Travel Day

Today we start our journey to the 6th and last island of our island hopping, to São Miguel.

And although we got up at 7:00 AM, things always end up being hectic and annoying at the last minute. The nice thing about these small mini-airports is that you don't have to be there 2 hours in advance. I’d say 1 hour would be sufficient. No lines at check-in and nothing going on at security check. Today we have the luxury of experiencing 2 takeoffs and landings. First step from Flores to Horta. 

The plane, a bit larger than the one on the outbound flight. We take off 30 minutes later than planned, but since we have a 2.5-hour layover in Horta, that's quite convenient for us. The flight goes smoothly, and the captain manages to utilize the entire runway to brake and avoid falling off the back into the sea.

With a 20-minute delay, we take off again at 2:00 PM. In the Azores, it’s like the German railway - schedules are just guidelines. We can only count ourselves lucky that we're even flying - it could be worse.

Our fear of getting stranded on Flores (if we even make it) thankfully has not materialized.

The 2nd flight also goes without any notable incidents.

GDESK (thoughts that come to mind): 

I don’t know if it’s getting older, but I keep thinking about what it must be like to crash. What must one feel and think - can one still think then? Or like today when the steward disappeared with his toothpaste, brush, and water bottles in the bathroom. He could have been a terrorist and blown up the toilet (right near the captain) - can anyone on row 4 survive that? Nothing happened, he just brushed his teeth - so I have to push those thoughts away, since flying is still the safest means of transport. But those thoughts do flare up from time to time. A sign not to fly anymore? A clear no.

Let’s take some time for a few facts:

São Miguel is the largest island. It is known for its volcanoes, flora and fauna (including whales). The island is 63.7 km long and 16.1 km wide. About 140,000 people live on São Miguel, around half of them in the capital, Ponta Delgada.

Attractions include the capital Ponta Delgada with its history. The crater lake of Sete Cidades with its green and blue parts is located in the northwest. In the east, you find Furnas with its fumaroles and mineral springs and the tea plantations.

You see, it’s still a tight schedule. I hope we can also find time to enjoy our wellness hotel. But the weather doesn’t look too promising for the next few days. We will see.

This time we won’t get the rental car at the airport but will be taken 10 minutes to a station by shuttle. We need to discuss this strange planning with Kitzi again when we’re back home.

There we will find a vehicle that, despite all good will and with 8 eyes closed, is not roadworthy.

After a long discussion and wild upset from the rental company (even though they were cursing in Portuguese, the word SunnyCars came up quite often), we got another vehicle.

Next curiosity - if you have to return the car outside of business hours (8 AM to 8 PM), as we have to do at 4:30 AM, it costs €35. They save on the counter at the airport and then charge for it, even though they don’t provide the shuttle service to return the car to the airport. And then we are supposed to leave the car open at the airport and put everything in the glove compartment including the key. Well 🤨 and then it’s suddenly stolen???? Well, that would definitely be a lucrative business model to get rid of old junk cars. Let’s see what else awaits us.

The Vila Galé Collection São Miguel Hotel compensates for all the stress. A really great hotel.

After a quick look at Tripadvisor, we decided on the restaurant A Tasca.

A quick cocktail at the hotel bar and off we go.

The entire downtown area is decorated in a Mediterranean style. Tomorrow is the Ponta Delgada White Ocean Fest. We are so lucky to experience this highlight.

Of course, we have to wait at the restaurant because 6:30 PM without a reservation is a bit too late.

Waiting spot 9. on the handwritten note. We snag a spot at the bar next door with the same name and meet Carlos, over wine and octopus salad. 

He is Portuguese, who lived in Florida for a long time, now works at a hotel here on the island, was married twice, has 5 children, and his first wife lives back in Venezuela. A nice sociable guy, the hour of waiting passes quickly. The food was very delicious.

After a beer and 2 Vinho Abafado (a wine liqueur - super delicious), we only needed a little tap on the back, and then it was off to bed.