Past Tour: São Miguel, Azores Islands

Travelogue

Group assembly and easy transfer to Boston for check-in at SATA Internacional; airline logo is a whale fin, a distinct symbol of the Azores. A fine group of fellow travelers from the greater Fall River area and as far away as Illinois. Restful flight with beverage and meal service, including dinner and continental breakfast. Many travelers eagerly anticipating a visit to their ancestral homeland.

Travelogue

Arrival on São Miguel. Greeted at airport by our guide Patricia; extremely affable, clearly very knowledgeable and passionate about her native land – a keen sense of humor. Short drive by comfortable motorcoach to our hotel, where a breakfast buffet awaited us. The Hotel Marina Atlántico beautifully situated overlooking the ocean with striking décor, well-appointed rooms, and lovely views in every direction – all the amenities one could hope for. R&R followed by an excellent dinner in the hotel dining room. A visit to the lounge before bed; delightful conversation with old friends, new friends, and strangers alike.

Travelogue

Misty day. Breakfast before assembling for a whale-watching tour; rough waters discouraged surprisingly few from participating to witness a wealth of amazing sea life and spouting whales. Wet attendees returned to hotel to change and enjoy lunch before departing for a walking tour of Ponta Delgada. The city a surprising mixture of quaint old structures and modern architecture; the juxtaposition of native volcanic stone in rich black shades a sharp contrast to white stucco on longstanding structures. Numerous sites very familiar to Fall Riverites from reproductions seen since childhood; the 18^th century Portatas da Cidade on the old quay the original version of the facsimile standing in Fall River, the latter gifted by the Azorean people. Much to see at every turn: the beautiful Matriz church, lovely squares and fountains, exotic plantings, and the Convento da Esperanca, which holds the much-venerated Senhor Santo Christo dos Milagres statue, covered in precious metal and jewels, a testament to the deep-rooted piety of these people. The convent garden tranquil, with age-old stonework, and a magnificent specimen of wisteria, its ancient, twisted trunk like some sculpted biblical serpent.

Late afternoon spent wandering about. Strong black expresso and a scrumptious cuajada nata, a Portuguese custard tart, at a small open-air café frequented by locals – fabulous!

Back to the hotel for R&R, followed by a fine dinner featuring local cuisine and more-than-ample quantities of red and white wine from mainland Portugal at a restaurant located a very short walk from our hotel.

A delightful visit to the lounge before retiring for the evening.

Travelogue

A lovely day! Breakfast at our hotel before assembling for a day-long tour to Furnas, famous the world over for good reason. Spectacular scenery en route with beautiful vistas beyond imagining; rugged mountains, ocean in vibrant shades of blue and green, lush pastures, magnificent hydrangea, and thriving plantings of all sorts the result of rich volcanic soil. The tremendous energy of eons of volcanic activity evident at every turn, the landscape a riot of once liquid stone forced by nature into fascinating sculptural forms. A feast for the eyes – one can easily understand why many have long believed this place to be the site of the legendary lost city of Atlantis.

Pico do Ferro nestled in the center of a volcano, quaint and inviting with breathtaking views; the scent of sulfur permeates the air. A visit to the hot springs on the north shore of Furnas Lake to view pots of cozido das furnas buried in the soil, cooking in natural earth ovens due to intense volcanic heat; the dish, similar to a New England boiled dinner, is distinctive to this area. Lunch followed by a short walk to the gates of the superb Terra Nostra Botanical Park, its thirty-one acres, originally laid out as a private pleasure garden in the 18^th century, centered by a famed thermal pool, celebrated for its curative properties. Lush, mature plantings from the world over, including a renowned collection of rhododendrons, and over three hundred varieties of fern. A botanical dream and an artists’ palette of flowers – one could spend days here, meandering along walkways bordered by verdant foliage, and dotted with secluded seating areas, monuments, and urns hidden away, awaiting discovery. The sites, the scent, the sounds – all mesmerizing.

Dinner and overnight at our hotel.

Travelogue:

A drive though breathtaking scenery to visit Lagoa do Fogo, the so-called Fire Lake – awe inspiring natural beauty a wonder to behold. En route, a stop at Cha Gorreana, the oldest, and currently, the only tea plantation in Europe, established in 1883; five generations in the same family. A fascinating tour to view the progression from cultivation, to harvest, to processing – much still done by hand – and finally, consumption, in a well-appointed tasting room.

Lovely lunch en route featuring fresh, local cuisine, with fish, pork, beef, and poultry on the menu – delicious, perfectly spiced morcellas, an Azorean black pudding, grilled to perfection, and washed down with a fine, dry red wine of local origin. Fabulous!

Next on the itinerary: A visit to the health-giving hot-springs at Caldeira Velha, beautifully situated amidst volcanic rock and lush vegetation of primal appearance; one can imagine some prehistoric beast emerging from massive ferns, obscured by a sulfur mist. Some of our group take the plunge and immerse themselves in the waters, while others enjoy a nature walk through the park, or meander about outside its gates, examining wares offered by various vendors.

Return to hotel to rest before dinner at a local restaurant; wait staff familiar with Fall River, having lived there themselves or having family residing in that city. One finds this all over the island, the distinct connection between Fall River and São Miguel; a very small world, indeed.

Travelogue:

Another drive through stunning scenery on the way to Sete Cidades, beautifully situated by two lakes, one vivid green, the other vibrant blue, and situated at the center of a long-extinct volcanic crater – for very good reason said to be one of the most beautiful settings in all the Azorean archipelago. Fabulous views from the Vista do Rei, named for King Carlos and Queen Amélie of Portugal, following their triumphant visit to the Azores in 1901.

Lunch at the delightful Cavalo Branco; staff extremely welcoming and accomodating. Enough cannot be said about the local cuisine – fresh, delicious, and of a wide variety, all prepared in simple, almost rustic manner, and a delight for the palette. Fabulous stuff! Wine, of course, delicious.

Interesting visit to a pineapple plantation; the Azorean fruit is smaller than Americans are accustomed to, and rounder in shape that the common, market variety. Extensive plantings in greenhouses, masterfully tended, produce a quantity of the fruit. The pineapple liquor produced locally is sweet, packing rather a punch to the uninitiated.

Free time before dinner and overnight at our hotel.

Travelogue:

A leisure day for all, with fellow travelers venturing out in different directions, alone or in groups; our party made up of six friends, accompanied by our guide, Patricia, hired privately for the day. Itinerary: visits to the ancestral towns of three of our group – Arrifes, a suburb of Ponta Delgada; Capelas, on the northern coast in the municipality of Ponta Delgada; and Ginetes, in the westernmost part of the island. A homecoming and a very poignant experience, with visits to three churches once central to the lives of our ancestors; marriages, christenings, and deaths were all celebrated in these venerable edifices.

Patricia a treasure as she brought family histories to life, with a well-planned tour thoughtfully created in advance just for us. An exemplary guide with an amazing treasury of knowledge, she pointed out sites of ancestral import as she drove us around the island, her animated conversation peppered with fascinating facts of all sorts – from history, to flora and fauna, and the current political situation in Europe.

Untiring and dogged, she ferreted out the home of the caretaker of Nossa Senhora da Apresentação, the main church of Capelas, and convinced him to open the church, unexpectedly closed for the day, for a private visit for “the American visitors from Fall River” – clearly, there is no denying Patricia. The simplicity of the exterior of the church, constructed in 1780, belies its grand interior, beautifully preserved by its congregation.

Lunch at a small dockside restaurant, a favorite of our guide; the table set with house-made warm breads, fresh farmer’s cheese served with pimenta moida, a crushed pepper condiment, pickled vegetables, and fish and pork pate – a delicious foretaste of the what was to follow. The meal, chosen by Patricia: simple salad of fresh picked greens dressed with fruity olive oil and locally produced wine vinegar; fresh Lapas, a variety of Portuguese limpets, grilled and seasoned; and four varieties of fish fresh from the sea, selected from the school beautifully displayed on crushed ice, prepared lightly seasoned and grilled – absolute perfection.

A delightful day, with a somewhat reluctant return to the hotel signifying that it was over.

Our final evening on São Miguel. Dinner at a restaurant minutes from our hotel specializing in traditional Azorean inspired nouvelle cuisine; fine tasting and beautifully presented.

Travelogue:

Breakfast and check-out followed by a short drive to the airport for the return flight home. A delightful sojourn on an island of fantastic natural beauty, and home to a welcoming people – far more than ever expected.

Testimonials From Tour Participants

“In May of this year I had the opportunity to travel to the Azores through the Fall River Historical Society’s Grand Tour Travel Program. This tour was a collaboration of efforts between Michael Martins, curator of the Historical Society, and Alan Amaral of Italian Wine Services, LLC. — and quite a collaboration it was. Every detail of this tour was carefully planned out allowing travelers the ease of simply enjoying the trip without having to worry about any of the details.

“Our stay at the Hotel Marina Atlantico on the beautiful waterfront of Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, could not have been better, from the comfortable accommodations to the friendly staff and superb Azorean cuisine. Our guide, Patricia, was amazing …. more like family than anything else. She guided us on a walking tour through Ponta Delgada, the hot springs of Furnas, where we enjoyed a cozido (boiled dinner) lunch, Fire Lake, charming Ribiera Grande, & Sete Cidades.

“If you are looking for affordable travel with an amazingly friendly group of people, enjoy having all the details planned out for you, and not having to worry about safety issues, then I would highly recommend traveling with the FRHS Grand Tour Travel Program. You will make memories to last a lifetime!

“Looking forward to the next trip!

—Cathleen Gagnon, West Wareham, Massachusetts