It has been exactly 4 weeks since we touched down here and now I'm sitting at the airport again.  The bags are checked and the boarding pass is in hand.  The plane from Lisbon is  late, so we will be delayed.  Well, the forecast at home is for snow or rain or both, so I am not too anxious to get there anyway.  The saddest part of today was dropping off the bike at Carolina's again.  That always makes the end seem so final.  But enough!

It has been quite a different trip from our other vacations here.  We have had 3 sets of company who have chosen Azores on our recommendation.  Some we saw most days, others we saw occasionally, but we have felt like hosts and tried to make sure the others saw the best of the island.  Now, two trips to Furnas to see camellias was NO hardship, but any time that there is more than just me, I am responsible.  I did promise some flower pictures from the Camellia show:

As you can tell, they were spectacular.  Someday I will come and see the garden in another season.

What am I bringing home -- besides some clothes (bicycle attire), I have 30 spoons.  WHAT? you say? Yes, tiny spoons (24) for all kinds of condiments on a charcuterie board, and long spoons (galao) for deep jars or perhaps I will some day get proper tall latte glasses.  Strange what passes for souvenirs when it is your 10th visit.  

This was my final sunrise this morning;

Choices

 It is a rainy morning.  In fact, it will be a totally rainy day, if the weather app on my phone is to be believed.  It has been wrong before, but the situation outside at the moment certainly confirms the forecast.

We have now been here almost 3 weeks and the weather has been much rainier and windier than in past visits.  Once, while riding up the mountain, I had to get off and push as the combination of incline, wind and avoiding highway accesses proved too much.  Can't navigate safely when the wind is blowing so hard as to push you around on the road.  So, the bike riding has not been the greatest.  

Instead I have been walking -- my 5km first thing in the morning.  On nice days, I take my sticks and stride along the waterfront for 2.5 km and then turn around.  The experience of the ocean next to me is on some days so calming and on other days, when the spray hits me, very invigorating.  

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipPBjL4mNoCUDlGIQljJzyQsDD_irCeGePZWpdQ2

On not-so-nice days, like today, I walk in the underground parking garages here on the harbour.  There is space for about 500 cars in the two lots and they have accesses up to the street level as well as onto the water level.  There is a large crescent-shaped commercial zone for the tourists, particularly for the ones that come on cruise ships.  It is possible to walk along, under the covered area and not get wet.  

But on nice days, I have been making a point of visiting the gardens here in town -- the little ones that are in between streets or outside public building, as well as the 3 major gardens.  My favourite is the Antonio Borges and it is free and open almost 24 hours a day.  Besides spectacular trees, there are many azaleas in bloom and peaceful pools to sit and enjoy.

If I lived here all year long, I would have such a garden!  But I would not trade living in Chippawa for living in Ponta Delgada.  Having stated that, I still say that I'm glad I'm here now rather than at home in the snow.

We all have choices for our lives.  Choose wisely.

I have never been

 I have never been to an outdoor garden of orchids planted in the ground.  Yes, I have visited Parque Terra Nostra many times before and today I enjoyed the camellias and the cycads as much as ever, but the plot of orchids past the gardener's office, had never been open to me before.  I looked at the lush, profuse abundance of colours and shapes and sizes and was amazed.  I hope the pictures do them some justice!!

I love that there are always surprises!

It's been four days

 It's only been four days since we touched down here again in Ponta Delgada.  It has rained -- sometimes hard -- on each of those days, but you go with that.  Some highlights of the first few days:

A spectacular hibiscus just growing in a front yard hedge.

Groups of kids singing for the "lady of the stars' festival

Leaning on the same Norfolk Island Pine as I did on our first trip here in 2014.

Watching a goose catch flies off the leaves.

All those cute little pineapples.

I have known for a long time that I enjoy being around children when they learn something, master something, experience something new for the first time.  I relive my excitement of doing that even though I have now done it probably hundreds of times.  We have friends of Ian's visiting here with us and seeing their "OH, WOW!" brings back that excitement of the first time.  We invite anyone to come and experience this part of the world.

Home away from home

 I walked out of the hotel yesterday morning, into the sunshine and warmth, and my heart literally sang.  We had flown into Ponta Delgada on Friday afternoon and after checking in, had walked around to some of the familiar places on the waterfront, but it was as the sun was rising yesterday, and I was on the oceanfront walk going east, that I felt the full impact of being back here.  Yes, it feels like home away from home.  

The 2 km walk beside the surf is not just my favourite.  There were a number of people that I met both today and yesterday, that started their day in the same peace and calm inspiring way.  There were also the early cyclists taking advantage of the separate cycle path and then the really ambitious ones who were running.  It is a glorious space for anyone who wants to be outside.

Even with just 48 hours, I have made it all my usual haunts -- checking out what is new, seeing what is on sale, lamenting some changes and being delighted by others:  two of the grocery stores have been completely remodeled, one of our favourite cafes is gone, a new cafe has appeared on the waterfront, the australian Banyan tree lost a huge limb a month ago and it looks like a giant wound, 

 Decaf coffee is now available in many more places and in lattes.  A nata tart and an espresso will still only cost you 1.19 euros.  There are e bikes and e scooters available on the Bolt rental system for everyone. 

 Fanceshinas are available at the cafe just below the apartment that we are renting in February.  There was a fun circus show for big and little kids at the theater yesterday afternoon, 

and we didn't make a wine tasting at the square by the Fort.  The big city has lots more going on than the smaller, less populated islands and will keep us happy for a whole month.  Looking forward to February!

Moooove along

 I remember a joke:  What did one cow say to the other cow in the line?  MOOOve along!  Well, that certainly is the sentiment among the bovine ladies in the field.  

The tour was "Follow the milk from the farm to cheese".  We were picked up at our guesthouse (amazing place with a view over the water to Pico) and then it was up the mountains to the central plateau where Manuel has his dairy farm.  He has 36 cows, mostly Holsteins bred with semen from Semex in Canada, which he is in the process of drying off for the winter.  The cows are rotated through high pastures every two days so they don't destroy the field which is always wet as it rains at some point almost every day. 

 The portable milking station gets pulled by tractor to whichever field is currently in use.  It is accompanied by a little pickup with the tank on the back.  The girls are eager to come as they are fed a tasty, pelleted supplement while being milked.  There is a definite hierarchy for order, but each one gets her turn.  The pastures are so clean that no udder washing is necessary, and there is just a conditioning dip afterwards -- bright green to identify those done. Ian remarked that it was the closest he had ever been to cows and was successful in his attempt at milking.  However, the "city" in him came through when he tried the fresh milk -- not for him.

There are 20,000 cows on St. Jorge (compared with 8,000 humans) and all the milk goes to making St. Jorge cheese, the most famous of all the Azorean cheeses.  Twice a day the milk is driven to the collection station within a half hour of milking.  From there it goes to one of the three cheese factories on the island. No pictures were allowed inside, but we followed the milk to the making of the cheese, the waxing and aging, then the scraping off of the wax before the cutting and packaging.  We were decked out in full sanitary gear for our tour.

Of course, there was a cheese tasting, 3 month, 7 month and 24 months.  Since the first settlers were Flemish, there is a definite resemblance to some of the Dutch cheeses, especially in the younger ones.

Our guesthouse here on the south side of this island (the brown island because of the cliffs) overlooks the strait to Pico.  We have a compact room with access to a full kitchen.  The place is kept immaculate and is very peaceful, especially since there is only one other person here currently.  

The garden is lovely, particularly the succulent garden which, I was told, came from little bits all over the world.  No wonder I had never seen some of those varieties before.  But the natural landscape is impressive also.  The invasive morning glory climbs over everything giving a blanket effect.  Even rocks seem to sprout greenery. 

And today we fly back to San Miguel -- the green island.

Taste this!

 Taste this!

One of the reason I love to travel is to try new foods.  It may be familiar ingredients put together in a whole new way, or it may be a totally different item.  Our time on Pico provided both.

The sandwich called Francesinha was developed in Porto, and is now available in many Portuguese locations -- one of which is in Madalena, the main city of Pico.  Now Pico only has 14,000 inhabitants, so the main 'city' is really just a town, but it is the 'big' place there.  The buffet restaurant which I had checked out at lunch time, decided to take the evening off, so we were left scouting around for a spot.  Down a side street was an open door with music and a bunch of people.  Always go where there are lots of people!  Ian got his grilled squid, and I decided to explore the Francesinha.  It is layered from the bottom:  bread, cheese, sausage, ham, a thin steak, more cheese, another bread, another slice of cheese and then a hot beer and tomato sauce is poured over.  Finally a fried egg is perched on top and it is served like a castle with a moat.  HIghly recommended!

On Tuesday we went for a wine tour.  Now Pico is the youngest of the Azorean islands and therefore is known as the black island, thanks to the volcanic basalt rock.  It is also a very poor island and has been so since settled in the early 1500s.  A Friar brought vines to the island, but the only place to plant them was in crevasses between the volcanic rock.  They even had to import soil to dribble in the crevasse to get the vine started.  Walls, about 1 m high, were built around the vines to protect them from the very strong winds and maintain warm temperatures thanks to the thermal mass.  As you can imagine the mineral content of the terroir is totally different from the European source and has, over the years, changed the vines to a now established different variety.  It made for a very interesting tasting of something totally new.

Don't worry, there is also a new pastry.  The hotel in Pico had a lovely breakfast including some unusual pies.  The standard custard pie comes au natural, but also with chocolate chunks or cookies baked in on top.  this one had palmiers!

Tomorrow is our cheese tour on St. Jorge.  Can't wait!