Ponta Delgada, Portugal

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I set the alarm for 7am but of course Ken is up at 5:30 waking me up asking me 'what time is it'. 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 in a candy store excited about our adventure today. I get up at 7 and he brings me a latte and an almond croissant...trying for redemption! We have arrived in Porta Delgado and it is beautiful. He even called Bobbie and Annie and made sure they were up. He woke them! As we were watching the people get off the ship, 2 ambulances drove up to the ship and pulled out stretchers. The security officer is there. We know this because Annie and Bobbie went to a seminar on board and the security officer spoke; he is a former CIA agent. We wonder if someone has fallen off the perch (as Annie would say). We can't wait around to see what happens so we head upstairs for breakfast. I look at the time and hurry downstairs to take a quick shower. We knock on Annie's door and we all head down to our meeting place for our jeep ride. There are around 7 jeeps waiting. There is a lady instructing people which jeep to go to. She asks me how many we have in our party (4) and then she tells me which jeep to go to. I'm hoping no one else is in the jeep. I have to say there are a lot of extremely elderly people on this cruise and many of them stink. Please, someone tell me if I get old and don't take a shower or wash my hair. Just take a shower!! There are also a lot of fat people. As I arrive at our jeep, this fat lady with a large spongy nose (not sure what causes this) was about to get in our jeep. I said (and anyone who knows me won't be surprised), excuse me, you have to see the lady over there; she will tell you what jeep to get in. With that she left and Kenny jumped in the front; me, Annie and Bobbie in the backseat. So happy it's just the four of us. Our driver/guide: Andre introduced himself and we were off. Andre is a native Azorian, 27 years old. We drove about 30 minutes up the mountain through very lush green hills, with azaleas blooming everywhere. We stopped at the two lakes, one green, one blue. The smaller one is green because it reflects the greenery surrounding it. The larger one is blue because of it's size, it reflects the sky. We stopped in the town of Sete Cidalis. We went to a local cafe; Ken got a local beer: Especial, Bobbie and I got lattes-very good. We continue our trek through dirt roads, down to the shores of the lakes. We see a lot of cattle a long the way. Dairy cows, one of the largest industries here. Andre shows us a tunnel that was built to manage the depth of the lakes to prevent flooding. It dumps in to the ocean. Annie and I walked partially in the tunnel so I can get a picture. This man (from another jeep), squeezes past me in the tunnel and asks Annie if she is going to walk all the way through??? Really??? As he squeezes past me he nudges me in to the side of the tunnel. As I'm walking out of the tunnel, I notice greenish brown gunk under three of my fingernails and some more gunk on the front of my pants. I said to Ken, what is this? He said, I don't know but you have it in your hair and on your butt too! Of course I have wipes with me, so he helps me wipe it off. I'm shocked how much is in my hair. It's green and yucky. When we get back to the jeep, I ask Annie to check my hair and she gets a lot more out of my hair. Ugh! I try to ignore it because we are in a very beautiful place. Andre takes us to several more lakes. We are high in the mountains, amongst the clouds, but lucky that the sun appears to allow us to see the beauty. Annie and I have to pee and Andre tells us there is no place except the bushes and he will find us a place. He did and it was such a heavenly looking forest with ferns and mist everywhere, I took a picture. Andre told us that unemployment is around 15-16%, it is a 'social' society where everything is provided if you need it (and he said many of the unemployed and those on assistance like it that way). Income tax is about 18% (I assume a flat tax rate?). Socialized healthcare for all; he said it is free (not really). A friend of his that graduated from college with an engineering degree just got a job making $2000/month and that is very, very good. The most that he will be able to make here. He said life is simple here and most don't aspire to achieve much beyond what they need to survive. We headed back down to town and he dropped us off at the ship. Andre had told us there was a weeklong 'Festival' beginning today; something honoring Christ. He pointed us in the direction and said we did not want to miss it. We walked and walked and finally came to a little square with a church at the end. There were about 10 hot dog stands with popcorn, soda and candy. No beer stands, no other food items. There was a merry-go-round and many booths with cheap, little plastic toys that you may see at Walgreens. No music. Kind of a sad festival really. There were 2 ladies in the cobblestone street (it was roped off) on there hands and knees. It appeared they were looking for something; kind as if they had lost a contact lens, which would be futile if that was the case. I think Ken was considering asking them if they needed help....and we realized they were walking on their knees, praying, going to the church ; obviously some tradition because we saw others doing it too. We were starving but couldn't find any place to eat. Yes, Annie and I were being picky; the town was a direct contrast to the places we had seen earlier in the day. It was very dirty and sad looking. The smells were not so good. Ken and Bobbie got a beer and decided to have another at a bar outside the ship pier so Annie and I boarded the ship to eat a late lunch. As we were sitting there finishing our lunch, we looked at a clock and it said 4:10 pm. You had to be back on board at 4:30! We looked out at the pier and we can see Ken and Bobbie still sitting at the outside table. It's pretty far away but we can see Bobbie's white hair. Now we are worried they have forgotten about the time and won't get on in time. We are about to head down to get off the ship and get them, when the server asks us if we need anything. We tell her what is going on and she informs us the clock on the wall is an hour behind, we relax a bit but still watch them to make sure they are leaving on time. They arrived with 45 minutes to spare and laugh at our concern. They are starving so they went to get a quick bite to eat. I took a shower to get the green yuck from my hair. We decide not to go to the formal dinner tonightsince we ate a late lunch. We sat on the balcony with a little wine for me, to watch our departure from Portugal. There was a F476 battleship near our ship. Suddenly fireworks went off from the ship as well as a 21 gun salute. We weren't sure if they were bidding us farewell or if it was part of their Festival. We decided to go to the Lido deck for a light dinner. Afterwards Ken and I took a walk around the ship on the outside deck 7. As we were walking, we saw many dolphins near the ship and further out saw 2 whale blow holes numerous times. It was a great ending to a wonderful day.



*****Ponta Delgado is a city on the island of San Miguel, which is part of the Azores, a chain of islands which is part of Portugal. The islands are the tops of undersea volcanos. They are very fertile with an abundance of flowers and natural vegetation. Azaleas are blooming everywhere. In June and July Hydrangeas are in bloom. The rich volcanic soil sustains tobacco, tea, vineyards and pineapples. The island is only 80 sq miles, population 64,516, settled in 1450 by Peo de Teive who established a small fishing village. Elevation is from sea level to 2,497 ft. An extinct volcano area holds two lakes-one blue, one green separated by a narrow strip of lava. The last eruption was 500 years ago so I feel pretty safe. The climate is subtropical, shaped by the Gulf Stream which allows only a small variation in temperatures: 52-77 degrees year-round. Nice! The islands provided exports of fruit and wine and made the settlers rich as the great voyages of discovery made the Azores a stopping place on the way to America. The islands also provided valuable air and naval stations to the Allies in both World Wars and continue to do so for the NATO alliance

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