Ponta da Palama

We had been meaning to do a whale-watching tour since we arrived in the Azores, but the weather hadn't allowed it until today.

We booked it through Big Blue Adventures but it was actually run by a company called Pico de Aventura. This is a common but seasonal activity in the islands, and I assume that offerings depend a lot on the time of the year.

This one was good, though! We went on a little, jumpy motorboat (Dramamine needed!) and we saw a bunch of dolphins and a couple of whales. The sei whale (baleia sardinheira) gets its Portuguese name from its diet, which includes sardines. It's rare to see them here at this time of the year!

We got back to the hotel in time to take a shower, change and check out. Our flight to Terceira was a couple of hours later. Getting there was fast and cheap, only 10 euros. This is a small airport and the flight was very short. There were not many taxis at the airport in Terceira and we probably should have got our rental car from there instead of the city. In any case, we made it quickly to the hotel, the Azoris Angra Garden. It was a pretty generic hotel and not as cute as the previous one we had stayed in, but with a great location in the center.

The time was somewhat weird and late for lunch, so we just went to have a snack at Tasca das Tias, which was very well reviewed but didn't feel particularly special. I went to the hotel to rest for a bit while Dean went out for a walk. We had woken up quite early after all.

For dinner, we went to Captain's Table, a casual restaurant offering fish. The waitress and the person we thought was the owner of the manager kept making jokes. Dean seemed to find it somewhat annoying, but I thought it was funny. I didn't love the dinner but that's mostly just because I only like fish cooked in certain ways.Read more