The Hochmuth Adventures 2017 . . . The Apennines to the Andes followed by Acadia and the Azores

Trip to Azores - Day One - Wednesday, October 25, 2017 - Buffalo to Boston to Terceira Island

We left Ron's parents at 11:15 and parked our car at the Clarion for the week. We took their shuttle to the airport and got through security without a hitch. As we were sitting waiting though the departure time changed a few times due to weather - heavy rain and some delay in taking care of maintenance issues. We finally boarded at 4:07 but sat on the runway for about 25 minutes. The ride was a little bumpy but we made it to Boston without incident. Retrieved our bags and got back in line at 6 pm but they didn't open until 7:00. They didn't honor the TSA Pre-check but again got through security quickly. Our flight didn't leave until 10:40 so we tried to do some sleeping on the plane. I wasn't terribly successful with that, so I'm going to have to figure out something for when we fly to Australia.

Trip to Azores - Day Two - Thursday, October 26, 2017 - Terceira Island

Our flight to Terceira went fine and we arrived on time at 7:10 a.m. We were met by representatives of Get Away Azores and were taken by bus to our hotel. Unfortunately it was only 8:45 and our rooms were not ready. They told us to leave our suitcases and to come back in 3 or 4 hours as checkout time was noon. We were tired but walked into the small town of Angra do Heroisimo to check things out. We stopped and had tea and pastries and did a little more exploring. We returned to the hotel and rested a bit in the lobby chairs before our room was ready. Upon getting to our room we unpacked, took a little nap and then showered before attending the group meeting at 5:30. They gave us information on the tours available, answered questions and suggested restaurants for different types of cuisine. We decided to go to Q.B's, which was a 15 minute walk from the hotel but a delightful experience. I had a nice white wine while Ron sampled the two local beers - Super Bock and Sagras. We shared a veal carpaccio appetizers and had a fruit soup - made with mangoes which had pine nuts and salmon. His entrée was duck with sweet potato crisps and I had brown fish loin with limpet rice. It was really delicious. It was back to the hotel and to bed before 10 as we were taking the full day bus tour tomorrow.

Our Hotel - Terceira Mar

Views of Angra do Heroisimo

Our dinner at Q.B. Restaurant

Trip to Azores - Day Three - Friday, October 27, 2017 - Terceira Island

Up at 7:00 and ate breakfast at the hotel which is included. They had a nice variety of choices. Met our guide at 9:10 and went to another hotel to pick up some more travelers before starting our tour. It was a busy day but I'll try to give you some of the highlights. We learned lots of facts about the Azores and their history. They were very important in the 16th - 18th century because of their location and were in connection with the whole world due to this. Terceira Island has 57,000 people and in 1980 had an earthquake (7.2) which destroyed 75% of the houses.

Our first stop was Monte Brasil, the remnants of a volcano which overlook the city of Angra. It was used as a military base in the past because of its vantage point.

We drove past the bullfight arena which holds 5000 people and saw the bulls statue. Running of the bulls is popular here and occurs from May 1st to October 15th - we just missed it.

We drove by the American military base which used to house 6000 soliders but now is down to about 400. This downsizing occurred 3 years ago and that's when Terceira Island started to beef up their tourism industry to make up for the loss of the economic benefits of the base. Our guide Marina did say that American soliders were very helpful in the rebuilding process that happened after the earthquake.

We saw numerous different Chapels of the Holy Spirit - there are 73 on the island.

Praia de Vitoria was our next stop which is the 2nd largest city on the island and a port. They have sandy beaches in contrast with the volcanic rocks in many other areas. We were able to walk around the town a bit and explore. We were practically blown off of Serra do Facho a high lookout point over the city with a statue to the Immaculate Heart of Mary the patron saint and protector of the city. I didn't mention it earlier but today's weather was worse than when Ophelia went through a few weeks ago. They are used to wind but it was windy and raining in torrents at some points. I only add this to explain why some of our pictures may not be the clearest. It certainly didn't stop us from learning lots, seeing more and enjoying ourselves.

We stopped for lunch at Moinhos and had a traditional dish Alcatra. This is a beef stew which they cook for 8 hours and the meat just falls apart. We had vegetable soup first, the stew and potatoes, bread, olives, goat cheese and Don Amelia's a traditional dessert. And wine or beer of course.

Next stop was Serra de Cume where you looked out over the patchwork of farm fields. Again you got blown away there.

From there it was on to Algar Do Carvao Lava Cave, one of only 3 places in the world where you can go into a volcano.

Our last stop was the Wine Museum where we got to see how they grow some of their grapes, the different varieties and some of the equipment used. Then we did a wine tasting and were able to buy some wine.

Since we had such a big lunch we just grabbed pizza and kabobs from a food truck by the hotel.

As I said it was a busy day. We started just after 9:00 and got back to the hotel after 6:00. I think tomorrow we'll sleep in!

Trying to get the bus through this narrow gate to Monte Brasil

Monte Brasil

View of Angra do Heroisimo from Monte Brasil

View of the Bull Ring from Monte Brasil

Never used Canons at Monte Brasil

View of Goat Island

It was a little wet and windy today!

Stone fences and barns a common sight in the countryside

Patchwork of fields with stone fences

One of the Chapels of the Holy Spirit

Church in Sao Sebastian

Plaza in Sao Sebastian

Church in Praia

View of the sea -- Praia

Another Chapel of the Holy Spirit

Sculpture by the Praia harbor

View from Serra do Facho

The American Military Base on Terceira Island

Moinhos Restaurant

Alcatra

Our group

No traffic jams just cow jams

Algar do Carvao

Wine Museum

Enjoying some wine

Trip to the Azores - Day Four - Saturday, October 28, 2017 - Terceira Island

Happy birthday Dad Hochmuth!

Today was a lazy day. We slept until 9:00 am, ate breakfast and went back to the room to shower. Since it was raining pretty hard we decided to read for a while. The rain let up by 1:00 so we headed out to the town of Angra. We didn't take the 1/2 day walking tour with the group but hit most of the stops on our own. We walked to the market but most shops were already closed - we'll go back again another day. Then we saw the Teatro Angrense and visited the modern Public Library. The public gardens were beautiful and we had the place to ourselves today. We happened upon the Church of the Immaculate Conception, the Church of the Misercordia and the Palacio dos Capitaes-Generais. The last of these wasn't open today but we will return and see it another day. We had a nice walk at the marina and along the boardwalk and Ron even stuck his toes in the Atlantic. He didn't want to go swimming though. It is "snack" week so we stopped at A Barrica Restaurant and had a tuna sandwich and sweet potatoes and I had an Alcatra sandwich with home made chips. All featured snacks are 6 Euros this week and you can vote on how well you like them. From there it was back to the hotel to read, go to the gym and hot tub. We gain an extra hour of sleep tonight - Ahhhhh!