A little known destination, the Azores (Açores) are a volcanic island group in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, owned by Portugal. Through one of my travel sites, I found a great deal for a week there, so I decided to do some research and give it a try. Accompanying me was Stephanie, a family friend and my sister's old college roommate. We stayed on the main island of Sao Miguel, and from there we rented a scooter and explored most of the island over the next few days. As you'll see below, the island is very green, with some nice crater lakes and jagged coastline all around. There were actually very few beaches, but it would have been a bit cold for that anyway. Using a combination of Spanish, English and a bit of Portuguese that I learned before the trip, we made our way around the city in the evenings and tried out some of the unimpressive local restaurants.

 

Downtown Ponta Delgada, the capital of the main island of Sao Miguel. Much of the city sidewalks had designs like this.

Two bordering crater lakes create an area called Sete Cidades (7 Cities), though we couldn't see all of them with the fog.

Stephanie and me at Sete Cidades

I think this is the town of Mosteiros.

Volcanic island = black sand beaches.

See previous.

The deep blue water contrasts nicely with the green vegetation and black rock.

Though not quite as cool as a motorcycle, our trusty scooter made us the envy of Azorians everywhere we went.

The city of Furnas, where we almost ended up staying before the ticket agent convinced me that there might not be much to do.

Miradouro de Santa Iria. This lookout point offered great views in every direction, keep reading below for proof. We ended up at this place again a day later.

One of the many stops along the road where locals have barbecues on the weekends.

Ponta Arnel lighthouse from one of the many viewpoints on the Northern end of the island.

Ponta Madrugada and the steep coastline of the Northeast.

Three waterfalls for the price of one at Ponta Madrugada

The flowers are called birds of paradise because they look like...well, you probably get it.

Typically it was clear on the coast and foggy or rainy in the higher elevations throughout the middle of the island.

Sunny Santa Iria. We had just come through a fairly large rainstorm, so the sun here was a welcome relief.

Looking the other direction at Santa Iria. The 'walls' are plants used to separate grazing pastures for the cows.