Pico, and Sao Jorge shown off by the setting sun.
We went to Sao Jorge after Horta. It was much quiter and less about sailing the Atlantic. Becasue most sailors stop in Horta on their way across that is the culture and personality of everything in the town.
We parked Gertrude in Velas and wondered around the island. Charles had his first caipirinha here. Its a Brazilian drink made with cachaça, a liquor from sugar cane, sugar, and lime. Its yummy. I have had them before becasue my friends Tobin and Angie used to make them for me. Tobin flew C17s for the Air Force and I guess discovered it in Brazil. Delicious!
Sao Miguel is about 100 miles SE of the other islands. We headed there because it gets us closer to Portugal. We are staying in a marina in Ponta Delgado. Its the largest city we have seen thus far in the Azores. It has a beautiful new marina that is not yet finished. Once it is, this would be the ideal stop for folks traveling through the islands to the mainland. Its busseling with azoran culture. There is live music in the city center on Sundays and it is the place to be for families and young people living in the area. Charles and I sat around and just stared for a while. Teenagers are the same everywhere. We did notice a ton of them smoking however. Like 14 year olds. ugh.
We also noticed a lot of homeless dogs running around. Many of them puppies. Charles and I were sitting in a cafe near the center of town and there was a puppy sitting in a flower bed scratching himself. A German woman was trying to take a picture but he kept scratching. It was cute, but I thought to myself that tourists visiting America would never see sickly dogs hanging out like this in our cities. We have vets who offer free snip snips. Many of us would probably pick them up and take them to a shelter. It is quite disturbing. I want to take them all home.
Then I thought about the last time I visited Denver. I was there for work with Margaret (a friend and ex-coworker). She opened my eyes to all the homeless teenagers that live on the streets there. When I lived there years ago I had just grown accustomed to looking past them.
I guess this is similar to those who live here with the dogs running around everywhere. Maybe I should concern myself with a more pressing charitable need in the states. Oh, but its still so hard to see the cute litte doggies suffer. Teenagers are such pains in the butt. Sorry, I know that is bad. It´s not reeeaaallly how I feel.
On a lighter note. Charles and I went out last night for our last meal before we head to the open ocean again. We weren´t really sure where to go. We had wondered around Pont Delgado a bit, but had just seen cafes. Great for a fanta and some pringles. I noticed a hansome couple a couple blocks from us who looked to be our age (young twenties). I told Charles we should follow them. He said "no way, lets just go back to a cafe we had seen earlier in our walk (I think he may have reffered to me as a creapy stalker)." While he was responding the couple turned the corner up ahead. So just what any good girlfriend traveling in a foreign land with thier partner would do, I took off after them. Charles lovingly abliged me picking up his pace to catch mine. We follwed them for a couple of blocks and they unknowingly led us to an awesome little jazz club. We spent the next 2 hours there eating and drinking. Charles tried a local liquor that tasted like sherry with a buttery finish (I will get the name later). The server sold it by telling Charles it tastes terrible, but its local and he had to try it. I had a drink called 27 Passions. A cocktail with Passion Fruit Juice, vodka, and champaigne. yummy. The fish they serve in the Azores is the same fish we get fresh in Charleston. The Azore way of serving however, is straight from the sea. Eyes and all. We are both past the initial, "oh god, I can't eat this babe," and enjoy it all the same.
Hugs
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