Tag Archives: volcanic
Capelinhos
Once there was a whaling station here; now there are only the remains of a lighthouse and another rock pool at the seaside.
Pico Island
And so we have moved from the Western group of islands to the Central group in the Azores. We arrive in Pico in the afternoon, and notice immediately the changing environment; the island is named after the volcano Ponta do Pico — which makes out the highest elevation on the mid-atlantic ridge. (Currently, the top is well hidden in clouds, and so we haven’t yet seen the its full glory.
Visiting Furnas and its surroundings
We are little off schedule this morning as we have learned an important lesson the day before: that when travelling whilst pregnant, it is essential to have provisions ready. So, after buying some bread, jam and fruit that will hold all day in the car, we head off from Ponta Delgada to Furnas.
Exploring the west of São Miguel
With a rental car, we can explore the western part of the island at our own pace, which proves to be nice. First thing, we head towards the Sete Cidades, and stop a few times at viewpoints along the way as we ascend the largest volcano crater on the Azores.
Porto Moniz
Porto Moniz is a town northwest on the island. It is not too far a journey from São Vicente, so we combine the two. This means that when we actually get to Porto Moniz, it is lunchtime and we are starving. This in itself is not the best idea. We park along the seaside, and start looking for a restaurant, but all we see are hotels, cafés with all-English menus, souvenir shops, and restaurants joining the hotels. The real town […]