Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel Island, Azores Islands, Portugal: That long list is where we are, read it as follows: city of Ponta Delgada, island of Sao Miguel, archipelago of Azores Islands, owned by, and off the coast of, Portugal. Ponta Delgada is the largest city of the most populous island in the nine island chain.
We did a tour by 4-wheel drive vehicle today, and saw a very pretty, green island which today was very cloudy and/or foggy. The weather meant we had no sweeping panoramas but the towns, the lakes, the greenery were amazing. This is a nice place.
One of the fascinating things about this island is that most of the rural roads are lined with hydrangea plants about four feet tall. The flour heads, each the size and appearance of a brain, varied in color from white to pink to blue to lavender.
Some of the roads looked like the road down the west side of New Zealand’s north island, lined with trees, ferns, and green as anything. Elsewhere the scenery resembled the way Hawaii looks on a rainy day. Canes which look like wild sugar cane grow as weeds along the edges of cultivated fields.
The architecture is rather charming; tile roofs and white stucco walls which our guide Luis said were made of stone instead of wood. I asked how the stone walls tolerate earthquakes and he said “okay.” The islands are volcanic and there are hot springs indicating the volcanism isn’t totally gone, so there are earthquakes.
Experiencing Sao Miguel as cool and coastal, I understand why the Azores Portuguese who have emigrated to the Central Valley of California love to go to Pismo Beach in the summer. Pismo is not so green as Sao Miguel but the coastal climate must feel just right.
Lots of cattle are grown, and milked, on Sao Miguel. Our guide said there are twice as many cattle as people on the island. That explains the heavy concentration of Azores emigrants in the dairy business of Central California – it is their historic occupation.
I don’t know what I expected of the Azores Islands but this wasn’t it. What I saw is nicer than I expected, at least Sao Miguel is. This has the charm people attribute to Mykonos, but I'm unable to see. I’m surprised this isn’t a bigger tourist destination. Maybe the weather is mostly rainy/foggy…?
