Blogs from Azores, Portugal, Europe
April 4th 2012
Hello all – it’s been a while – we had Ports of call all close together therefore no time to write anything and followed by 6 days crossing the Atlantic. It is now Day 5 of the crossing with just Tuesday to go before arriving in the Azores on Wednesday – and it will be great to hit land again. As I wrote at the end of the last one we attended the cocktails where once again after entering the fray for a couple of free drinks we were invited to leave after a mere 25 minutes but we did admirably, claiming all available passing full glasses on the way out! We arrived in Key West on the morning of the 25th with yet more fabulous weather and headed on foot up Canal Street, which is ... read more
Lisbon and the Azores, unexpected gems of Europe
Published: September 20th 2011Europe » Portugal » Azores » Flores
September 20th 2011
Just a quick update. I am having a great trip here in Europe. My first few days in Lisbon were amazing. I really liked it there and saw all sorts of amazing things. Beautiful, fun, interesting city. Three days did not do it justice. I even went to a Manchester United futball game (was the biggest game in Lisbon for the year). The conference in the Azores is also going very well. It is amazing to be with some many brilliant minds. I am learning so much from them and making great contacts. I already gave my talk and it went well, but there is a lot of suggestions that I got that I think will be very helpful. I don't want to waste too much time typing and not enjoying my short time here so ... read more
June 11th 2011
INTRO You are not Portuguese? You don’t have family here? Then why did you come to visit the Azores? My wife and I heard some variation of this line of questioning more than once during our recently completed ten day trip to the Azores archipelago. A large number of people have emigrated from the Azores to the United States, primarily Massachusetts, so that today there are approximately three times as many Azoreans in the U.S. as there are in the Azores. So, while tourists from Germany, The UK and Scandinavia are common in the Azores, American tourists who are not visiting family, or not travelling with a group, tend to be few and far between. WHAT & WHERE ARE THE AZORES? The Azores archipelago is the westernmost part of Europe. It is approximately two-thirds of the ... read more
April 2nd 2011
Leider hat uns das Wetter hier in den Azoren nicht so verwoehnt und wir hatten viel Nebel und auch ein paar verregnete Tage. Trotzdem hab ich die Bessie-Ellen fuer eine zweitaegige Trekking-Tour um den Krater auf San Miguel verlassen. Nach einer gemuetlichen Nacht in einem 5-Meter Mini-Krater habe ich den zweiten Tag allerdings groesstenteils im Nebel verbracht. Danach sind wir nach zwei ruppigen Segel-Tagen und Naechten mit bis zu 50 Knoten Wind in Horta auf Faial angekommen, dem wichtigsten Hafen der Azoren. Nach einer feuchtfroehlichen Nacht im weltberuehmten Peters Café hatte ich auch schon eine Mitfahrgelegenheit nach Europa. Nach 2 gemuetlichen Naechten bei Silvia und ih (alles Meeresbiologen) habe ich schon viele Leute hier in dieser kleinen Stadt kennengelernt, und die meisten Bars. Es gefaellt mir hier, die Leute sind sehr freundlich und alles ist so ... read more
March 23rd 2011
Nach einem eher unfreiwilligen Bus-Trip einmal Rund um La Palma, bei dem ich noch einige schoene Gegenden dieser farbenpraechtigen und facettenreichen Insel bewundern konnte, bin ich vor einer Woche in Santa Cruz de Tenerife wieder an Bord der Bessie-Ellen gegangen. Die war meist sehr gemuetlich und entspannt. Wir hatten selten mehr als 5 Beaufort Wind, dafuer aber auch fast nie keinen und konnten deshalb fast die ganzen 750 Meilen unter Segel zuruecklegen. Trotz wenig Wind hatten wir manchmal starken Seegang und auf Vorwindkurs bei wenig Wind hat die Bessie-Ellen trotz ihrer Groesse ziemlich geschaukelt. Trotzdem wurde ich gluecklicherweise nie Seekrank und konnte die Ueberfahrt in vollen zuegen geniessen. Mit drei Wach-Teams bekam man immer genug Schlaf und ich hatte sogar noch viel Zeit zum Faulenzen und Lesen (hab jetzt die Bibel endlich fertig :-) Wunderschoene Sonnen- ... read more
March 20th 2011
Yesterday we were in the Azores after almost a week at sea. We've had some pretty rough seas almost every day, with Force 7 - 9 winds, so the ship has been bouncing around quite a bit. Of course, this is to be expected since it is the North Atlantic and March. Ponta Delgada, Azores, was beautiful. From the moment we looked out the cabin window in the morning, it was obvious we were in a Portugese port. Every building was black and white. We had a tour in the morning which took us to the west end of the island where we saw the two lakes in the volcanic cauldron at Sete Cidades. Although it was a cloudy day, we were lucky that it was clear enough while we were there that we could admire ... read more
January 6th 2011
Force 8 Well here we are enjoying our first full day at sea. I would have taken a nice picture from the deck but at the moment no-one is allowed out there! Captain has just announced that we are in force 8 and should expect a few more hours of “interesting” weather. He assured us that all the creaking was normal and not to worry about all the loud crashing sounds as they just sound louder at night that they really are! That's reassuring then eh? It's at times like this that our choice of a cabin midship and about halfway down has proven to be a wise choice. We met up with Debbie, the wedding planner today and sorted out a few more details. She is very excited as it seems we are the only ... read more
Graciosa - enchanting island, 50 cent expresso.
Published: September 17th 2010Europe » Portugal » Azores » Graciosa
September 17th 2010
Graciosa is indeed an enchanting and graceful island, where the pace of life is slow. It is only 10 x 7 km with a population of around 4000, but it is full of ex residents returning for a holiday. It is known for the well constructed dry walls, its beautiful biosphere and for having free Wifi and 2 ponds in the main square. No mosquitos no polution, and no vermin. The entertainment is provided by crazy birds called shearwaters which screach and fly after dark. The locals copied this irritating sound and created an irritating ringtone for cell phones. Driving the twisting roads between the walls and houses dodging the cars parking in the middle of the street is disconcerting at first. Donkey carts, cows and mini tractors share those roads with huge backhoe transports. The ... read more
May 13th 2009
I was ecstatic that Portugal was the warmest place of all our port stops. Unfortunately our time at these places was brief so the blog is mostly about the pictures and not so much on profound experiences I've had with this country. Sao Miguel, Azores The island of Sao Miguel was our first port stop and break from crossing the Atlantic. Ponta Delgada was a cute town with black and white mosaic cobblestone streets. I can understand now where the black and white style of the Serenado Square in Macau came from. It was a quick coach bus tour of the island checking out the Lagoa das Furnas, countryside and the town of Ribeira Grande. I did notice a lot of cows and pastures everywhere. The climate is moderate enough to maintain pastures all year around ... read more
