Azores (Açores)

This week we packed our bags, boarded a plane, and headed to the Azores (Açores to the Portuguese).

The Azores are a group of nine volcanic islands located 950 miles west of Lisbon.

While part of Portugal, the Azores are essentially in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and are still largely untouched by mass tourism.

We chose Terceira Island mainly because our friends, Luis and Nair Avles call this island 'home' and we were interested in seeing where they came from!

The closest city to the Terceira airport is Praia do Victoria, which is a quaint town with a large sandy beach. This is where we stayed.

Hotel Praia Marina

Don Amelia is the name of the super dense pastries on the island. They taste a little bit like a chewy gingerbread. You really need a glass of milk to get through one.  

Black volcanic rock walls criss-cross every field.

Algar do Carvão is one of the most impressive sites on Terceira as it is one of the only places in the world where you can actually go inside a volcano. They built a staircase inside the lava tube.

This is what it looks like inside the lava tube of an extinct volcano!

Terceira is also home to the Atlantic's first European city - Angra do Heroísmo. 

The best things to do in Angra is to simply walk around and admire the public gardens and colorful houses and cathedrals - because the cobblestone streets are exceedingly narrow and twisty. And very scary to drive on!

This is also the city where the church is located.

We came across a huge bull statue which was located right the middle of a roundabout.  Bull fighting is a tradition of Portugal but it’s different to Spain. The bull does NOT get killed and some of it happens on the streets and not in a ring. It's called Tourada à corda (rope bullfight) and in this centuries-old tradition, the bull is led along the streets on a rope, held by six people – the pastores – and anyone who dares, taunts and teases the bull.

The bulls are treated more like sports stars than circus animals. Every bull has its statistics and reputation that it builds over the years, and many locals follow their favorite bulls around the island like a sports team. 

We enjoyed our drive around the island. Larry not so much. He was our chauffeur and all the roundabouts took their toll on him - and Don as the 'co-pilot'. The island is about 18-by-11 miles and shaped kind of like an avacado. The mountains in the center, extinct volcanoes, are often shrouded in fog. It can be cloudy and rainy only three miles from sunshine. The air is squeaky clean. Little villages hug the coast, or perch above on the hillsides. There are  great views everywhere you look. Terceira has about 57,000 people (all nine Azorean islands total 250,000), but the people are outnumbered by cows and goats. 

It was so good seeing Luis and Nair Alves again. They were missionaries in the temple with us two years ago.

They haven't changed a bit!!

And then, before we knew it, the holiday was over. Back to Lisbon.

Ready to start back to the temple.

Portugal began DayLight Saving time this weekend, so we are now 7 hours ahead of you Utah/Idaho people and 6 hours ahead of the Texans.

Lagos

 With the temple closed for its two week maintenance cleaning, we decided to pack our bags, board the train, and head south to Lagos.

Lagos is an ancient maritime town with more than 2000 years of history that is situated on the beautiful Western Algarve coastline. 

We stayed in a darling (or as they say - charming) little hotel.

The Dom Manuel 1 Hotel

Lagos is generally know for its beautiful blue skies and aquamarine waters, but...

Dust from the Saharan desert is coloring the sky over Spain, Portugal, France, Germany (and beyond). Everything has a yellowish-orangeish-reddish hue. They call it 'clay rain' and it is everywhere! You can actually see this phenomenon from space (David!) and it lasts for several days before moving on. Kind of like our hurricanes, I guess.

Anyway, sorry about the lack of blue.

We visited a museum,(Note the 8 legged calf!)

walked around the old town,

Portugal supports Ukraine.

saw the slave market,

and, of course, we took in a church.

The next day we saw the beautiful coastal scenery that the Algarve is known for - cliffs, caves, natural arches, rocks that seem to have been carved by hand and small coves and beaches.

 

😞No turquoise or emerald tones this day, either.

And we enjoyed some really great food!

We still had some week left, so when we returned to Lisbon, and after a good night's sleep,  we went to the National Coach Museum(Museu dos Coches).

The museum has one of the finest collections of historical carriages in the world and is one of the most visited museums in the city.  

 

And last but not least this week, let's not forget the Relief Society Birthday event. 

We have 7 countries represented in our Sacavém Ward and each was asked to perform a dance and bring a traditional food from their country.

Margo, me, Kay, and Cindi

We brought snicker doodles, chocolate chip cookies, caramel corn, and brownies.

We danced the Virginia Reel. Yeah, I know.

HAHA

Italy and Austria

Cabo Verde and Angola

Portugal and Brazil

The whole kit and caboodle.

And that's a wrap for another week. The skies are clear again and it is warming up. But...rain is on its way. Hopefully, it won't dampen next week's plans. 🤞🤞