flavors and qualities, all was taken care of here.
Therefor the next day was spent by the pool. The weather was ok, not too hot not too sunny.
On the sixth day we first decided to stay by the pool, but when clouds covered the sun, we changed those plans.
It's not at all expensive to take a taxi, and that is what we did. Our destination was the village of Vila Franco do Campo 5 kilometers from our hotel.
We just walked around the village and enjoyed the sights. At a restaurant we let the waiter decide what to eat. The result was delicious meat.
When we had returned to the hotel again, we spent some time by the pool again.
That evening we saw a large flock of dolphins out at sea. Impressive! Unfortunately they were too far away to be taken pictures of.
The last day was an excursion day.
The first stop was a pottery plant. Many things were made manually, and the most common color was blue on white.
We were supposed to go to a high spot in order to get a view over the island. But the weather was of another opinion. The clouds were so low it was like driving in a glass of milk.
Instead we continued to a waterfall. The nature was almost jungle like. The unique thing with this waterfall compared to others in other parts of the world is that the water is heated up by the vulcanic underground.
Nature Give Massage...
Our next stop was at a Liqueur Plant. We were told how the liqueur was made, and shown the entire factory. Did you know that liqueur was stored for around a year before bottled and solded?
The last stop on this trip was in the second biggest town on Sao Miguel - Ribeira Grande. We were given a little time to walk around. Mother and I visited the beautiful church.
Day of departure. The week had passed oh-so-quickly! Since we left the hotel by 10 a.m. we had no chance of a last swim in the pool. My last powers were used trying to wake up enough to have breakfast.
The very small but rather modern airport had some small souvenir shops, a café, but no tax-free store...
Five hours later a rainy and cold Stockholm welcomed us back.
