June 7, 2016 - Tanya's in the Azores and More - Day 19 - São Miguel, Portugal

Elisa's Daily Scoop

Mosteiros, São Miguel

Happy Tuesday!!

How was your Monday?  I had a great start of the week!  First of all, the weather was incredible!  Clear skies, sunny and very warm.

Secondly, I was very productive and got lots accomplished.  I had to get a bunch of party supplies for our Girl Scout end of year party on Wednesday, hit the post office, get guest passes to the community pool, book drop offs at the library, make an appointment at the orthodontist for Gianna (whose braces broke over the weekend) and even managed to straighten all the bedrooms.  Whew!!!

​As for today, I'll be leaving early with Kelsey's class for their field trip to the Garves Point Museum and Preserve.  

The kids  will participate in a hands-in, hands on investigation of the beach tidewater environment.  They are going to be allowed to wade into the tidal waters to explore common beach ecosystem inhabitants.  

It should be fun!! Tell you more about it tomorrow!

Today is Tanya's last in the Azores and she will be headed back to the States to Boston and then back home to SoCal.

Yesterday, she visited the fishing village of Mosteiros, where she enjoyed lunch with the gang.

Let's take a closer look at this town in São Miguel...

16 Fun Facts about Mosteiros, São Miguel, Portugal

1. Mosteiros, (Ponta Delgada) is located in the northwestern part of the island of São Miguel, in the Azores.

2. The town is connected by the Estrada Regional 1-1ª roadway to Ponta Delgada in the southeast and Ribeira Grande in the northeast. 

3. This part of the island was first settled in 1470. 

4. The word Mosteiros, meaning monastery in Portuguese and was named for these islets as the largest of these islets is shaped like a church.

5. The community of Mosteiros was built on ancestral fishing for many years, even as its territory was cultivated by farmers.

6. Agriculture dominates in the interior, with herding of dairy cattle and the cultivation of some fruits and vegetables.

7. The picturesque fishing harbor as well as the natural pools, known as Pit Stone, are the main attractions of the parish.

8. The main village is located on a fajã at the tip of the island, surrounded by coastal cliffs that reach 66 feet.

9. The development of the community has been highlighted by the construction of two triatos or impérios, associated with Cult of the Holy Spirit: the Impéro da Grota (located in the garden near the main Church) and the Império das Lombas (raised over the old structure).
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10. Just along the coast from the beach at Mosteiros, are natural rock pools. They are large enough and deep enough to swim in and there are quite a few.

11. The waves wash in, creating mini whirl pools, but the rocky lip of the pools keeps you safely inside the pool and prevents you being washed out to sea.

12. Within the village of Mosteiros one can enjoy the black sandy beach.
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13. Hotel Monte Palace was build in the 1980’s on the crater rim of a volcano on the Azores in the middle of the Atlantic. 

14. The Hotel closed almost before it got started and it has now been abandoned for more than 25 years and is affectionately called the Ghost Hotel

15. The Hotel's viewpoint is covered in clouds most of the time - more than 200 days out of the year, so most guests do not find that inviting.   

16. The population of Mosteiros in 2011 was 1,123, in an area of 3.46 square miles.

I was going to talk with you today about Georgia, Europe and Croatia but I'll save it for another day since I wanted to coordinate with Tanya's Scoop about Mosteiros! 

Well, I'm on my way folks - toodles!

-E
xoxo

Tanya's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: SÃO MIGUEL

São Miguel a day in the clouds

Well hello there folks!

Today is our last (and partial) day here in the Azores, and then we'll be heading back to the USA and we'll be finding ourselves in Boston until tomorrow, when we finally head home on the 20th day of our trip.

As I've mentioned in the past, Boston is one of the only cities in the states that has direct flights to these magical Azorean Islands.
And rightfully so, as there is a large population of Azorean people living in Boston (especially from São Miguel), as well as in Toronto, and also up around Oakland and San Jose in California (especially those hailing from Terceria).  

It's been a cloudy/raining couple of days over here, with the rain really coming down throughout the night - I'm loving every second of it! ​

However it certainly doesn't make for the best conditions when standing atop a vista in hopes of looking out at what you know to be a gorgeous view and instead you're standing in a cloud!

And that is exactly what part of our highly anticipated mountain bike ride from rim to lake at Sete Cidades was like.

Luckily Dave and I had already been there and saw the amazing view - but we were eager to see it again and wanted to show the kiddos - the weather had other things in mind.
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​So you know what that means - it means we have to come back...but was there any question regardless?!

In fact as we were riding with Rafael, a guide from 
Rent-a-Bike Azores he was shocked to find out that this was our second visit to this island.

It seems he prefers to vacation to a new location for each of his holidays and I suppose he has yet to come across many repeat visitors to São Miguel.
Well we just love it, as I explained and we have no plans to stop returning!
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The bike ride was great...with the exception that Cosette took a spill early on, got a bit of road burn, and ripped up her rain jacket in the process.
She was a trooper, although fully admits that she does NOT like mountain biking - it's not her thing!

Dominic on the other hand seemed to really enjoy himself (this only being his 2nd time mountain biking - the first was in Moab 2014). Dave was in mountain biking heaven and I had to stop and take a picture of almost every cow I saw! 

After several hours out and about wandering around on the bikes, it was time to call it a day and bid our thanks and good byes to Rafael, who really did show us a great time.
And then continue on our way over to the little fishing village of Mosteiros. This was our lunch stop last year and we had enjoyed the views so much that we chose to eat lunch there once again yesterday.
Check out Elisa's side for 16 Fun Facts about Mosteiros.

The weather and the sky was still not particularly cooperating for any good pictures, but we still enjoyed seeing the islets, as well as seeing the tide come in over the natural pools and lava rocks.

Next up was going to the capital city of Ponta Degada. It was windy and raining at this point, which I think kept most people indoors. We fought the elements and walked the streets for a while before going to our reservations at Rotas.

That was pretty much it, until our rather arduous journey back to our little piece of Eden here in Furnas.
As the roads as always winding, they were extra dark, super quiet (aside from the howling wind), and rather foggy, it was like driving in a cloud ontop of the world.
It was a drive that I wouldn't recommend to anyone - and if I weren't the one behind the wheel - it would've been a white knuckle, very unnerving experience for me!
It definitely was a drive we'll never forget, and we were so happy when we finally made it back "home".

Well, it's really coming down like cats and dogs out there, so I'm not quite sure that we'll be opting to do anything special before heading to the airport later this afternoon.
I'll fill ya in on everything in tomorrows Daily SCOOP - from Boston.

I bid you adieu and I bid the Azore adieu - until next time.
​-T