Day #3 Azores

Day #3 - we had breakfast in the hotel (it was really good), then just enjoyed our harbor view from our balcony.  We debated about renting a car to go hiking, but we were having so much fun just enjoying the view, we didn't.  We eventually went to the hotel pool and gym and did a nice long workout.  I wanted to swim in the ocean pool, but it was just too cold, so we enjoyed the 80 degree hotel pool instead.

 Later in the day, we headed to a coffee shop for a pastry and espresso.  There was a short intense rain shower, but it didn't stop us!

 Then we tried an Italian place for dinner.  Great atmosphere!  It was nice just having a chill day.

Azores Day #2

 Day 2 started off slow - we slept in, ahhh, then got our espresso, then jumped on the yellow bus for another day of touring.  And look at the sights - wow, just amazing!  There were a lot of good well marked hiking trails

 Today we saw more sun than clouds, so it felt a lot warmer even though the temps were still in the 60's

 Loved all these hiking trails - another amazing view after another!

 The island is large (over 700 km), but still small enough that you can see the ocean from every vista

 It's hard to tell the sky from the ocean!

 For lunch, we stopped in 7 cities - a quaint village in the crater of a volcano

 Then we headed back to Ponta Delgada

 More amazing views of other villages on the way

 Just as we were disembarking from the bus, Chris says - there's Moonshadow.  I'm like 'what?'  He says Moonshadow is just pulling into the harbor!  We are about a half mile from the harbor (we zoomed way in for the photo above).  I can't believe he recognizes a sailboat from our yacht club!  We knew that they were sailing to the Azores (via Florida and Bermuda), and we knew that they would be in the Azores around the middle or end of June, but we never really expected to see them.  But we did!!  (Good thing Chris saw them pulling into their slip because they were on the outer part of the marina and we wouldn't have noticed them after they were docked)

 So we hustled over to the marina and welcomed John & Jil  (and their daughter Lauren) to the Azores!!  They had actually just done an overnight from Faial (another island in the Azores) where they first landed from their 11 day trip from Bermuda.  These 2 are definitely using their sailboat!!

We let John & Jil settle in and we headed to dinner.  A great restaurant Singular - yum!  More fresh Tuna!

 Then we walked back to the hotel and enjoyed some live music at a street party.

Visiting the Azores - Day 1!

 And we're off!  Spending a few days on San Miguel island - part of the Azores.  We had to walk across the tarmac to the plane at Boston Logan - interesting start to our trip!  (and the same in Ponta Delgada)

 It was an overnight flight - only 5 hours, and we landed in Ponta Delgada at 6 am.  Our room wasn't available until 3 pm, so we headed out for some much needed coffee!  We already loved the narrow streets, cobblestone streets, and tiled sidewalks (and buildings)

 The flight wasn't really long enough to get much sleep, so we were a little fuzzy most of the day.  Their coffee though- excellent!  It was cloudy and the temps were in the 60's, so a pretty good day for walking.

 Our hotel!  We had a ocean view room with a balcony - loved it!

 The harbor & marina- across the street from our hotel  (all encompassing - a working harbor; a pier with restaurants, a marina, an ocean swimming pool, a water park....)

 A lot of sailboats make their way across the ocean and stop here.  Many leave notes of their journey

Many beautiful buildings and squares

 We happened to notice a yellow bus (offer tours), so we signed up for a 2 day pass (before we fell asleep).  Best idea - they take us up a couple volcanoes, so the views are incredible!

 One stop were the hot springs.  We didn't know about these (I did zero research for our trip) or we would have brought our bathing suits - a lot of people were enjoying the natural hot tubs.

 Beautiful area

 This spring was too hot for soaking - it was boiling - wow!

 Back on the bus and enjoying the beautiful views

 We were in love!

At 4:00, we headed back to the hotel to check in.   Chris told the hotel that it was our anniversary - so they treated us with rose petals all through out the room (and that night, they brought us delicious chocolate cake and champagne!)

 View from our balcony -to the left:  the water park, and a small marina

 across from our room - the ocean swimming pool; the working harbor  (to the right was the main marina)  We loved this view:  watching the kids play in the water park, seeing the crazy old guys soak in the ocean pool (temp was in the low 60's brrr!), watching the sailboats come into the marina; and watching the large ships offload their merchandise.  It was always busy and so much to see.

 We headed to the marina for dinner

 Some sangria with fresh Tuna for dinner!  Then back to the hotel & our balcony for fun viewing :)  We lasted until 9 pm, then finally called it a night.   An amazing Day #1!