April 2023 Cruise, Mon, 4/17 to Thur, 4/20

After seven days at sea where the weather went from furiously wet with the wind in our teeth to following seas with a much calmer wind to our backs, we arrived in the islands of the Azores for the first of two stops in Portugal. 

The Azores are a grouping of islands that lie 2400 miles east of North America and 900 miles west of the coast of Portugal. Known for their 3000 hours of sunshine per year there are three sets of islands, with the one in the middle being named Ilha Terceira or Island 3.  Our destination was the easternmost side of the island at the town of Praia da Vitoria, a new location for cruise ships. We have booked no set excursions for this trip, choosing instead to just walk through the local towns at which we stop. 

Formed from volcanic rock, the hillsides above the town are covered in lush, green, terraced fields with the town laid out neatly below.  A city wall still stands around the outside of the city by the harbor, built from blocks of volcanic rock to protect from tsunamis and pirates. During World War II the island contained “Airbase #4”, a strategic location from which British and U.S. Forces targeted German U-boats in the Atlantic.

The ship tied up at the commercial dock and free shuttle buses provided by the local government made regular loops into the city center, dropping us off between a supermarket and the volunteer fire department. On the way in we passed through several roundabouts which had obviously not been built with tourist buses in mind. 

We noted a number of cows, some grazing in pastures, and many spread out among small solitary patches of green grass. Apparently, they take advantage of these smaller patches for grazing by placing leather collars on the cows and chaining them to a stake in the ground. It seemed that nearly every cow was straining at the end of the chain for the grass that was the farthest away (just like us humans, straining at the farthest of our reach for what is just beyond it, ignoring the lush green at our feet). We later learned that there are more cows in the Azores than people!

Arriving in town, we left the bus stop and walked until we found the tourist information center (kiosk) where we received a map of the town. As was all signage, the map was in Portuguese, but we could at least match the street names to the ones on the buildings and make our way around and more importantly, back!

Praia da Vitoria is a small town and not yet adjusted to the hundreds of people simultaneously invading from a ship. But it is a beautiful and well-kept town with people who were gracious and accommodating. It was nice to see it in its “natural” state as opposed to being primarily a tourist trap. 

We like to visit local businesses as much as possible so try to walk paths that are pedestrian enough for safety but not always tourist oriented.  We stopped in a pharmacy for a version of Tylenol, popped into a small grocery store, and rambled up and down hills on narrow, cobblestone sidewalks past shops, schools, and a small but perfectly tended garden.  Our destination was a bright white church with yellow trim that was founded in 1416, known as the Church of Santa Cruz. A volunteer was there just to keep the church open for the ship’s passengers to visit and he invited us inside. We walked through to the front and sat for a bit, soaking in the centuries of worship and offering our own prayers. 

To the right sat a small pipe organ that looked ancient and appeared to still be played. I’ve never seen one quite like it. The pipes were built in to the top and there was a door to either side of them that could be closed like a cabinet.  There was only one small keyboard, with a chair sitting in front of it that had tall thin legs – presumably to enable the organist to reach the keyboard. Beside that was a small red stepstool – presumably used to reach the chair! My disaster planning build-a-kit brain immediately described it to me as an ancient “organ in a box”. 

Returning to the city center we stopped at a cafe and shared a custard pastry and a couple of bottles of water at a sidewalk table and did some people watching before returning to the shuttle bus and the ship. 

After another day at sea, we arrived on Thursday at the town of Ponta Delgada on the island of Sal Miguel. This is a much larger city dating back to the 1600’s. With a commercial airport and many modern buildings, many of the local shops and streets still look as they did hundreds of years ago, brightly painted and with Spanish architecture and iron work.  

We walked along the waterfront and streets several blocks back, in and out of shops – some for tourists and others for locals. In the center is the old town with a public square that contains the gates to the city, a set of three arches. It is said if you walk through the arches you will return to the Azores – so of course, like good tourists, we did.  

Our final stop was at a small Cafe where we each had a scoop of mint chocolate chip gelato (getting ready for Rome!) and I had a tiny cup of delicious espresso. We tapped into the wifi long enough to post a couple of pre-drafted updates to the blog, and returned to the ship, happy to have been ashore for a few hours in yet another part of the world. 

Wednesday and Thursday will be sea days as we sail toward Spain, and in the wee hours of Friday morning we will pass by the Rock of Gibralter as we pass through the Strait of Gibralter between Europe and Africa. We should be able to see lights from both as we pass. 

For now, we travel on trusting in the rock of our eternal salvation, Jesus. 

Thanks again for reading and sharing in our ramblings.

Love to you all!