Return to the Azores: Faial ~ February 1, 2018

Thursday, February 1, 2018

It has been about a year and a half since we made our first trip to Terceira, one of the islands in the archipelago known as the Azores (/əˈzɔːz/).  Located in the middle of the ocean about half-way between the United States and Europe, they have long been a strategic location for the U.S.  Divided into three groups, our focus is on the "central group" consisting of Faial, Terceira, Pico, Graciosa, and São Jorge.  This year's trip will take us first to the island of Faial (pronounced Fay al), more specifically to the only city on the island - Horta - for four nights, and then back to Terceira's capital, Angra de Heroisimo for three nights.  I found a great You Tube video about Faial that truly gives a nice introduction to the island.

Faial is often called the ‘Ilha Azul’ (‘Blue island’) because of the many hydrangea hedges that surround plots of land throughout the island. Faial covers nearly 67 square miles and is the archipelago's fifth largest island.  It is about 4 miles to neighboring Pico, nearly 18 miles to São Jorge, 53 miles to Graciosa, and 77 miles to Terceira.

The island is dominated by the Caldeira, a huge crater with a diameter of about a mile and a quarter and a depth of more than 1300 feet.  This volcano has been dormant since 1672.  The capital city, Horta, is truly delightful with a famous yacht harbor.  It is quite different in flavor from Agra de Heroismo - definitely more cosmopolitan with a feeling of wealth and prosperity.  Angra de Heroismo, on the other hand, has the look and feel of a working community.

Travel to Faial is no easy feat -- 24 hours worth to be exact.  We left Middlebury at 2 p.m. and made a quick stop at a car wash to get rid of some winter sand and salt and then headed for Boston.  We decided to save some money and some wear and tear on the driver (Jeff) by parking the car in Framingham (covered parking garage for $7/day) and taking the Logan Express bus ($20 round trip).  We scored a parking space near the elevator, got our tickets, and were on the 4:30 p.m. bus to the airport. Our driver got us to Terminal E at Logan at just after 5:00 where we checked in, had a glass of wine and a margherita pizza, and went through security with no problems.  Our flight wasn't until 10 p.m., so we had a lot of down time (one of the reasons for the extended travel time).  We each took a turn going for a long walk about the gate area.  Finally, we boarded for the 4 hour and 20 minute flight to Terceira.  Dinner and Portuguese wine were served enroute -- the wine was delicious; the dinner .... not so much (I passed).  We landed at about 6:30 a.m., retrieved our baggage, and checked in for our next flight - a 35 minute hop from Terceira to Faial.  Unfortunately, we had a 5 hour "layover" -- not the best after flying through the night.  We had a bit of breakfast, did some walking about, and waited ... and waited ... and waited.  Finally it was time to board our propeller jet for a quick and easy flight.  We were at our hotel, the Hotel Horta, by 1:30 p.m., checked in and took a long nap.  

The hotel is quite comfortable -- a little bit worn in the lobby area, but the rooms are lovely.  We have a little balcony overlooking the water (and the pool).

After our nap, we took a walk down to the waterfront.  It is a fairly steep walk -- not easy going down or up, but I'm proud to say that my commitment to walking on my treadmill daily (at least once, but most days I strive for two 40 minute walks) for the past nine months has paid off.  I wasn't even huffing and puffing as we climbed back up to the hotel!

In these two pictures, you can see Pico Island's Ponte de Pico poking its peak through the clouds.  We will visit Pico on Sunday, so I'll talk more about that in my post then.

I loved this image of volcanic rock made into something decorative -- instead of blasting it out, they incorporated it into this wall!

We enjoyed some beverages in the lounge area before heading into the restaurant for dinner, which was quite good.  I had the buffet, which included locally caught fish that was delicious.  One thing I will say about eating fish here is to watch out for bones!

As true blue UCONN Women's Basketball fans, we stayed up late (the game started at 11 p.m. local time) to listen (via Tune It In Radio) to our ladies crush South Carolina before turning our lights out and getting a much needed night's sleep.  A long day with a very happy ending!