Portugal
Criação Velha

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    • Day 8

      Old Vineyards and Wine

      March 16 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 16 °C

      What we first noticed when we arrived on Pico and drove to a lunch cafe, were numerous walls of black basalt stones placed close to each other and seemingly helter skelter in the fields. We asked the waitress in the restaurant why they were there and she looked puzzled. She answered, “You mean the vineyards?” They sure didn’t look like vineyards to us.

      But yes, we were looking at the imperfect squares of Pico’s vineyards, built by hand to protect the grapes from the fury of the elements. You really have to see them to understand what they look like. We wondered how many years and man hours did it take to build them.

      The cultivation of grape vines on Pico began in the late 15th century, when the island was first settled. A couple of factors provided exceptional conditions for ripening grapes:
      The volcanic soil rich in nutrients.
      The dry, warm microclimate of the slopes protected from the wind and salt spray
      by walls of rough, dark stone, heated by the sun,

      The most famous wine from Pico is the Verdelho variety. This wine was exported to many countries in Europe and America, and even arrived at the table of the Russian Court. The vineyards that dot the landscape of the island, still produce a crisp, fruity, dry and mild wine that is ideal for a pairing with seafood or fish. They also have another wine called vinho de cheiro (a fragrant wine) that is popular during feast days.

      In 2004, UNESCO recognized Pico’s unique viticulture system as a World Heritage Site, “Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture”. The man-made grid of walls is called Criação Velha or ”old creation” and cover more than 2000 acres on the island’s west coast. They are supposed to be the best remaining example of what was once a more widespread method of grape growing.

      As these vineyards became more successful, manor houses, wine-cellars, distilleries, warehouses and ports in tiny hamlets sprang up around them. It is amazing but this culture has survived and thrives to this day.
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    • Day 8

      Terceira -> Pico

      May 21, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

      Erneut hieß es, früh aus den Federn, aber zum Glück nicht so früh, wie beim letzten Transfer-Flug. So konnten wir noch in aller Ruhe im Hotel frühstücken, bevor wir Richtung Flughafen fuhren.

      Der Flug war wieder unspektakulär und entsprach der Strecke Hamburg - Bremen. Jetzt sind wir auf Pico, der zweitgrößten Insel der Azoren. Was auffällt, sind kaum Kühe, dafür jede Menge Weinberge, bzw. Kleine Abteile, die durch Mauern aus Lava-Brocken vor dem Wind geschützt werden. Das Ergebnis ist lecker!!! 🍷

      Unser Appartement ist sehr schön, geht über zwei Etagen, hat eine riesige Terrasse und einen tollen Meerblick! Dafür ist das Frühstück eher enttäuschend… Am Abend waren wir noch in einem Restaurant, dessen Visitenkarten schon in unserem Hotel in Terceira auslagen. Aber die wohlhabenden Azoras nutzen wohl tatsächlich die sehr günstigen Inlandsflüge, um auf einer anderen Insel Essen zu gehen…

      Die beiden Videos haben wir nicht aufgenommen, um irgendwas zu zeigen. Wir haben den „Gesang“ der Sepiasturmtaucher aufgenommen, die abends vom Meer an Land kommen. Wir haben zumindest vorher noch nie Vögel gehört, die „Aua-Aua-Aua-Aaah“ von sich geben… 😂
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    • Day 7

      Gruta das Torres Lava Tube

      March 15 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 16 °C

      The wind roared all night. You just can’t predict the weather on this island. One minute the sun is shining, a few minutes later the fog rolls in, then it rains, then it is cold, then hot. What a place! The weather changes very quickly and it’s good to be prepared for anything.

      We were somewhat worried about our ferry ride back to Horta to catch our plane on Monday afternoon. With the unpredictable weather, we were afraid that the ferry would be cancelled and we may miss our plane. Remember there is a ferry workers strike so the ferry only runs twice a day. We were also concerned about room the ferry for the car. Only 10 cars have spots. We decided to take the ferry back on Sunday morning after consulting with several people in the know and spend the night in a hotel in Horta. We bought our tickets immediately. Whew, there was still room for the car.

      Now that that was taken care of, we could enjoy ourselves with a tour of another long lava tube.

      The Gruta das Torres Visitors Centre is a 10 minute drive from Joe’s Place and luckily for us an English tour explaining the formation and characteristics of a lava tube was going to start at 11 a.m.

      The Gruta das Torres is the largest lava tube in Portugal, with a length of 5150 metres, and it is part of a bigger complex. It is estimated that it was formed about 1500 years ago during an eruption of the volcano in Cabeço Bravo.

      We were given helmets and flashlights and watched a short film showing how the Azores Islands formed before heading down into the tube.

      Our visit took about 1 1/2 hours and cost five euros each. The guide did a great job of explaining all that we saw and suggesting easy ways to negotiate getting around the slippery rubble and giant lava rocks, without getting hurt. There are no artificial lights down there, just our flashlights. The cave walk was about 450 metres long.

      At one point we all turned off our flashlights and stood silently in a cave. We couldn’t see a thing as there wasn’t any light at all and we couldn’t hear anything either. (maybe some ringing in our ears) but the dripping water from the top of the cave falling on us became quite noticeable.

      The guide did an excellent job and we had fun.

      Joe, our BnB host told us that in Pico you have to ‘Chase the Sun’ as you travel so that’s what we did. Stay one step in front of the dark fog clouds. Good advice!

      From the caves, we took a lava road through the island to the coast. We saw lots of twisty trees and volcanic rocks as well as cattle and goats. We looked for houses but didn’t see any. The land is way too rugged.

      Our goal was to have a late lunch at a recommended restaurant called Fonte in Lajes so we went down this coast admiring the huge waves as they crashed on the giant lava rocks. We could sit and do this for hours!

      The lunch special was delicious and inexpensive - soup to start, and then a plate with fish, boiled potatoes and a green salad followed by a chocolate mousse with peanuts on top. A very full glass of Azorean wine and a beer were included, all for about $15 Cdn each. What a deal. We have not been in restaurant that serves vegetables. Who knows why as they grow all sorts of vegetables here. It’s always meat or fish, French fries and a salad -the closest thing to a vegetable serving. Not sure what vegetarians eat here…

      Heading back to Joe’s, we took the road that passed by the volcano with hopes of seeing it without the clouds. Not the greatest luck, but Chris did manage to get a photo in the 2 seconds that the clouds separated a bit. He was lucky,

      The day started out very windy, rainy and foggy and ended up being a glorious sunny day. Another great day in Pico. One more to go.
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    • Day 8

      Pico’s Windmills

      March 16 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

      We have seen several windmills and remains of windmills on the island.

      Windmills began to be built in the 16th century and were important to the development of the islands’ economy. Grinding grains was a necessity in food production. Historically, windmills are remnants of the island’s colonisation by both Flemish and Portuguese settlers.

      One of the windmills that we saw is called the Moinho do Frade. This mill is surrounded by acres of vineyards. Tourists started coming to see it and the community got the money to fully restore the mill in 2003/4. The mill apparently is in working order, driven by its 4 bladed propeller.

      Another restored windmill is called Moinho do Monte. The door was open so we could go up the steps and look inside to see how the mill’s mechanism would ground wheat for flour.

      In many places, we just saw the round stone bottoms of ruined mills in lot with overgrown vegetation.
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    • Day 6

      Furna de Frei Matias

      March 14 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 16 °C

      The sun was shining so after getting ourselves set up in Joe’s Place, we went for a drive to a nearby cave in the country. The owner gave us a headlamp and told us about the unusual gold and silver colours in the cave that we were going to see.

      I think that most people would zoom by the entrance to these caves and never even notice them. But for the curious, there's 45 minutes of discovery to be had in these hidden caves.

      We drove and parked the car at a cattle gate and saw in the near distance three unassuming hills. We walked gingerly through mud, deep cow prints and cow patties to one of the hills and hidden at the back of the hill was a big hole in the ground leading to a cave. It was pretty wet but we scrambled down the rocks and entered a fantasy world. Fun stuff!

      Our BnB host was right. The inside of the cave glowed especially when we shone the light on the ceiling of it. I have been calling the area a cave but it is actually a lava tunnel.

      This cave is named after a hermit, Frei Mathias (Brother Mathias), who lived in this cave in fear of pirates. We read that the cave is 1,000 m long, but most of the cave is difficult to explore as you have to crawl on your stomach. Caving equipment and experience is necessary, so we didn’t go in too deep. What we saw though was very neat and we loved exploring the area that we could get into.

      From the cave we went on a road trip through the centre of the island past the volcano but the clouds hid her! The winds were pretty ferocious so we were afraid to open the car doors when we got out to take some photos of the interior landscape.

      Heading north, we visited the quaint town of Sao Roque (1,500 people) that was full of beautiful spots - a lovely municipal garden, rock pools in the ocean, a windmill and another whale industry museum. We chose to sit in the sun on the lava seawall and watch the waves before heading back to Madalena.
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    • Day 12

      Die Geschichte vom Wein und dem Hund…

      September 22, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

      Heute habe ich eine kleine Runde auf der Rota do Vinho gedreht. Die ist zum Glück gut ausgeschildert und man muss nur den rot bemalten Weinfässern hinterherfahren. Sehr clever gemacht - muss man also schon sagen 🤓 Die „Rebberge“ sind hier mit Trockensteinmauern umzogen. Die schützen die Weinstöcke vor den Winden und der salzigen Meeresgischt und sorgen für gleichbleibende Temperaturen im Boden, da sie die Sonnenwärme für die Nacht speichern. Diese Agrar-Architektur gilt als Kunstwerk und wurde von der UNESCO sogar in die Liste des Welterbes aufgenommen. Kannste mal sehen 👀
      Anschliessend gings dann an der Nordküste weiter und ich bin durch ein paar schöne Weinorte gekommen. Am Porto Cachorro gabs dann noch ein Labyrinth aus bizarren Basaltformationen zu bestaunen. „Cachorro“ heisst übersetzt Hund 🐕 und ein solcher wacht als erstarrte Lavaskulptur über den Hafen. Erkenntnis Nr. 9: nicht alle betroffenen Hunde bellen 😉
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    • Day 12

      Wandern auf der Insel Pico

      July 27, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

      Mit einem Wanderkollegen der Gruppe wollten ich auf den mit 2350m höchsten Berg Portugals wandern. Regen, Nebel und Winde haben den Aufstieg verhindert 😵 trotzdem ein schöner Tag auf der Insel Pico👌

    • Day 9

      Monumento Natural da Gruta das Torres

      February 23, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 15 °C

      Gar nicht lange aufhalten im Hotel...gleich wieder los und ein bisschen Action haben. Rauf zur Gruta das Torres.
      1990 entdeckt und mit 5150 m der bisher längste bekannte Vulkantunnel der Azoren.
      Rein geht's durch ein Einsturzloch in der Höhlendecke. Totale Dunkelheit, nur Taschenlampen retten uns. Begehbar waren nur ca 500 m, was aber echt reicht😅. Am Eingang zur Höhle wird ein Wein aus Pico gelagert zum reifen. Leider durften wir nicht probieren 🍷
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    • Day 10

      Rund um Pico Pt. Ii

      May 23, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

      Von der verregneten Inselmitte ging es wieder an die (Nord-)Küste, allerdings hatte das Navi zwischenzeitlich eine etwas fragwürdige Vorstellung, was Straßen wären, die man mit einem Opel Crossland befahren könnte…

      So kamen wir gegen 17:00 Uhr wieder in Unterkunft an, eine kleine Mittagspause in einem Café fiel leider aus, da wir später als erwartet wieder an der Küste waren und nahezu alles an Gastro zwischen 15:00 und 19:00 Uhr geschlossen ist…

      Dafür hat uns das Cataplan heute Abend wieder sehr versöhnt!
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    • Day 8

      Pottwale in Sicht!

      May 17, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

      Guten Morgen! Heute glitzert das Meer besonders, die Sonne scheint und die Wellen sind äußerst erträglich, nahezu glatt, nur weit draußen merkt man die Bewegung. Jaques Yves Cousteau würde es heute bestimmt auch so empfinden: " Wenn das Meer uns einmal in seinen Bann gezogen hat, lässt es uns nie wieder los."
      Volle Fahrt zurück nach Pico, wo wir unsere letzte Nacht verbringen werden.
      Die Whalespotter funken, dass sich die Pottwale zwischen Pico und Faial aufhalten. Für uns also Daumen drücken, denn wir sind noch weit entfernt. Aber es klappt, sie sind noch da und beglücken uns eine ganze Weile. Wir dürfen einem Potti ins Nasenloch schauen. Der Blas wird im 45° Winkel ausgestoßen, da sie nur ein Nasenloch auf der linken Seite besitzen. Sie verzaubern uns beim Abtauchen mit ihrer Fluke inklusive Prints auf dem Meer. Dann plötzlich tauchen sie wieder auf, aber diesmal nur mit den Köpfen...Spyhopping...sie schauen, was so los ist. Grandios!!!!
      Mit tollen Erfahrungen laufen wir im Hafen von Pico ein und gehen zum Abschluß ins Lieblingsrestaurant unserer Meeresbiologin.
      Mit Vollmondblick auf den Pico fallen wir in unsere Kojen.
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Criação Velha, Criacao Velha

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