Cycle-less

We arrived here on Sao Miguel a week ago yesterday and the plan had been to connect with Carolina,  who worked at a local hotel, and with whom I left a bicycle last year which I had purchased here on the island.  Her hotel is undergoing renovations this month and therefore we are at a different hotel.  (This is a nice place with a great apartment, a pool and gym, and a spectacular view from the balcony, but it is about 3 streets up from the harbourfront and there is something particularly enchanting about stepping out of the front door and being on the water, so I think next year we will go back to the other hotel.)  Carolina made a last minute trip abroad and therefore no bicycle.

On Saturday, Sunday and Monday that was hard to take.  The weather was sunny and 18 degrees and I was extremely jealous every time a bike went by.  That was mainly the weekend, and that's when you see people out riding here.  It is recreational riding rather than functional, and most people just ride along the waterfront.  There is a new cycle lane along the coastal road and one can ride from Ponta Delgada west and east about 10 km each way and not encounter bad traffic or serious hills.

But since Tuesday there would have been no biking even if there were a trusty iron steed in the parking lot.  It has been very rainy -- sometimes off and on, sometimes just on -- and seriously windy.  The chairs on the balcony get blown around but if you pick a 2 hr non-raining window, you can dry your laundry.  When it was an effort to walk down the hill against the wind, I knew that I would not have been riding.

But there are some benefits to the wind.  The ocean is alive!  The white-capped waves have grown into swells.  I watched a cargo ship navigate into the harbour yesterday.  Against the steady horizon, it was undulating with the sea, first back to front and then side to side as it made the turn to follow the little tug to its place on the inside of the sea wall.  The waves crashed over the sea wall many times and I could see the white rivulets of foam streaming down the stones.  I have not seen any of the little boats, of which there are usually many, go into this weather.  And this is not even severe weather, but it is fascinating to watch.

We took the bus to Vila Franca do Campo yesterday.  Having watched the Harry Potter series this past week, it was almost like the London night bus to get our full sized coach through the narrow streets where you could have touched houses on either side out of the windows.  Vila Franca do Campo was the first capital of the Azores and did well for a century until an earthquake in 1522 which caused a landslide burying the town, killing about 3000.  Nowadays, it is a lovely seaside town with a historic and unique tart.

We haven't exhausted the island's secrets yet.