http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Portugal , Azores en-us Mon, 20 May 2013 11:48:07 +0000 Mon, 20 May 2013 11:48:07 +0000 I set the alarm for 7am but of course Ken is up at 530 waking me up asking me 39what time is it39. Oh my gosh if it was time to get up the alarm would go off. He later explains that he heard a helicopter thus we must be close to land. Our arrival was supposed to be 8am so he was worried we overslept. He tosses and turns for the next hour and a half stealing a good sleep. He is like a kid http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/S-o-Miguel/Ponta-Delgada/blog-784244.html Went to breakfast and then met the gang and went shore. Four of us Roxie Pat Kenny and I hired a taxi to take us to the crater lakes. Absolutely beautiful island. Everything is sooo green and in multishades of green. Cows in the pasture. The island is the top of an undersea volcano and we went to the top and saw water all around us going up and down the mountains. First warm sunny day we hav http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/S-o-Miguel/blog-754954.html Just before we left Sao Miguel we were strolling on the walkway near the marina at Ponta Delgada and all of a sudden the sky became enflamed and luckily we had our trusty camera with us. It seemed that every couple of seconds the sky kept changing and as a result we took numerous photos to try to capture some of it. As we had so many photos that appeared to be quite good we recruited some help fro http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/S-o-Miguel/blog-748060.html September 17 September 25 2012note I have included many collages to include more photos if you can not see them click on the photo to make them largerYes we had said that Sao Miguel would be the last island in the Azores we would visit before going to the mainland but tropical storm Nadine had other plans. Earlier in August hurricane Gordon came through when we were in Terceira. The ma http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/Santa-Maria/blog-747950.html It appears that we now have a weather window to make our crossing from the island of Santa Maria in the Azores to mainland Portugal. Our plan is to leave tomorrow AM Tuesday 925 which will get us to land 6 days later October 1st if the weather stays as planned It should be nice for the evening hours as the full moon is September 29th. We will be heading to Lagos on the southern coast where http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/Santa-Maria/blog-745573.html Ah the joys of sailing The last blog entry stated that we thought we would leave for Santa Maria on September 16th. Instead we set off at 7AM on the 17th the winds were predicted to be better. It turned out to be not bad we had enough wind to sail the 10 hours arriving in Vila do Porto at 5PM. The ride was rolly because the wind was directly behind us and the waves were hitting us on the be http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/S-o-Miguel/Ponta-Delgada/blog-744506.html september 5 1216pmltbr stylecolor 000000 fontfamily arial helvetica clean sansserif fontsize 13px lineheight 15px gtltbr stylecolor 000000 fontfamily arial helvetica clean sansserif fontsize 13px lineheight 15px gtIm finally leaving the Aores. I almost cant believe it. Im so ready to leave but at the same time I know Im leaving a piece http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/Velas/blog-743600.html Hike PR4SMI Mata do Canario Sete Cidades Sao MiguelWe had a beautiful sunny day on September 4th so planned a day of hiking around Sete Citades. We caught the 825AM bus from Ponta Delgada 3.36 europerson each way to the village of Sete Cidades. The almost one hour ride on a luxury bus gave us a chance to see the south eastern side of the island. In talking to the information bureau the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/S-o-Miguel/Ponta-Delgada/blog-742508.html Sao Miguel is the largest and most populated of the nine Azores islands. The marina is in the city of Ponta Delgada which is also where the cruise ships come to therefore they are definitely accustom to tourists. Fortunately for us we have not seen any cruise ships in port as it must be out of season here. We just found out the other night that the cruise ships only stop in November and April http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/S-o-Miguel/Ponta-Delgada/blog-741146.html We had an enjoyable sail however rainy in the beginning from Sao Jorge to Terceira in the company of two other boats Takari and Caitlin of Argyll that we have gotten to know while in the Azores. This gave us yet another opportunity to have some photo sessions while sailing. The island of Terceira which means third in Portuguese was the third Azorean island to be discovered and is the third http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/Terceira/blog-737826.html October 2008We arrived in Ponta Delgada as the last European port on our Mediterranean cruise aboard the Princess ship Emerald Princess. Ponta Delgada is a city on the island of Sao Miguel an archipelago of the Azores an autonomous region of Portugal.Our destination was Crater Lakes. When we boarded our bus there was heavy fog in the mountains. We made our way out of town toward the western part http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/S-o-Miguel/blog-737390.html The sail from Faial to Sao Jorge was a pleasant 4 hour crossing. When we called the harbor master on the VHF we were told there was no room in the inn but that we could tie up to the reception area a high concrete wall. As we approached the wall the harbor master Jos met us to help with the lines and a hello and welcome to paradise. The good news is he wasnt exaggerating. Unfortun http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/Velas/blog-736571.html We know we owe you a blog entry or two but we have been keeping busy. We are no longer on the island of Faial as we left there July 31st and sailed to the island of Sao Jorge. We spent a busy week on Sao Jorge and on August 7thwe had a great 10 hour sail to the island of Terceira with 2 other boats. To catch you up to date we will split up the blog entry. We will first finish up with the last coup http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/Faial-/blog-735768.html If youre a real backpacker used to traveling on a tight budget Portugal is the best destination for you to go in the summer especially July and August. Youll be amazed at what this tiny country on the very west corner of Europe has to offer. Portugal has a fascinating historic past which you see present in every monument every building every street corner. Moreover you can find all http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/Velas/blog-734508.html From Faial the island of Pico is only 4.5 miles away. The ferry ride to Pico only cost 6.80 euro 8.34 round trip so we decided that was the easiest way to get there. Pico is 22.7 miles long and 8 miles wide and boosts Pico Mountain the highest elevation in Portugal with a height of 2351 meters 7713 ft..On Sunday the 22nd we took the 9AM ferry for the ride over to the village of Madalena on P http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/Pico/blog-732988.html The Azores Archipelago is made up of 9 islands. When we first planned our trip to the Azores we had hoped to visit all of them but as we took 3 weeks to explore Flores and we have already been in Faial for over a week we are sure we wont be able to get to them all. They are divided into 3 general areas the western area consists of Flores and Corvo the central group is made up of Faial Pi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/Faial-/blog-731635.html Ferforje ile retilen kap modelleri hem olduka dayankl hemde son derece antik bir grntye sahip olduklar iin mekanlarnzn d ve i grnmn ok daha estetik bir hale sokacaktr.Ahap rnleri ile retilen kaplar bir sre sonra kararma ve tahri olmas gibi istenmedik durumlar ortaya koyabiliyorlar. Bu grntde mekanlarnn grnmn son dere http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/S-o-Miguel/Furnas/blog-731343.html We find the days go by so quickly and it is now the weekend of the Festival of Emigrants. We had great plans of going to Santa Cruz by bus doing a few more hikes and getting lots done on the boat with this extra week Janices plan. We did do one more hike which was spectacular we met some new people that have arrived in the marina lots of socializing worked some on the boat you already h http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/Flores/blog-730345.html For any of you that know us you have heard the story about how Friday the 13th is considered a lucky day for us. For those of you that havent heard in 1973 we both felt that July 13th a Friday was a lucky day as that was when we got engaged and have always considered any Friday the 13tha good day and even better if it was in July.Well what about July 13 2012 also a Friday Today is not s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/Flores/blog-730114.html The island of Flores is the fourth smallest island of the Azores archipelago and has only about four thousand inhabitants making it the second least populated. We feel very fortunate to have made our first landfall in Europe on this island. Traditionally the island of Faial city of Horta is where most sailors make their European landfall. However last year a new marina was opened on Flores which http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/Flores/blog-728205.html