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Century Shore Excursion - Ponta Delgada Ponta Delgada is on Sao Miguel, an island of the Azores. An archipelago of 9 islands over 700 miles off the shores of Portugal and Spain. As such, it was created by volcanic action. The island has two large volcanic craters which each house a village (Why does man always defy nature?) and seems to be the centers of the tourist trade.
We decided to take a tour that stopped at a garden/park first in the middle of the city. Quite interesting and beautiful - it was a mere distraction from the volcanic beauty of the island.
We were driven in a sightseeing bus with a guide. We viewed a defunct hotel on the edge of the crater and looked down into the caldera of the "extinct" volcano with two lakes and a village in it. The locals built a road with a bridge in the middle of the large lake bisecting it and I presume making their travel time shorter. Tour busses were seen stopping near this bridge, though we did not take that scenic route.
We continued down and around the volcano with a stop on the other side of the island with a view of the ocean and the second volcano in the distance. We were told that often the view of and from the tops of the volcanoes were obscured by fog or clouds, but our day was bright and clear. We were told that was fortuitous.
The bus then wound back toward town and stopped at a pineapple farm. Ponta Delgada is known for its sweet luscious pineapples - or so we were told. The difference between here and Hawaii was the weather. The Azores suffer from colder temperatures and possible frost in the winter months. So, the pineapple growth takes place in hot houses. My recollection is that each is cloned from an earlier one so that the crop is consistent. We were allowed to sample this famous pineapple for only $8.00 (for a small one - so much for consistency). They had not bought into the concept of providing slivers of one for tasting. They did however provide a 1/2 ounce of pineapple wine - which was not really to my liking. Maybe that is why they do not provide samples of the pineapple - too many people may not of bought one because it was not up to what they were used to. Who knows?
All in all it was a quaint little island with a friendly people. We were there on a Sunday so nothing was open, but there were a lot of people sitting on the curbs which made it difficult for the huge bus to navigate the narrow, winding streets.
The port entrance had its mandatory ancient fort which always sets a tone. The navy was in port too - a single gun boat about 50 feet in length - how quaint.
The one major drawback was our tour guide. She had emigrated from Germany to her new home in Ponta Delgada several years ago. I guess she is one of the few English speaking persons so was eligible for a job. The only problem is she could not pronounce half of her words so we could recognize them - and half is a generous number. So we listened to a mélange of words, some of which we understood and watched the beautiful scenery go by before returning to our ship to set sail for Lisboa, Portugal.
By the way - the Azores are rumored to be the remnants of the lost continent of Atlantis. One of may places rumered to be. |
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