My time in São Miguel

It's summer, so it's time for some traveling! My parents and I decided to visit São Miguel, one of the islands in the Azores archipelago. I've made some pictures along the way, so I've decided to make a little write-up about the whole trip. This probably isn't a trip report per se, but you can at least get a glimpse at what you can find on this beautiful island.

Day 1 - The landing

We were flying from the Václav Havel Prague airport with a direct flight to the airport in Ponta Delgada. I was a bit skeptical, because the Prague airport has been having problems recently, but the flight went quite smoothly.

We safely landed, stood in line to pick up our rented car and went to our hotel. We were staying in the São Miguel Park Hotel, displaying its four stars at the entrance. When we arrived at the hotel, the first (of many) strikes of bad luck happened: I couldn't open my car door. At first we thought that it might be due to a safety lock, but that wasn't the case. It just wouldn't open. That can't be such an issue, we thought to ourselves and carried cheerfully on.

It was getting late, so we decided to get some grub. After walking through the city center for some time, we found something that looked like a restaurant and had empty seats. Unfortunately for us, nobody from the staff spoke English. But even with the refusal of using a translator app we managed to order some small bites that would soothe our hunger for the day.

Before heading to sleep, we went to the local shopping center to stock up on some water and snacks. On the way back to the hotel, one of the car's windows stopped working and just stayed open. This was worse than my door that wouldn't open, so my step-father decided we'd go ask for a new car the next day. Yes, we left it standing in front of the hotel with an open window and no, nobody did anything to it.

Day 2

We woke up and went to get breakfast that was being served at the hotel. Even though the hotel prided itself in having four stars, the breakfast was nothing extra special. I got some pastry and local cheese and called it a day. After spending some time arguing with the car-rental company, we got another car and went towards our first destination.

Today we decided to go visit the Monte Palace hotel. What's so interesting about a hotel, you might be asking, well, it's become abandoned and is now more like a local urban exploration attraction.

The place was supposed to be a 5-star hotel, but being built in the 90s, it wasn't a well thought-out project. There weren't many foreign visitors, let alone those who could afford a stay. Furthermore, the beautiful view was pretty much all the time obstructed by clouds.

While the hotel is officially off-limits (with a big warning sign in front of it), you can still just wander in at your own risk. Which is exactly what we did. Thankfully the building did not fall on our heads and we managed to walk through all the way to the top.

Next to the hotel, the PRC 03 trail leading down to the town of Sete Cidades along the mountain. According to the map the route was not circular, but that didn't stop us!

It was a nice walk thanks to the nice weather and to the fact that it was quite an easy walk, no steep up- or downhills. Halfway through the walk, some clouds started to appear, blocking our view.

Once we got down to the town, we went to a local tavern to get some food. The funny thing is, most restaurants are open from around noon to 3 PM and then from around 6 PM for dinner, so it can be tricky combining a visit somewhere and also having food.

After eating, we decided to go back to our car. I wasn't really looking forward to it, because we had to crawl all the way back to the top of the mountain. I looked up a trail through Google Maps and we set out. At first it looked like an okay walk back, but then the road started to become more and more steep and filled with rocks and whatnot.

For a while I thought that the trail I found was not a real trail, which I'd find out was partially true. Thankfully we met a lady who was going the opposite way. She warned us that a part of the road that goes along a cliff had collapsed and that we should walk through a forest that was nearby. And she was right, I was almost scared to walk even through the forest.

Funniest part was, when we managed to get back to the point where our car was parked, a no entry sign was standing on the road. Don't know why they didn't put it on both ends of the trail, but it didn't stop tourists either way... After a tiring first day, we decided to spend the rest of the day on the hotel, taking a swim in their pool.

Day 3

For day 3 we planned out a trail leading to a waterfall hidden deep in a forest. The Rota da Água - Janela do Inferno trail looked like a nice trail where we could take a breather after our last expedition.

When we set off from the parking place, I thought it was a bit boring, because it was just a walk through a field. But then we disconnected from the field road and went over a intimidating-looking bridge.

After walking through the field for a while, the worst thing that could happen had occurred to me: my allergies had been triggered. Not only was my nose leaking like crazy for the rest of the trail, it was doing that for the rest of the DAY. But for now I just continued to enjoy the sights.

Suddenly, a tunnel appeared before us.

The ceiling was low and inside pitch black, it was like a real gate to another dimension! And maybe it was, because after we walked through, we were greeted by a beautiful forest.

After a while, we finally encountered the aforementioned waterfall. It was quite spectacular (even though the water probably runs back to the top through pipes, which we encountered on the way 😅)

After that the way was starting to lead us back to the parking place. After walking on the bridge (seen in the photo above), we sat down on a bench that had been built there to eat some snacks. We probably looked very ridiculous, because a little bird flew down to check us out.

We snacked a bit, got up and left. We got back to the field and walked all the way to some connecting road. From there we managed to go down to the town and the parking place. All and all, it was a very nice walk.

For the rest of the day, I had to suffer due to my allergies. I spent most of the day just lying on the floor trying not to sneeze all the time. Thankfully the near-by mall had a pharmacy that gave me some medicine that managed to soothe my allergies for the rest of the day.

And what better way to celebrate that, than with a drink? While walking through Ponta Delgada, we stumbled upon a bar called Tã Gente. It had some cool decorations inside, like a bar seat with cycling pedals, so we thought, hey, why not try going in?

I looked through the drinks menu and, because I like spicy stuff, went for the one called El Diablo. It contained tequila, tabasco, ginger beer and Blackberry Liqueur, according to the menu, and when they brought it to me, it looked really good. Thankfully it also tasted good.

Day 4

For day 4, we decided to visit the Gorreana Tea Factory. One might think there is nothing interesting to be seen here. They, however, offer free tours around the factory (it is not a large factory, to be fair), where they still use the same equipment that was used since the opening in 1883.

Opposite to the factory is a field full of the tea that is going to be processed, and there is also a rather short trail leading through it!

Day 5

Day 5 was another day for relaxing. We went to Caldeira Velha, thermal pools located near the town of Ribeira Grande. It features three pools where people can take a swim after purchasing a ticket.

It was a really enchanting place, hidden between the trees, if there weren't so many people, I'd feel like I was in some 5* jungle resort. But even with all the people, it still was a pretty relaxing experience.

After we got back to the room and chilled for a bit, we decided to take a look at the local botanical garden. I, myself, find botanical gardens a bit boring, but being on an exotic island, I felt like I could run into something interesting. And I was right, the garden, called José do Canto Botanical Garden, had some pretty exquisite displays. And to my surprise, it was also quite big.

We managed to arrive there about 20 minutes before closing, so I was scared we wouldn't get to enjoy it too much, but the guy at the ticket booth told us that that is just the opening time for the booth itself and that we can wander through the garden for however long we wanted. So we did.

Day 6

Today we wanted to see some whales. There is no shortage of whale- and dolphin-watching companies in Ponta Delgada, just walking along the harbour you can see many different signs advertising this experience.

Unfortunately for us, this was not our day. Just a few minutes before check-in, a lady came from the ticket office to tell us that all whale-watching is cancelled for the day due to weather conditions. But we wouldn't let that ruin our day. We quickly looked at the map and decided to go for a swim in the sea, specifically at a beach called Piscinas Naturais Caneiros.

There we really saw the weather conditions, because it was really windy and according to the flag that was hung there, we weren't even supposed to go into the water. However a small portion of the sea close to the shore was full of happily-swimming people, so we decided to jump in to cool off a bit, too.

In the evening we visited a pineapple garden. It was a bit tiny, but it showed all the stages of growing a pineapple from start to finish. They also had some kitties as guards there.

Day 7

This day we visited Furnas, specifically the lake near the town. For some reason we decided to walk the trail backwards, starting with the steepest hill known to mankind. After we climbed to the top, we went through the countryside towards the lake.

On the other side of the lake were Fumarolas da Lagoa das Furnas. The steam from these fumarolas is used to cook the local meal, Cozidos das Furnas.

In the afternoon we decided to try our luck again with whale-watching. This time it went well, we got on a boat and sailed through the seas near Ponta Delgada in search of the sea creatures. We saw some dolphins that jumped along our boat and a whale.

Day 8

This time we visited another waterfall at a place called Ribeira dos Caldeirões. There wasn't really anywhere to walk, just a short path leading up and back. But near one turn, there was a red cross and a forest path, leading maybe to somewhere mysterious? We decided to investigate it.

It was quite an adventure with steep climbs through the forest. At one point we encountered a private property sign, so we tried another way. Through it we managed to get out of the forest and to a road. But because we'd have to walk next to cars all the way back to where we parked, we decided to go the same way back.

In the evening, it was time for another drink. And because I really liked the last bar, we went there again. I got myself a Passion Sunrise, a spin on Tequila Sunrise, I presume (I'm not an alcoholic).

Day 9

For our last day, we went to look at Rocha da Relva (PRC 20). A walk along the cliff with a view of the sea ends in a small village under the mountains. It was pretty romantic, especially due to the fact the weather was quite rainy that day. But we're not made from sugar, right? So we set forth.

I didn't actually expect anyone to live in the village, but we even met some people going to and from the village into town. Even with that it still felt more like a ghost town.

And because it was the last day, we had to have a farewell-drink. We managed to survive every trail and walk and even enjoyed it a bit. I went all out and even had two drinks (crazy, I know).

First one was called Azorean Queen, containing Rocha Negra Gin, Fresh Pineapple Juice, Pineapple Liqueur, Cardamomo Bitters & Soda. Didn't really amaze me, but it felt like the harmony of flavors was present.

However the second one was amazing. Called Juniper Spicy Mule, it was made from Opihr Gin, Ginger Beer, with a Pink Pepper Corn Rim and a Lime.

And that was it.

The next day we safely moved to the airport, returned our car and checked in for our flight. For the way back, we first flew to Lisbon with a Azores Airlines flight. The on-flight service really surprised me, because it was just a 1,5 hour flight, but we even got some free snacks.

The second flight to Prague, operated by TAP Air Portugal, was a different story. It was more the expected service, where I was happy that I fit my legs under the seat in front of me.

All-and-all, it was a nice trip, I always enjoy a trip to some exotic place where I can just walk through.