Wednesday, October 30, 2024

The Azores Continues

 Fleeing to Fumas

After the tourist crush of the tea plantation we needed a respite from the throngs.  Our next stop was the botanical garden adjacent to Lago da Fumas.  I always think flowers but here it’s trees.  Once again our quest was for a waterfall pictured as robust and idyllic only to find a meager trickle after an hour slog. It is ever thus.

This neo-gothic Chapel of Nossa Senhora das Vitórias was built for the wife of Jose do Canto for his wife Maria Guilhermina Taveira de Brum da Silveira, who was tragically, terminally ill.  The chapel was completed in 1882. The chapel is on the shore of Lagoa da Furnas.

Both Jose and Maria are buried in the chapel and no services are held there.

In addition to the hydrangeas, these yellow ginger lilies were growing all over the island.

In one of the botanical gardens created by Jose do Canto he planted this giant sequoia, which is now over 100 years old.


This was the waterfall we hiked a very long way to see. It was very disappointing, especially compared to another waterfall we came across later.


Just as in Mexico roosters and chickens roam free. We spotted this colorful rooster on our way out of the botanical garden.

Lagoa das Furnas, unlike the other lakes, was not a crater lake. Instead it was bordered by bubbling pits of sulfurous liquid reminiscent of Dante’s inferno.  We jinxed our way between fumaroles and observed many cooking chambers sunk in the earth around the pits. Each morning restaurants place the ingredients for Cozido in the chambers and —voila— by lunch the stew is ready.  We didn’t get to try it but it sounded good.

The steam was visibly rising from this fumarole.

One of the cooking chambers was buried here to slowly cook the food contents.

Another fumarole with the bubbles rising from the water.

You can see the water bubbling up from this fumarole.

 Other Stuff.

I’m usually pretty good at remembering what we did where but I admit defeat on this leg of the trip so I’ll just sketch it out and Michael can throw in photos.  We drove up to the Northeast point of Sao Miguel where we dined in a restaurant named amusingly “O America”.  I had grilled mussels in tomato sauce that will live in my memory for eternity.  The food in Portugal (read fish and pastries) is amazing. We will not go into exhaustive detail but trust us— you’d like it.

In our drive we came across this aqueduct overgrown with plants. It was very foggy when we arrived.

This photo will give you an idea of the size of the aqueduct, as well as the number of different plants growing on the aqueduct.

On our drive we came across this much more impressive waterfall...


with even more hydrangeas.

  

This church in Mosteiros showed that not all of the churches on Sao Miguel were exactly the same.

On the way we tried (and failed) to find The Ghost Hotel which someone had told us about. We have no photos but it’s a good story so here goes.  In the ‘80s, before any tourists had discovered the Azores some deep pocketed gents decided to build a world class, five star hotel at the highly peak on the island with views of the beautiful Sete Cidades, the Ocean and mountains. Fine.  On the very day it was voted the best, most luxurious hotel in Europe it filed for bankruptcy and closed forever. Why.  It rains 200 days per year and is foggy even more often. It was too remote. There was nothing  to do. so islanders made off with all the elegant furniture and fixtures and now fisherman’s shacks boast chandeliers and Louis XVI chests.  While searching for the hotel we backed into a pole which is a required component for any of our trips. We don’t even worry about it anymore. For our last hurrah we headed to the far Northwest of the island,  which is the wildest, least developed area.  Around every turn it seems they have miradors offering spectacular views of cliffs and sea. As we were cruising back towards our hotel I spotted steam rising from a river.  We pulled over and discovered a park with sulphuric springs and fumaroles vastly better than the tourist hyped ones we’d seen before. Another quick stop for favorite bar on Santa Barbara Beach (it is sorta California vibe) and we were wrapped for  Azores.

These series of photos will show the scenic coastline of Sao Miguel.




This fumarole was much more impressive than the one we paid to see. The water in Caldera Grande was so hot it was boiling.

The steam was what caught our eye as we were driving.

This shows the different colors from the mineral deposits in the water.

The water was even a different color, as can be seen in these two photos, depending on the minerals in the water.


Even the mud was really hot!

One Last thing.  It’s about the cows.  I have never seen so many dairy cows in my life-the black and white ones.  And they are visually stunning. They pose their buxom black and white bodies in contrast to the vibrant green grass and blue sea and it is cow magic.  OK. This is getting weird I’ll stop.  Maybe it’s the smoke.  We woke up this morning and wild fires were burning close to Aviero where we are staying. We tried to drive to a coastal town to the north but police turned us back. Now all the highways between here and Porto are closed. We need to be in Porto tomorrow so could be tricky.  Oh well….




























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