Blogs from Azores, Portugal, Europe - page 2

Our flight left Boston this morning at 7 AM so we were waiting for the shuttle at 4 AM. Jet Blue has a great system at the airport with tons of kiosks for self check-in. If you have bags (like we did) you attach the labels and proceed to the bag drop where they scan everything and send them on their way. Everything went quickly and there were no issues. The security line was rather long and both our backpacks had to be inspected, but that's why I like to get to the airport early! Our plane left early and got to O'Hare in a quick 2 hours. I think we landed at the farthest spot possible as we spent a good 20 minutes or more taxing to the gate. Luckily we were at one of ... read more

Today was our last full day on Terceira. It's hard to believe our week is almost over! The weather looked like it was going to be perfect, mid-60s and sunny. We planned to walk around Angra, hopefully see inside some churches, do some shopping and eat. As most places don't open until 10, we ate a slightly later breakfast and sat on the balcony until heading out. We started our morning at a little store tucked away along the sea wall that sells handmade embroidery and other made in the Azores items. I was lucky and found a cute little hand carved nativity set to add to my collection! From here we walked down to the Misericordia Church, hoping it would be open this time. Luckily it was and we were able to get a short ... read more

Side note, last night we went out to dinner for the first time! The other days we ate late lunches and were too tired to wait for dinner. Last night we walked into town and found a small cafe that was serving even though it was only 5:30. I had a really good salad with chicken and cheese and Mom had a beef sandwich. According to my weather page, today was going to be cloudy in the morning and then rainy starting at 1 PM. We decided to try visiting some sights and if it started raining, we would just head back to the hotel. Our first stop was the Furnas do Enxofre, a protected geological area where you get the reminder that you are on a volcanic island. The drive here was really pretty. It ... read more

After yesterday's climbing, I was ready to spend the day taking it easy by exploring Angra. However, it's hard do do that when the city is hilly and you want to visit the good spots! We started the day with another good breakfast. Today I sampled the local cheeses (MMMMM!!), a local cake (not so good) and a local English (or Portuguese) muffin with some pineapple jam. I also had fruit, a doughnut, some tea and juice. I love breakfast buffets at hotels and this hotel has a pretty good one with lots of options to choose from. Fortified, we set out for our day. I had checked the weather and it showed sunny and 64 so I left my sweatshirt at home and brought my lightweight rain coat just in case. First stop was the ... read more

The Azores make for a great European destination due to the short 4 hour flight from Boston. However, you first have to get to Boston if you don't already live there. My mom and I chose a 4:30 PM Jet Blue flight out of O'Hare. As our travel date approached, so did a bomb cyclone and I waited nervously to see if the latest round of snow would be out of Boston before we arrived. Luckily for us, the storm came and went on Tuesday and our flight was not cancelled or delayed. Jet Blue no longer has free bag check, but they still provide ample leg room, free gate check if the flight is full (lucky for us ours was!) and free snacks. This flight was uneventful and we arrived in Boston on time with ... read more