Thursday 19 July 2012

Ponta Delgada -Sao Miguel

Day 2
Today we slept in. Nobody was up before noon. We needed to catch up and managed to get up around 12:30. After a leisurely breakfast and some day planning, we decided to head to Ponta Delgada and explore the city. We drove into town and parked along the water. Parking is 80 cents an hour. We walked along the stone streets dodging cars when necessary.









The original city gates












Looking for snow globes and water shoes

We stumbled upon a war museum (Fort de Sao Bras) on the port. For three euros a person you can explore the grounds unsupervised.  All museums should be unsupervised...




Forte de Sao Bras











Like kids in a candy shop






Everything was on display in these little rooms, as though they we were meant for re-enactment.





There were no signs that said "don't touch", I swear.










After our adventure at the museum, we shopped a bit in town. We found water shoes. Some for the boys at one store for 3 euros, and Becky and I found some for 9. There was another little booth with jewelery and wooden toys. Becky and I bought a cricket and a wolf. When you tap the cricket it makes a cricket noise, and the wolf makes a coyote-like call when you blow into it.




 
We ate dinner at Nacional. The food was decent, and the waiter was great. He was from Yonkers NY and was able to explain each dish to us. Becky and Shay had swordfish which wasn't bad. I had the halibut and chips which was decent, and Jarvis the regional beef. It was a little tough. This place has a menu in a variety of languages. It was mostly tourists. The Azores isn't known for their food, so keep an open mind.






Ice cream on the pier to end another great day! Ice cream is sold everywhere here. You can get Magnum for 1 euro. 1.70 for the mint kind. Yum.
We wanted to drive a little along the coast. We made it to Sao Roque when a large rock, and a very illuminated church caught our eye.




Sunset at Sao Roque courtesy of Becky. This looked to be a nice beach as well.

Church in Sao Roque



A delicious midnight snack back at the villa
We walked down the street to the benches that overlook the ocean. We saw these flickering lights and what looked to be a flame. They were all coming towards us along the shore below. Finally a full torch came into view. There were people down below scouring the shoreline for something, carrying plastic bags. We have yet to discover what they were looking for, but it will be our mission to do so. Some of the other scavengers had giant head lamps. Jarvis was ready to join them, we had to lure him back to the villa with promises of more wine and sweet bread.

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