Reset search
Europe 2023Europe 2023
SatelliteEdit route

Europe 2023

April - June 2023
A 62-day adventure by Nancy and Doug Trips Read more
  • 200footprints
  • 7countries
  • 62days
  • 1.4kphotos
  • 1videos
  • 8.3kkilometers
  • 1.8kkilometers
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date ascending
  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 2

    Ribeira Grande

    April 23, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 18 °C

    This town is the 2nd largest after Ponta Delgada and Doug and I were both impressed with the main square and lovely ravine community park boasting waterfall, tennis court, children's playground, garden and walking paths. Given the proximity to Ponta Delgada we thought the charm might make it just a bit nicer to stay in than the main city. We did not go into the church but had a birds eye view of the square which Manuel explained was the way all Portuguese towns are laid out all over the world, even in Macau. Church at the high point to add to the majesty, the square below with patterning of white and black and if there was news to give the people they would meet there in the bandstand. Large Australian "Christmas trees" (deciduous) were planted to provide shelter from both rain and sun.Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 2

    Salto do Cabrito

    April 23, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 18 °C

    We then travelled through the misty country and down a steep windy incline into a ravine. While on our way Manuel told us that the Azores is quite self sufficient in energy production. At the base of a ravine we could view this 30 m high waterfall (in two parts) with a pretty stream below which supplied the water flow for a small hydro station that generates 680KW of electricity. We are told this is one of 7 such small plants on Sao Miguel. As we arrived at this park, we also passed by large pipes bringing hot water to one of the two geothermal plants which supply 40% of the islands energy. There is also some wind energy although on our tour today we did not see any windmills but we certainly felt a lot of powerful wind!Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 2

    Lagoa do Fogo

    April 23, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 19 °C

    Lake of Fire -- named about a hundred years after the Portuguese first settled the island when an unexpected volcanic eruption happened in the seemingly peaceful lake. The volcanoes are still active, but the last eruption was in 1957.
    The fog and mist at the top was very thick as you can see! There was a fine mist on our coats as we returned to the car.....on the bright side it was not raining!    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 2

    Lagoa Lunch

    April 23, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    Lagoa is along the southern shore of the island, just east of Ponta Delgada. The tour included a very nice buffet lunch at this restaurant. As it was Sunday, Manuel told us that there would be "Portuguese typico" dishes. Nancy tried the octopus in red wine and found it delicious! She had never had octopus before but having watched a show on how intelligent these creatures can be along with many others we eat presents a dilemma. We had a dish made from salt cod for the first time, also very good and a very nice coleslaw mix but thicker strips of cabbage, carrots and red peppers in an oil/vinegar dressing; the same mixture was delicious as a sauteed vegetable the night before. All of the desserts were a whipped cream type sundae. Drinks offered included "green wine" young carbonated, very refreshing. Appetizer was quesco fresca (fresh cheese) and St George's cheese (unpasteurized) and very nice bread.Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 2

    Sete Cidades

    April 23, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    The two lagoons are actually part of a single very very large volcanic caldera Legend has it that the Sete Cidades lagoon owes its colors to the tears of a princess and a shepherd. Daughter of the king of this enchanted land, the young princess met a shepherd during her stroll through a field with whom she began spending each of her days speaking to. They fell madly in love. Having discovered this, the father, who had already planned his daughter's marriage with a prince from a neighboring kingdom, forbade the princess from seeing the shepherd again, conceding her one final encounter. That was when the princess, whose eyes were blue, and the shepherd, whose eyes were green, cried so much that they gave origin to the blue and green lagoons, respectively. In truth, the smaller, green lagoon simply reflects the color of the dense vegetation that surrounds it, and the blue lagoon, on fair weather days, reflects the blue skies.

    For us, not so fair weather, so have to sub in a pic from the web!!    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 2

    Mosteiros

    April 23, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 19 °C

    The village of Mosteiros is a seaside village on the northwestern shore that has a dramatic rocky shoreline and sea stacks that sit just off the shore. The village is named after thee rocks -- the 'monastery' that a priest and nun were trying to run off together, but were turned to stone.

    Next stop to the west....the US East Coast (about northern Florida). Most Azoreans head still to North America rather than Europe if they choose to leave the island. Manuel advised that many are coming back as there is more opportunity and the islands only have a 2-3% unemployment rate and that "basically if you want to work you can get a job". However, accommodation is getting more expensive as mentioned before and thus the limitation on more of it going towards tourist accommodation and pricing out the local people. This was our last stop for the day and everyone had agreed despite the weather we had gotten a lot out of our tour with many generous tips and a chance for Doug to get a sense of driving the Island to Furnas tomorrow.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 2

    Day 2 Overview

    April 23, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    We booked a van tan tour of the central and western island with Pure Azores Tours though GetYourGuide. Total of six in the van.

    Cloudy with just a brief sunny period in the morning. Tracked 113 km on GPS but didn't start tracking until Santa Barbara, so add 10km. Just 8,175 steps walking.Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 3

    Museu da Emigração Açoreana

    April 24, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    This was the highlight of the day and it was pouring while we were in the museum. It was well presented and we spent 2 hour looking at the exhibits. There were multiple reasons why Azoreans emigrated. First of all, land ownership initially was held by only a few so the common man basically lived in poverty and could not get ahead. Men joined the whaling activities of the 1800s and the Cod fishing industry and jumped ship to North America. Portugal's involvement in protecting its interests in Africa (The Portuguese Colonial War, 1961-1974) and the worry about loosing one's offspring forced many to emigrate. The Portuguese government encouraged the diaspora to Brazil to help protect its interests there. Then many left in the 60s following the eruption of a volcano that caused many to lose their homes etc. 70% of the approximately 550,000 Portuguese in Canada trace their ties to the Azores and its is said that there is not one family on the island that has not had some of its family members move to North America (with all the uncertainty and personal emotional toll involved in any emigrant migration). They brought the ukulele to Hawaii and a unifying tradition is the celebration of the Holy Ghost Fiesta dating back to the 14th century that is symbolized by the dove and olive branch.Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 3

    Cha Porto Formoso

    April 24, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    This was the first tea plantation. It was pouring when we got there, we were served a nice hot "cuppa" of dilute enough tea that Doug quite enjoyed it, bought some loose tea and we were off to Furnas.

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 3

    Furnas

    April 24, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    We initially thought we'd go to the Terra Nostra Hotel for lunch and then visit the botanical garden and hot springs. However, it was difficult to find due to a detour confusing Google maps and after we ended up doing the same circuit a few times Nancy decided we were no longer having fun and we decided to head back to town. Besides, Trip Advisor reported Terra Nostra garden was under reno, the change rooms were now makeshift and the water could discolour both your bathing suit and hair orange...... pass in favor of a hot shower back at Casa da Graca. We stopped at this spot for lunch - they had a lot of the stew pots done underground in the volcano heat (cozido) and Nancy ordered the "stew soup" (of the same ingredients) at 25% of the price given the portion for one of cozido that the waiter deemed neither Doug nor I capable of finishing. It consisted of two types of sausage, some meat, cabbage, greens, sweet potato and carrots and had a bit of a smoky flavour - pretty much as expected. Doug and I agreed it was a "been there done" that tourist experience. Doug had a cheese/salami tray which was more than he could finish. We both agreed that the bread in Portugal is quite good.Read more

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English