Plan B Kinda Day

Leaving the appartment this morning, we had no real set plans but a few things to check out – whale watching, pineapple plantation & the hot springs in Furnas. Whatever else was going to fit in between we would wing it. Sun was shinning, skies were blue when we headed to old town (finally figured out the parking situation – day before we leave town….. of course).

First thing off our list – whale watching tours are cancelled today due to weather – guess we totally mis-judged the nice skies and blue ocean! Coffee / walk in old town to regroup and look at options – not to mention i really wanted / needed coffee (we don’t have any at the appartement). We came across a cheese/bread/pinapple shop that looked & smelled out of this world! I could have camped there for a week. Unfortunately, since we are moving places tomorrow, we didn’t get anything …..yet (we’ll be back tomorrow am).

Next stop, pineapple plantation. Did you know that it takes approximately 2 yrs to grow a pineapple? I’m surprised they don’t cost $100 each! Interesting exhibits in the hot houses to show the different stages of growing. We had a taste of the pineapple liquor – not a fan but the slices of fresh pineapple were TO DIE FOR! The ones grown here in the Azores are quite a bit smaller than what we see at home but they are worth their weight in gold!

From there we decided to continue northwards toward Furnas where we had attempted to make dinner reservations online but were quite sure they didn’t go through. First stop was a tea plantation – lovely grounds overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Nice short but informative session on how tea is made – while pineapples take 2 yrs to grow, tea is processed (after growing & picking) in less than 48hrs – that surprised me, i thought it would be a much longer process but happy that today, i’m going to bed smarter than when i woke up!

Few miradouro, breathtaking views and still lots of cows & hydrangeas later, we made it to Furnas – a town popular with the tourists d/t their hot springs and a traditional meal (you’ll hear more about that later this week). Sure enough, we didn’t have any reservations for dinner but we made some for Sunday. That also means thermal pools will wait til Sunday. Outside of the main city on the island (Ponta Delgada, where we are staying), this town has been the busiest with tourists. Luckily we found a lovely bakery that wasn’t busy – i had what the waitress called ‘salty bread’ i think she meant ‘savory’ as opposed to sweet. The menu translations can be quite interesting but i have to say my tomato & chirozo ‘bread’ was yummy! We also picked up a fresh local pinapple for breakfast tomorrow. Double YUM. Trying to get out of town/ find the hotsprings was quite challenging – we drove round & round & round & round (quite literally) in search of the hot springs until we realized that it wasn’t right in town, we had to drive up and over an small mountain to get there. Made for a good laugh & we’ll know for next time.

Back ‘home’ for dinner, some planning for the next couple days and more monopoly cards. I almost thought i’d have to stop reporting already – Chelsea started off strong but luckily we tied the games won tonight and i’m still ahead by 1 game overall. PHEW!

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