31.05.2024

The holiday is coming to an end and today was our last day of hiking. Off to Furnas, which is about 30 km away! The town and the lake, Lagos das Furnas, are located in a large volcanic crater at different heights. We walked from Furnas up to the lake, walked around the lake and then headed back. There are still many hot springs here, containing sulphur and/or iron. At the lake, near the hot springs, various restaurants cook a special stew. The pots are sunk into a hole in the ground, which is then closed with a wooden lid and covered with earth. A wooden sign with the name of the restaurant is then placed on top. After several hours of cooking, the Cuzido stew is ready and the restaurants pick it up. We were there at around 10 a.m. when some pots were taken out of the hole in the ground and received by the restaurant employee. There were also some places in the lake that were quite warm, and there were fish there. If you were skilled enough, you could have caught them by hand. On the way we passed an old church and empty holiday homes. Carved animals, sometimes replicas, sometimes fantasy, also lined the route. A visitor center showed this area in many different ways, how it came to have so many hot springs. Then we experienced the first big downpour of the day. We were well equipped, but eventually everything got wet. This was to happen a few more times, and we were lucky once because we had just stopped at a small cheese bar. The cheese pralines didn't convince us, but the cheese was good. Not far away was the big attraction of Furnas - the "Terra Nostra Garden", a park over 100 years old, organized by theme with several hot bathing pools that were well used even in the rain. The brown water, high iron content, did not appeal to us. We were more interested in bromeliads, camellias and other plants. Finally, we went to Vila Franca do Campo, 10 km away, where high above the small town is the "Ermida da Nossa Senhora da Paz" - a small chapel with 100 steps to the top and 10 azulejo pictures depicting the story of Jesus. 14 km should be enough for today! Our wet clothes had dried in the meantime and we can now enjoy the sound of the Atlantic.