{maique}

Azores. Busy week. Actually, slightly longer than a week, but I wanted to keep everything Azores on this one. We had an incredible time, thanks to our lovely friend Rui, and the cousins who were vacationing there as well. Next visit will surely happen sooner, rather than later.

Note: minimal editing on this thingsThisWeek, so feel free to let me know if something looks odd. Thanks.

✈️ Still counting, the flights on this trip were tinyMovieStar’s 13th and 14th. The kid gets around. This time, sadly, we flew Ryanair. Money, profit, chaos. It’s a mess, one we avoid whenever we can. We couldn’t escape it this time, as the prices on a normal, comfortable, professional company were three times what these tickets cost. Worth it? Still not sure.

Read on for more on this.

🍍 Anyway, we got to São Miguel. Rui was waiting for us at the airport. The bags took over an hour to be delivered (yay, Ryanair, you really have your shit together), and we were very late for a very tasty dinner. Thankfully our friend is a respected member of Azorean society, and our reservation was still valid, more than an hour later.

He then handed us the key to his house, and moved to his parents’s for a week. He’s the best. We can’t thank him enough.

Day One

Picked up a bottle of water in the morning and a bottle of water in the afternoon from a mini mart next to our place. The girl is already calling me neighbor, which I love. The accent is a dead giveaway that I’m not a neighbor.

Awesome first day. Beach. Forbidden beach. Natural pools. Dinner with cousins. Ice cream. Soft serve, from a very old machine. The spot (Tomé) is an institution on the island. Huge lines every single day.

(These trips to Tomé would turn out to be a routine, but we didn’t know it yet. Soft serve has a tradition over here, and we did have a lot of those delicious treats).

Day Two

Day spent at oceanic pools, and proper ocean. Sunday, so very busy. We were alone for half the day, then Rui met us and we went to Caloura, one of our favorite spots on the island. Caloura is an harbour, a very small one. At the end of the cement pier there’s a pool for kids, that gets water from the ocean, and a diving spot for all ages, provided you can swim.

Day Three

He have car. Today was the day when we finally had our car available. Not complaining, obviously, as we’ve been driven around the island by the incredible Rui, but this works out better for everyone. This one is his mother’s spare car, and has been used by a few visiting photographers. He’s just that kind of person.

We drove to meet our cousins at a beach close by, then had lunch at a very local, very busy, spot. They are famous for their chicken wings, and for good reason. They were awesome.

On our way to the car, we were presented with a fishermen’s brawl. A couple of guys drove a car to a cafe, jumped out, and started yelling at the guys there. One carrying a huge knife, the other a big stick. Despite all the noise, none seemed willing to use the tools, and the ones being yelled yet knew it. Cafe doors were closed, just in case, but nothing really came of it. Just a few hits of the stick on tables, but soon it was all over, and they drove away. It was definitely fun to watch.

Afternoon beach amazing, and then we drove to the hot springs for corn, and to the oldest European tea plantation for some tea, and a delicious IPA. Locally made.

There are a few local products that I love, and will try to find in Lisbon.

When we thought we’d just go back home, tinyMovieStar said she wanted to have dinner with her tiny cousins (she rode with them all day, not with us), so we did.

Day Four

Starting very late. Girls up at 11AM. Drove to the pizza place, and back with lunch. movieStar found a way to have a remote meeting in the middle of our holiday. Nice.

Went to Caloura with tinyMovieStar. The tide was super high, with every wave crashing over the pool. I held the little one in my arms, we were thrown this way and that way, and then she dove and swam before the next wave hit. It was SO much fun. We managed to spend half an hour there, and then a huge wave came and ran over the pier, our stuff was wet, and everyone had to go. No place to set a towel down. Lockers on the cafe next door would be great. Nothing really happens, of course, but one does have to leave stuff unattended while swimming, and it would be useful to have a place where one could just stuff the backpack with the phone, money, car keys,…

It was probably my best time at Caloura ever.

We picked up movieStar, and moved to a different beach, on the north coast. A busy one, with big waves to play in. Stayed for a while, then had a huge steak at Associação, followed by another ice-cream at Tomé, in the city. tinyMovieStar fell asleep on the way over, and missed the ice-cream.

Day Five

Another late start, it was noon when the girls woke up. Since tinyMovieStar missed her ice-cream yesterday afternoon , we went out last night, to make things right. She couldn’t, obviously, fall asleep right after, we had to wait for the sugar rush to go down. Fell asleep pretty late, again.

Yay for responsible parenting!

Caloura, huge waves. Huge ones. This time phone went in.

I needed translation, again. The accent is really thick in some parts of the island.

We the dropped the little one at their cousins, and went to The Gin Library with Rui. He had set up an appointment with the owner, and what fun it was!

Day Six

We finally made it to the western part of the island, to Lagoa das Sete Cidades, Mosteiros, and around there. It is one of our favorite parts of the island, one we were wanting to go since getting here.

Nice, simple, lunch, then back to Ponta Delgada, picking up the cousins, and amazing beach afternoon at Pópulo. Dinner at Cais 20. Super day.

Day Seven

Ferraria in the early morning (yes, everyone was up earlier today)! That’s a hot spring, by the sea. In the sea. Like a tidal pool, but on top of a hot spring. Super hot water (think 50 degrees), and it’s cooled down by the crashing waves. It’s one of the coolest places on the island.

We then moved to a nice Italian restaurant for lunch. tinyMovieStar fell asleep right after that, so we just drove around the island, two thirds of it. Rabo de Peixe included, for a quick photo of some Vhils. Something was about to go down, sadly, and we were ushered out of there. It can get tricky, fast.

When she finally woke up, as we were close to the big beach, we just went. Santa Bárbara again.

Time for dinner, at the pirate’s cove: Forte Terrace. Nice place, very poor service. They are severely understaffed.

Day Eight

A lot of rain throughout the night, waking up often (and early), and then…

We met the cousins at their favorite beach again. They always go to the same one. It’s odd, since there are so many good ones around, and we love driving around finding new ones. They are always at the same one, for two hours, before heading home and spending the afternoon there, while we’re enjoying the island. To each their own, of course, but can’t help but think their kids would love to go out more. Cais 20 for lunch (we LOVE this place). Another couple of hours at the beach, and a quick drive home for a shower and change of clothes. We had a party (a religious procession) to attend, and dinner while at it. It was fun, and I got a couple of photos out of it.

Our old ladies photo contest is still going. It’s quite easy, in fact, and there are a lot of sweet ones around.

Day Nine

We’re leaving. Sadly. We had a blast here. We are very thankful to Rui, who provided housing, means of transportation, guidance, and company. He’s a huge friend, but never expected this level of generosity. It was incredible.

Morning at Populo beach, with cousins. We then asked tinyMovieStar where she wanted to have the last lunch on the island, and she immediately said “Cais 20”. We went.

Quick drive home, finished packing, and moved to the capital city. Dropped the little one at our cousins place, and picked up some supplies for later. Our flight gets home at midnight, and we have no food at home.

Rui, always the gentleman, drove us to the airport, and we said our goodbyes.

The flight over was nicer, because small airports are always better.

We arrived, and took a cab. A regular, old fashioned, cab. The platforms were going nuts with so many people at the airport, surge pricing was skyrocketing, and the drivers kept refusing our ride. We waited three minutes, before heading to the taxi line, and getting in immediately. Cheaper too.

We’re home.

📚 Still reading (managed a few dozen pages) The Way of the Knife, by Mark Mazzetti. Still liking it.

📰 Using ReadKit for a while, replacing FieryFeeds. Why? Why not? Miss that one FieryFeed feature (swipe to mark all read) on the feed list, but feels fresh. I remembered I had purchased Premium for life on this one.

📷 Also trying, and enjoying, the new Process Zero with Halide. Not for all the photos, but when I have time to think. It’s cool.

📡 G-Shock automatic time sync on the islands, these ones and the ones that will follow, accomplished with Clock Wave. It works as promised. We are VERY far from the areas that are covered by the transmitters.

✈️ Ryanair is shit. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. We couldn’t afford this trip on a regular flight, not after Menorca, and just before a month and a half on the very basic, and yet expensive, Principe. We flew Ryanair.

Lisbon has two terminals. One for regular people, a modern terminal, with nice folks working there, plenty of shops and food. It’s lovely. And then there’s Terminal 2, for those too cheap to pay for a decent flight. Only the low cost airlines use it. It’s like a bus station in the dirtiest city of a developing country. Thousands of smelly passengers thrown into a warehouse. The staff is made up of people who failed their prison guard exam, because they were just too happy being too nasty.

You cannot have a regular carry on with Ryanair, as they do not allow them. Just a small volume. You can, of course, pay for the privilege. I can live for a week off a small backpack, it’s very doable when you’re spending your days at the beach, and places where beach attire is allowed. movieStar will do that as well, easily. She has a talent. But the little one cannot. She needs a bit more stuff. We had a checked bag.

Security procedures are messy. Way too many people for two entries into the screening area. Not enough security personnel over there as well, no way to make this quick.

We somehow managed to board our plane, and were immediately stuck on the tarmac. Other, more important planes, had to leave on time. They pay for that, I’m sure. Ryanair will not. We waited.

We flew in, trying not to make eye contact with the other passengers, as it looks like they’ll ask for something the moment they lock eyes with you. Maybe some money, or help with their own kids, maybe a kidney. You never know.

Eye contact with the crew is also not advised, as they seem to always have some sort of item for sale in their hands: the usual food & beverages, but they will try to push perfume, scratch tickets, and other stuff. It’s awful.

The airport in Ponta Delgada is small, the kind where you walk from the plane to the terminal. We could even carry our own bag, if they would just give the damn thing to us when we arrive. They do not, of course. That would be illegal, but also too practical for us.

It took us three minutes to get to the luggage belt, and the screen told us the bags with be with us in 15 minutes. Fair. They did not. They took over an hour. With only two planes at the airport.

The second one, from our lovely national airline, arrived 50 minutes after our own, with normal looking people flooding the terminal, and their bags were offloaded in 10 minutes, while we still waited for ours! We were told that Ryanair is the only company using a different baggage handling service, and delays are usual. They are just too cheap to pay for normal service. Not premium service, mind you, normal one. The one everyone else uses.

I had never, in my five decades of flying, seen people clapping when the bags finally showed up!