Today we bid farewell to Açores and say hello again to Lisbon. It’s been more than a pleasant experience during our stay in Ponta Delgada. People we had encountered in Lisbon have been warm and friendly. It was even more so in Açores. We appreciate the hospitality and certainly can recommend visiting Ponta Delgada should anyone be curious.
Today will be the last full day we have in Ponta Delgada. Before we had breakfast and left the room for the day, both my companion and I went out for a walk and run respectively. I ventured and ran towards to the city center this morning. It’s a bit more hilly than I expected but was still a pleasant run. When I reached the plaza where we always have Uber drop us off, I remembered the time we used to walk this distance from hotel to explore whichever the city we were visiting..
As it turned out, we visited more places today in one day than all the previous days combined. After a late lunch, we headed towards to Portas da Cidade on foot. There were times I stopped to photograph whatever I found interesting and let my companion continue walking ahead. I noticed his tired and once in a while unsteady steps..
It’s time to slow down our pace. Knowing my companion, we will never stop traveling. But we definitely need to change how we travel. Life is too short not to face the reality.
Pretty sure we’re not alone, but we tend to consume more when we travel. It’s part of the experience even though we don’t always opt for local cuisine.
Today’s dinner was at a French restaurant where we had to book in advance. Their Cauliflower Salad stood out and was truly delicious. The ingredients seemed simple enough for us to attempt making it when we get home next week.
Today we went on for a half-day tour of the Seven Cities (Sete Cidades) on the São Miguel Island. The weather was unstable and there was near constant light rain throughout the tour. Our guide was very knowledgeable. How much information we actually retained after is a different matter..
This image was captured before the sun rose this morning. It was declared a do-nothing day, and for sure nothing happened. We only left the door and went to the hotel pool after noon basically letting the house keeping have the opportunity to make our room. It’s one of these days when we travel..
Dinner time in Portugal is rather late for us. Local people usually have dinner after 7pm. The street might look deserted because all the shops are closed. However most restaurants around there are packed with patrons. Popular places all require advance reservations and we learned the hard way tonight..
Couldn’t figure out how to take the public bus from our hotel, we took a Uber* to go to the center of the city. First thing we saw was one of the most iconic monuments of Ponta Delgada: Portas da Cidade (City Gates).
Note: Uber only becomes available in Ponta Delgada this year. According to one hotel staff, currently there are only about 20 certified drivers in this area.
Today we hopped on one more plane. We left the hotel in Lisboa at 1:45pm and arrived in the Azores shortly after 7pm local time. The Azores is the main destination for this trip and we are looking forward to exploring the largest city Ponta Delgada.
On the other hand, we just wanted to take it easy and relax a bit. Traveling is a lot more stressful and tiresome when our bodies are no longer at the peak condition..
