No whale-watching today!

We woke up to rain and wind, and no surprise, our whale-watching trip was cancelled. They re-booked us for tomorrow afternoon, fingers crossed. Staying with the whaling theme, we went to the whaling museum and saw a fascinating documentary. Pico was the last place on the planet where they still went out in a small boat with about 8 men to harpoon whales. The movie was filmed in 1970 and shows it all, start to bloody finish. Pretty amazing feat of courage, no matter what you think of the practice itself. The year harpooning stopped, about 1987, a German man opened up Pico’s first whale-watching business, employing many of the men who would no longer be hunting whales.

The rest of the day alternated between foggy/windy/rainy and occasional bursts of sun. We got out and walked whenever we could, lots of empty country lanes near the ocean. Nothing but grape vines, bright green fields, and cows. All in all, not a bad day, finished off with a trip to the pretty basic fitness center.Read more