23.05.2024

Now we are finally where we wanted to be yesterday. We didn't miss anything in terms of weather. We were at our hotel in Horta on the island of Faial at around 7.30 p.m. This morning we were able to rebook our flight for 4.30 p.m. After some uncertainty, the plane finally left at around 5.30 p.m. After finding a small hotel pretty quickly yesterday, we were able to listen to the pouring rain and read our books until late at night. This morning it cleared up and eventually the drizzle stopped. What do you do when the weather is bad? You go to the museum. We went to the former whale processing factory, where the history of whaling and its processing is impressively presented in words, pictures and films. Even poetry was written about it. A difficult and bloody job. Everything was processed and when a black plume of smoke rose from the chimney, everyone knew that another whale had been caught. The factories in the Azores have been closed since the 1980s, some are simply overgrown by nature. Here in the village there is a collection of whale teeth decorated with carvings. We want to look at that tomorrow - if we can manage it. We also found some of the flower and bird pictures - the murals - which look very lifelike. Otherwise, you don't miss much in Santa Cruz. We chatted with some of the stranded people at the airport. On Faial we are now driving a white Opel Corsa. We needed over 20 photos to document all the damage. Most of the damage is only minor, but better safe than sorry. The hotel complex is quite large, comfortable and has a view of the harbor. We hope that tomorrow will be good for hiking - the app is encouraging - because the day after tomorrow we are moving on again, but by ferry! Incidentally, this also had to be rebooked and the next flight was also postponed. The result is that we then have to adjust the pick-up and drop-off times for the rental car.

Conclusion of the last few days: Not every day is perfect, but you can still make it a good one.