Churches, Backgammon, a Wild Boat Ride ... and Amazed by the Azorean Taste! ~ November 15, 2016
November 15, 2016
We started our day with breakfast at the hotel and a saunter (climb?) into town. We visited this church, Iglesia de la Misericordia. The church was started in 1728 and completed in 1746, making it the most modern church in the city. Built on the site of the first Hospital of the Azores (1492), the church was built by an association of the Brotherhood of the Holy Spirit and the Misericoria, a charitable institution. Today, in addition to the church, it is a nursing home for those without families to care for them. It is a Catholic church, but is privately owned. It is a Baroque style church, with a central nave flanked by two bell towers.
We spent about an hour in the church, viewing the intricate decoration as well as some native paintings displayed on the walls. Of special interest to us was the tracker organ, located on the second floor (an arduous climb for me). It is smaller than the tracker in the Methodist Church in Woodbury, but very reminiscent of that organ so near and dear to my heart. We wished we had been able to hear it playing. Maybe next trip.
The view of the harbor/marina from the second story windows was captivating for me (or maybe I was just procrastinating having to climb back down those stairs!
From there we went back to our favorite restaurant Cais de Angra (Pier of the Bay) for a small lunch.
We shared a fish plate that came with a Portuguese beer (which Jeff enjoyed), and I ordered a glass of white wine (the first of several).
We played some backgammon and some gin rummy as we watched the locals come and go and waited for our boat tour to Ilheus des Cabras.
Views of our hotel as we sailed on our Ocean Emotion boat captained by our faithful captain Paolo with assistance from our marine biologist Nunno. I just couldn't stop taking photos of the hotel. It was hard to capture its interesting old/new architecture.
The sunshine highlighted the cliffs of the Cabras Islet. lhéus das Cabras is a dual islet, along the southern coast of the island of Terceira. The colors of the rock against the blue sunlit sky took my breath away. Although uninhabited, the islets were used by shepherds, who foraged their goats and sheep on the islets throughout the year during early settlement of the archipelago.
The islets are privately owned by descendents of the family of José Luís Evangelho and serve as a bird refuge. There is a local rumor that a German submarine rests at the bottom of the ocean in between the two halves of the Cabras Islet.
Amazed by the Azorean Taste! Indeed we were amazed. We shared a taxi with some ladies we met on the boat, and off we went. JJ was in his glory surrounded by four other women. We made our way to the Q.B. (pronounced KB, and translating the words it stands for to English, "That's Enough"), where we were treated to a four course meal.
First was an absolutely delicious green pea soup served with a poached egg, some lardons of pork, and a bit of oil. I could have been happy with just this delight. Accompanied by all the white wine you could drink, this was so very tasty. I do think that this bowl of soup was the single most delicious thing I ate all week long.
Next came the grilled tuna "roast beef" (I think the waiter meant "steak"). The tuna was crusted and (sorry to say) a bit overcooked - even for me - served over some sort of sweet potato and garnished with baby arugula or watercress (not sure which). It had a lovely curried mayonnaise as well. While I did not finish the dish, it was on the whole, quite good. And of course .... there was all that Azorean wine to go with it.
Next came the pork tenderloin stuffed with either kale or spinach and served with some tiny roasted potato bits, cooked in a beef gravy and garnished with nasturtium flower and those arugula/watercress bits (which were also quite delicious. I have noticed that Azoreans favor quite a bit of salt -- at least far more than we are used to, but it was not unpleasant ... just saltier. And, did I mention ... the wine??
Finally came the dessert - a panna cotta with a crumble on top. The perfect ending to a delightful meal. We were very amazed by this Azorean taste, for sure!
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