Ten days in the Azores

I hadn’t planned on travelling this year, particularly to Europe, as my last two trips had been to the continent. A good friend mentioned they were going to spend some time in the Azores on their way back from Portugal and I should consider joining them if I could scrape together enough spare change for a plane ticket and get some time off work.

It sounded like an adventure to me so what-the-hell, I waited as long as I could to get a decent price on a flight, put in a vacation request, and before I knew it I had made plans for another trip over the Atlantic.

Starting out in Lisbon#starting-out-in-lisbon

Like a lot of destinations, getting to the Azores from Halifax is a bit convoluted. There are direct flights from Toronto and Montreal, but we wanted to spend a couple of days in Lisbon first so that’s where I flew to. Halifax, then Montreal, then finally to Lisbon. It was the reverse on the way back. Nothing compared to some of my other far-flung trips requiring four and even five one-way flights!

As usual when heading to the airport I walked the ten minutes over to the bus stop from my apartment and got on the airport bus for a quick and inexpensive ride to the airport. The driver was auditioning for F1 or something, I had never been on a bus going that fast. I’ve taken lots of buses around the world, and on this airport bus lots of times, but we were flying this time. Anyway, we made it to the airport in one piece and I took it as a postive omen that my flights would be on-time and free of drama.

After a quick stopover in Montreal for a beer and a smoked-meat sandwich — had to be done — I was back in the air, this time eastward flying over Halifax, then over the ocean. Arriving in Lisbon in the morning after a mostly sleepless night flight, I met my friend at the airport and we headed underground to the subway headed in the direction of our accomodations. He had already loaded up a metro pass for me so we were quickly on the next train toward our neighbourhood, Alfama. After a quick ten-minute walk we made it to our little apartment where I could relax, have a quick nap and make plans for the rest of the day.

We decided to stay relatively close and explore the Alfama neighbourhood as it has so much to see and do, all totally accessible on foot, my favourite way to see a place. But first, a cappuccino and a pastel de nata at the best bakery in town, Pastelaria Santo António. What a perfect introduction to Portugal, and the first of many (many, many) freshly baked tarts.

Needing to work off that afternoon treat we headed out for an afternoon of walking the neighbourhood. Looking for a scenic view we walked over to Miradouro Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen which has beautiful views of the city below, the castle, harbour, and bridge. It also has a beautiful church open for wandering. The afternoon light was beautiful on the white stone walls of the convent, and it was a quiet respite from the busy streets outside. Looking for another scenic view close by we walked up the steep street up to Miradouro da Senhora do Monte, another beautiful, panoramic view of the city.

By now it was time for supper, and what better, more touristy way to have a first supper in Portugal than peri-peri chicken at a popular, well-known restaurant. So with that as our goal we walked over to Restaurante Bonjardim for a table full of excellent food. We ordered the chicken extra spicy with sides of french fries and spicy rice with a cold glass of beer to help wash it all down. It was fantastic and I can see why they are so popular and recommended. By the time we left there was a substantial line of people waiting. Show up early!

By this point, walking 12 kilometres up and down steep streets in the warm sun on almost no sleep was starting to catch up to me. There was cold beer in the fridge waiting for us as a reward so we walked back to our apartment to relax and plan our next day’s adventures. Over a cold beer or two we decided to head back out in the morning on the subway and tram west toward Belém Tower — officially the Tower of Saint Vincent — to start a new day of exploration.

After a very, very welcome sleep, my first shower in two days, and a good, hot coffee it was time for more exploring. We walked down to the Metro station and headed west on the subway then on to the 15E tram to Belém Tower. It was an absolutely gorgeous, warm day along the Tagus River and there weren’t too many people thankfully. The tower was closed due to construction and there was some scaffolding on the outside to ruin photos but it was still very much worth the trip to see. The tower definitely has a fairytale like quality to it.

After hanging out at the tower for a little while we decided to walk east back along the river toward the city. The Monument to the Discoveries is along the way making for an easy landmark to head toward and after that there is a tunnel under the busy street that takes you to the other side and through the gardens of the Praça do Império to take a quick look at the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, a beautiful monastery and masterpiece of Portuguese architecture.

By now it was time for a well-earned treat, but as we walked past another well-known pastelaria on Rua de Belém we found it packed and decided to keep walking. Unsurprisingly we found a nice local bar to stop and enjoy a cold beer while we waited for the next tram to take us back into the city. It was a much-needed break on a very warm day. Once back on the very busy tram we made our way back to the city where once we got off we headed back up the hills where we stopped for supper. We decided on pizza at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant, not exactly local but after a long, hot day of walking and exploring it was a very welcome meal and cocktail. After almost another 12 kilometres of walking I even treated myself to dessert.

After another good night’s sleep and nowhere to be it was time to linger over a coffee while checking in for our flights to the Azores. It’s happening! We headed over to the Avenida district to explore there as we’d be back in this neighbourhood at the end of the trip. Since it was midday by the time we got ourselves over there we stopped for lunch at a great little restaurant called Brooklyn around the corner from our end-of-trip hotel. It was a good chance to catch up on my notebook and relax with a pistrami sandwich with fries, and surprise! a cold beer.

After wandering through Avenida for a few hours we decided to head east back toward Alfama to pick up some groceries for a simple supper. But first, I wanted to stop off at the Benfica store to look at picking up a t-shirt at the official store. There are lots of opportunities to buy a cheaper knockoff from one of the many, many street vendors but I wanted something official and better qualty. I found a nice soft cotton shirt with a great design for only 25 Euros, a bargain for this sort of thing, I won’t divulge what I paid for my ACF Fiorentia t-shirt in Florence. By now it was late afternoon which made it happy hour so we stopped off for 2-for-1 beers at Jamónalisa, a great bar with a patio out in the pedestrian street we could relax and people watch. Watching the street vendors setup quickly trying to avoid the municipal enforcement was entertaining, they can pack up and be gone in no time!

Speaking of packing up, it was time to get my stuff back into my bag to be ready to head back to the airport for the flights to São Miguel in the morning. It wasn’t an early flight thankfully so no rush to get back on the metro to begin our journey. I was looking forward to leaving the crowded streets of Lisbon behind for the Azores.

West to the archipelago, São Miguel#west-to-the-archipelago,-são-miguel

One of the many great things about Lisbon is that the subway takes you just about everywhere you want to go, including the airport. After leaving our apartment in the Alfama neighbourhood we walked down to the subway station to be on our way. It took us less than an hour to get to the airport for just a few Euros.

Our flight was on time, a feat not to be repeated while in the Azores, and was not totally full allowing me to get a window seat and a view over the ocean as we headed west across the Atlantic. Flight time is just over two hours and was very smooth, before long we were on São Miguel to begin our Azores adventure. A rental car is a must in the Azores unfortunately so we picked up our little chariot and headed into the city to find our local hotel Residencial D. João III, but before that it was quite the project just to find a parking spot! Just like Halifax, it seems no one here walks anywhere. After driving around the narrow streets and angering the the locals we decided to just pay for a spot until later when a free spot in front of the hotel opened up.

The hotel was another one of these small local places, the kind I really like to stay in. Nothing anywhere near fancy, but clean and comfortable with a large bathroom and an included breakfast in the morning. After 4:30pm we managed to find a parking spot on the street up the hill from the hotel, and with that job done we focussed on finding a local restaurant to have supper in. After a bit of research and wandering we stopped in at A Tasca which came highly recommended. I decided to get the seafood diet started and chose a seared tuna steak with a sesame crust, cooked rare with local vegetables, it was delicious. And since they grow pineapples locally, it was a treat of local pineapple cake for dessert. Excellent! By the time we finished up there was quite a line to get in, once again, get there early!

After another relaxing sleep and breakfast at the hotel we collected our hiking gear and headed out on the highway to the west of the island, to the town in the middle of a volcanic crater, Sete Cidades. Once there and ready to get hiking we got off on the wrong foot, literally, by going on the wrong trail. We noticed our mistake right away thankfully, so we turned back toward the car and headed further in the correct direction. But not really as once again the lack of signage got us in trouble and we headed down the wrong road/trail again. We got to the end, a 20 minute walk before realising our mistake, we had missed the fork in the road. So we walked back to the fork and finally started the hike!

Immediately the road went straight up, an average of 10% grade. It was a good thing it was at the start of the day! The grind up to the top of the crater rim was worth it though, the views were incredible, even as the clouds rolled over the island. The good thing about going uphill to the halfway point is the way back is downhill the whole way. At the steepest parts though, going downhill may have been harder than going up. After a few hours we made it back down to the car with aching legs, thankful the rain had held off.

We decided to treat ourselves to a coffee and a cookie at the local café Casa de Chá “O Poejo” on the way out of the village, a nice way to wind down. After a very foggy ride down to the highway we stopped into a grocery store to pick up a few things for lunch the next day, it’s always fun to go grocery shopping in other countries. It was time for supper after good day of hiking but by 7pm the restaurant we had in mind was already completely full. Again, get there early! Instead we headed back up the street to a local bar called Arco Da Velha where there was excellent beer and food to be had. The local Porter was one of the best I’ve ever had and the prawns in olive oil and garlic was incredible. It turned out to be a very good meal. We also met a couple from Niagara, Ontario who were also exploring the Azores and a young woman from the UK working in town as a tattoo artist and had lots of great things to say about Ponta Delgada. You meet such interesting people when you’re flexible enough to choose a place to eat at random or go in an unplanned direction.

We started out again the follwing day back toward the west of the island to do another scenic hike. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t in on our plans and by the time we made it up the hill to the trailhead the fog was so thick we could barely even see across the small parking area. What to do? We walked a few minutes to a 19th century aquaduct to get some photos but it was clear the weather wasn’t cooperating so we decided to head back into the city and explore there. There’s lots to explore in Ponta Delgada so this wasn’t a disappointment. We headed down to the city gate with its beautiful stone and tile plaza and wandered the car-free streets. We found out about an unusual pineapple plantation right in the city so we walked over there for a look around. The Plantação de Ananás dos Açores is a very interesting, small-scale pineapple plantation. Tours are available as well as a café and small store where you can pickup some pineapple products. I decided to pickup a bottle of the pineapple liqueur as a souveneir. Azorean pineapples are a little less sweet, paler, and take three years to grow to harvest which I had no idea about. Was definitely worth a visit!

After wandering the city all afternoon we worked up another large appetite and looked for a restaurant to settle down in. Most places are small and hard to get into, other places require reservations and fill up hours ahead. I can’t imagine how crazy it is during the highest tourism season. We found a nice restaurant called Terras with very expensive but excellent pizza. Not sure I’ve ever spent almost forty dollars on a pizza, but hey, good food costs money and it was quite good.

After our wallet-emptying pizzas we headed back to Arco Da Velha for a final drink or two. They had two locally-made stouts on the menu which we were happy to see. They were slightly different from each other and from the usual Irish stouts you normally get, a refreshing and welcome change from the usual. It was time again to repack the bags as the next day we’d be back in the air to fly even further west, to Flores.

Halfway back to Halifax, Flores#halfway-back-to-halifax,-flores

We got to the airport with lots of time to spare, and as it turns out, for not much reason as our flight was delayed twice. Before getting to the Azores we were advised to get to airports early because the weather can change quickly and flight times can change. We found nothing left early and most flights were either cancelled, delayed or diverted. Eventually though we arrived in Santa Cruz das Flores at the airport perched on the side of the island. It’s much, much less busy than Ponta Delgada as you might expect and the people are quite friendly. The woman who owned the apartment we rented even offered to come to the airport and drive us, even though it was only a quick walk. Now that’s welcoming! Our apartment was much too big for the two of us but we were quite happy to be somewhere with a nice kitchen, bathroom, large bedrooms, and a washing machine. Time to get the stink off some of those clothes!

We also walked over to the local grocery store to pick up some items for supper. I made prawns and bowtie pasta in a simple oil and garlic sauce, with a very nice bottle of wine that cost just 2.65 Euros. These wine prices — even on a small island in the middle of the ocean — compared to what we pay in Canada drove me crazy.

Flores doesn’t get quite the number of tourists as São Miguel so it was a nice change. We hadn’t rented a car on Flores as we’d only be there for not quite two days so we decided to explore Santa Cruz das Flores by foot. If you rented a car there is lots to see on the island, I definitely recommend that if you have the time. Walking around we felt like we might have been the only visitors to the island, it was very quiet and the town is easy to get around on foot.

We literally walked from one end of town to the other, from the narrow streets to the coastal road, stopping in to take in the incredible scenery. You can really see the volcanic nature of the island when you walk along the coast. All of it is black cooled lava, a beautiful contrast to the vibrant blues and greens of the ocean and vegetation. You also quickly realize everything is built with the black volcanic rock of the island, from the churches to the homes. You really are on the edge of the island, it’s so interesting to be in a town perched so close to the ocean, but in a different way than back home in Halifax. I live less than a block from the harbour in Halifax but it’s not the same as the wide panoramas of the ocean you get in Flores.

After hiking to the south end of the town you get to a point that overlooks the town looking north. You can also see the airport runway to the left of the photo above, that’s how crammed in things are! Luckily there aren’t too many flights and I don’t really remember being annoyed by the flights coming and going. Once again we stopped in to a small, local grocery store to pick up some local sausages and inexpensive wine for supper. After cleanup it was once again time to relax and repack our bags for our flights tomorrow to Terceira.

East again, to Terceira#east-again,-to-terceira

It was nice not to have to worry about getting to the airport on time in Flores, we walked and made it in 6 minutes. Love that! The airport is quite small as you might expect and the departure lounge is a small room with a bit of food and drink service available. Really feels like you’re way out on an island in small airports like that. The flight left mostly on time but as we got in the air we were told we would be diverting to Pico island instead of landing at Horta airport on Faial island on our way to Terceira island. So what did that mean? It meant we were put on a bus to the Pico ferry terminal in Madalena, then the airline paid for our ferry tickets over to Faial, a 30-minute trip.

Once we got to the ferry terminal we all thought there would be another bus to take us to the airport but no, no there was not. So we had to take a taxi the 15 minutes to the airport, and because there were so many of us we split a taxi with some young women. They didn’t really speak English and we don’t speak Portugese but we made it happen and soon we were at Horta airport running with our bags to get in line to checkin to our flight to Terceira. Yikes! There was some confusion as the agent thought we had already checked in our bags and had two more to check. We had to explain that we had to take our bags off our diverted flight and on to the ferry, then back to this airport. Crazy. Anyway, we got to see a little bit of another island of the Azores, even though it was a little more stressful and unplanned than it should have been. Unsurprisingly, our flight leaving was 2 hours behind schedule but eventually we were back in the air. A quick 25 minutes in the air and we were back on the ground again, this time on Terceira. We picked up our rental car and because it was late on a Sunday evening, there was no traffic and we found a spot to park right in front of the hotel.

We checked into our funky hotel, the Hotel Cruzeiro and headed straight back out again to get something to eat. This is when the late eating habits of Europeans comes in handy, there were plenty of places open to eat, even at 10:30pm, and we found a great place called Tasca Das Tias to settle into. We ordered more seafood, another bottle of wine and felt happy there were no more cars, busses, boats, or planes to deal with that day. It was one of the best meals of the trip so far, a very nice surprise. After a quick wander and a hike up the hill back to our hotel it was most certainly time to rest.

Terceira was my favourite island we visited. It just had the right vibe for me. It was quiet and chill like Flores but had more to see and do like São Miguel but without the crowds. After an excellent breakfast at the hotel we decided to do another hike, this time inland to get a feeling for the interior of the island as so much of it is coastal. We headed northeast from Angra do Heroísmo up to a hike called PRC08 TER - Relheiras de São Brás. This is part of the network of trails in the Azores, hence the name PRC08 TER, and wanders through beautiful Japanese Cedar forests, along a small stream with a little waterfall, and over local dirt roads next to farms. The trail also has some interpretive signs explaining the history of the area, and as you walk you can see the cart ruts worn into the volcanic rock.

We stopped into São Sebastião on the way back to town and wander the streets, stopping into a beautiful old church, built in 1526, where they were restoring the frescoes that had been covered in plaster. We then did another fairly easy hike that started in the town square and headed down to the coast through the fields toward ruins of a defensive fort perched on the cliffs. It was a nice walk down to the coast but that meant the entire walk back to the car was uphill. Oh well, we definitely earned our wine that night.

Continuing the seafood theme we headed to the excellent Captain’s Table for supper where there were three catches-of-the-day to choose from, so I chose the Barracuda as that’s something I had never had before and it’s not something I’ve seen at home. It has a white, dense, meaty flesh and was cooked to perfection. And since we were in the middle islands of the Azores we took the last bottle of a “local” wine from Pico to go with our meal, it was a light red that didn’t overpower the excellent fish. To start the whole meal off we began with squid and shrimp ceviche, something I hadn’t had in quite a while and done in a way I had never had before. Then for dessert, a cheesecake made from the local cheese, what a treat! It was light and creamy, not a surprise when the local cows are so happy.

Once again it was time to get repacked for yet another flight, this time back to São Miguel for our last day in the Azores. Before that though we had a chance to explore the city both at night and the following day before we headed east again. There aren’t too many tourists at this time of year making it very quiet when walking around, especially in the evening. The dark volcanic cobblestone streets contrasting with the colourfully painted buildings show the history and personality of the town.

As usual there is plenty of opportunity to stop during a wander for a coffee and to sample yet another pastel de nata, the local café’s and bakeries do a fantastic job and can get busy with locals and tourists alike. I lost count of the number of custard tarts I ate but never felt it was too many after walking so many kilometres.

I was sad to have to leave Terceira, it was definitely my favourite island, but it was time to head back to the airport, return our rental car and get ready for our next flight that again hovered between being on-time and an hour late. We stopped off for a final meal of cooked prawns and Coke on the way, a chance to get our hands absolutely filthy and our stomachs stuffed before getting on another plane. I still miss the seafood, especially in the style it’s prepared and the relatively inexpensive price. Definitely not something we get at home in Halifax if you’re in a restaurant.

Almost two hours late again but we made it up into the air toward Ponta Delgada in our little Q200 Dash 8 plane. After a quick 40-minute flight we collected our bags — second and third off the plane! — then outside to a cab that whisked us to our hotel, the Hotel Alcides, in no time at all. We had planned on going out for one last drink in the Azores but were far too tired for it. It wasn’t long before we were in our beds and asleep after another day of travel ordeals.

Our included breakfast at the hotel was excellent and was very welcome, and miracle of miracles, our flight to Lisbon actually left a few minutes early. After just over 2 hours we were back on the mainland in Lisbon, glad to be flying on jets again for the rest of the trip.

Finishing up in Lisbon#finishing-up-in-lisbon

We got on the crowded metro for the ride to our hotel in the Avenida neighbourhood, Safira. It’s hard to believe this was the last stop on a whirlwind tour of Lisbon and the Azores. We were lucky to have had a great burger place across the street, GB Concept | Green Burger, where we could enjoy a simple meal and another great beer, this time an oatmeal stout made locally. The next morning our flight back to Montreal was, yes you guessed it, delayed, over an hour. Good thing we had a buffer between Montreal and Halifax. The great thing about having a Nexus card and being a trusted traveller is you get to breeze through passport control when getting back to Canada. It might have been two minutes before we were through and heading to the airport bar for a drink before boarding.

The flight to Halifax was on time, thank you air travel gods, the flight was smooth, and the Halifax Transit bus arrived on time to take us downtown. After the 48 minutes on the bus and a ten-minute walk I was home again. Whew!

The Azores are beautiful but the air travel is a little exhausting to be honest. We spent quite a bit of time over the trip looking at the Azores Airlines website to check on flight status. It’s not the most fun way to travel but it’s understandable when you’re so far out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Plus it’s part of the adventure right? I walked 118 kilometres in the 12 days I was away, saw incredible sights, ate incredible food, drank incredible beer and wine. I feel very lucky to have been able to go on this trip but I think I’m going to need a rest before the next one!