- azoris-garden
Azoris Garden Our hotel, the Azoris Garden, is a 4-star hotel with a commanding view of the ocean and nearby Pico Island. - marina-with-pico-in-the-clouds
Marina With Pico In The Clouds The weather is hit or miss in the Azores and can change quickly. We hit this one just right. - horta-marina
Horta Marina - debby-thinking-this-is-okay
Debby Thinking This Is Okay We had nothing to do with the choice of the hotel. Every once in awhile you get lucky. - azoris-pool
Azoris Pool Dang! Forgot my swim suit. - island-hopper
Island Hopper This is the aircraft type which flew us to the next island, Terceira. - hortas-narrow-streets
Horta's Narrow Streets The back streets are very narrow. Actually, most streets are narrow since many buildings predate autos. - the-sunsets-are-okay
The Sunsets Are Okay - horta
Horta View of Horta from nearby hill. - overlook
Overlook Somewhere down in that village is where we had lunch. - debby-at-overlook
Debby at Overlook - black-beach
Black Beach This is the typical shoreline. - ruben-our-guide
Ruben Our Guide Ruben Goulart was our very excellent Faial guide. I believe he works for Aerohorta. - caldera
Caldera On the top of Faial Island is this caldera which is 1/4 mile deep and about 1 1/4 miles around the rim. Both are popular hikes. The hike to the base requires permission and Rueben, our guide takes people down. - ash-field
Ash Field This is part of the ash field. The volcano created another approximate square mile of land, which now has mostly eroded into the sea. - ash-field (2)
Ash Field More of the ash field. - octopus-salad
Octopus Salad Our lunch restaurant serves this octopus salad as an appetizer and it was very delicious, way more delicious than the blood sausage and fish. - blood-sausage-and-fish
Blood Sausage and Fish - museum-entrance
Museum Entrance The Capelinhos volcano erupted in September of 1957 and ceased in October of 1958. As a result of this volcano thousands of islanders immigrated to the United States and settled in places like New Bedford, Taunton, Fall River, Gloucester and Provincetown to name a few. Today there is a museum on the volcanic site, the Capelinhos Volcano Interpretation Center which was built underground near the lighthouse which was there. This is the lobby of the museum. - light-house
Light House This lighthouse withstood the eruption but it is not as tall as it once was. Beneath the 2 windows you see on the left, near the ground, you can see the tops of the windows on the first floor of this 2-story building. - elysian
Elysian The Elysian was in Horta for a day. She is the 217 foot, $90 million dollar superyacht which belongs to Red Sox owner, John Henry. He apparently didn't know that we were in town. - Boat trip to pico
Boat Trip to Pico We took a ferry from Faial to Pico for a day trip. These outcroppings dotted the shoreline. - One of many vineyards
One of Many Vineyards Pico's main industries over the years have been wine and whaling and now of course tourism. Because the island is essentially a pile of basalt (lava rock) growing anything was a real task. They used the basalt stones to create barriers to protect the growing plants from the wind as seen here and these walls go on for miles. Some of the walls are hundreds of years old. The plants are a low growing vine. Verdelho, one of three traditional plants grown there and the most famous was wiped out by powdery mildew around 1850. It was replaced with resistant hybrids from America but other plant diseases in the late 1800s nearly wiped out the industry. Today Pico makes some of the best Portuguese wine Verdelho is making a comeback. - Grape crop
Grape Crop The walls were dry constructed and the tallest would be about 5 feet. - local-swimming-pool
Local Swimming Pool This is a "beach" and swimming pool when the weather is warmer. - the-beach
The Beach - pool-ladder
Pool Ladder - one-of-many-churches
One of Many Churches We stopped at the Bandeiras church in Madalena and the inside is quite spectacular. - a-little-ornate
A Little Ornate One might feel a little overwhelmed here. - my-azoris-breakfast
My Azoris Breakfast Where ever we were, the breakfast was always a buffet with numerous juices available and tray after tray of meats and cheeses. The also had the more traditional bacon and eggs, etc. - whale-butchery
Whale Butchery They would drag whales up this ramp to butcher them. - fat-rendering-fireplace
Fat Rendering Fireplace The fireplace was fitted with 2 pots for rendering the fat of sperm whales, the only whales they hunted. - 7-passenger-whaling-boat
7-Passenger Whaling Boat Whaling in the Azores was officially banned in the 1980s and the last kill was in 1987. Click Here to watch a 20 minute documentary on Pico whaling from 1969. Click Here to see a 1968 documentary narrated by Orson Welles. - Vineyard Windmill
Windmill In Vineyard Our first stop on the island was at a vineyard and this windmill was there. It was one of the few functional ones left on the island having been rebuilt in the early 2000s. Many of the other windmills have fallen into disrepair due to age and lack of maintenance. - Grape Plant Walls
Grape Plant Walls This vineyard was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004. - shore-walk
Shore Walk - basalt-bridge
Basalt Bridge I have read that the main difference between basalt and lava rock is that basalt is finer grained and less porous as a result of cooling quickly. - alter2
Alter Closer view of the alter. - floral-arrangement (2)
Floral Arrangement These flowers are real. - floral-arrangement
Floral Arrangement These flowers are real. - alter
Alter - fish-for-lunch
Fish For Lunch Being islanders, fish makes a large portion of their diet. However, I'm not an islander. - beef-and-pork
Beef and Pork I ate from this this platter. - elysian2
Elysian Another view. - whaling-museum
Whaling Museum A tourist in the obligatory pose with the harpooner. - sailor-records
Sailor Records One morning we walked to the marina which is a very popular stop for cruising vessels. Many voyagers leave a record of their visit as can be seen here. Literally every smooth surface in the marina is covered with these colorful documentations. - we-found-representation
We Found Representation - rafted-boats
Rafted Boats The harbor has a space problem so boats have to raft with other boats of similar size and kind. This row is three abreast for maybe 10 deep. - painted-pier
Painted Pier - debbys-horta-breakfast
Debby's Horta Breakfast