De vizitat in Azore, Sao Miguel (partea 2)

In the previous article we told you about what we visited in Azores in the first two days and now we are going to tell you what we visited in the next two days. At the end of the post we have some practical tips to help you in case you decide to visit Sao Miguel.

Day 3: The center of the Island

We started day three with a miradouro, how else?
Miradauro Do Pico da Barrosa is one of the most beautiful on the island and the fact that we saw it in the morning made everything even more special, Lagoa di Fogo was amazing, with thousands of sparkles like diamonds. We admired it from many angles, we stopped further down to the lake for another round of pictures with Lagoa do Fogo in the background.

We continued with visiting Cha Gorreana, the oldest tea plantation and now the only one in Europe. Before visiting the factory, we preferred to go for a walk through the plantations to see how big it is and to take pictures. Luckily, we had researched before and we knew that the plantation was very large, so we didn't stay near the factory, where the rest of the tourists were walking, we crossed the street and started to climb the "hill" to capture more beautiful "layers" of tea. The plantation looks like the ones from Asia, only there we've seen similar landscapes. Much of Cha Gorreana's tea production is still done handmade. We have tasted the black and green tea- you can test them for free. Also, if you want to buy something you can choose from the factory shop from dozens of assortments, their prices start from about two euros for a box of green tea with mint and reach up to 10 euros to the more special assortments. We got ourselves a green tea with pineapple and, although we weren't green tea fans, this one seems like the best we've ever tasted.

From the plantation we went to the Salto do Cabrito waterfall, which is very beautiful, but it's a little difficult to go there, especially if you are in a maxi dress and slippers like us :)

Praia dos Moinhos is one of the most popular beaches of San Miguel and is located near the small village Porto Formoso. The sand is much finer than in Mosteiros and the beach is much nicer, which is why it's busier than others.

Salto da Farinha- initially we wanted to see only the Miradouro, but we said to go a little more to take pictures because we saw some nice landscapes and we kept going ... until we got to the waterfall. It's a beautiful scenery and it's really worth taking the climb to the waterfall, we climbed it encouraged by the bushes of hydrangeas and the beautiful view of the ocean. We didn't even care that we had to climb a road with an inclination of more than 35 degrees, dressed in dresses and slippers :)

Miradouro da Ribeira dos Caldeirões and Parque Natural da Ribeira dos Caldeirões are two must see touristic destinations in Sao Miguel. Exotic flowers, waterfalls, huge palm trees, one of the most beautiful park we've ever seen.

Don't miss out Miradauro de Santa Iria, we were here at sunset and it's surreally beautiful!

We ended day 3 with Nordeste, a small town with beautiful white houses, but we didn't find it as special as it was praised. If you don't have time to go see it, you don't miss anything important :)

Day 4: South West

We spent our last day in the Azores at the thermal pools. We had read on the internet that it is not recommended to take light-colored swimsuits because they go out and you can't wash it, but Dorina had a black and white one and nothing happened to it. The same with hair, if you have bleached, it is not recommended to leave it loose because it can get green or blue tent. We got a little wet on our ends, but we didn't get anything suspicious afterwards, maybe because we didn't spend much time in the pools.

We started with Caldeira Velha , where we had come the previous day, but we didn't managed to enter (we arrived around 16:15, but it was already a big queue). Because of the pandemic, the program has changed from what we had read on the internet and the last entrance for swimming pools is at 16:30 and the complex closes at 17:15. We came before 9:30, opening time, to make sure we were among the top 50 people who came in. Only 50 people are allowed to enter at opening time. Entry is 8 euros per person and you're allowed to spend about an hour and a half in but it's enough to try the pools and take pictures.

From here we went to Furnas to see how the food is cooked in the ground. In the volcanic region Lagoa das Furnas "food at the volcano" is prepared in one of the countless "stitches" in the area. After we got delicious boiled corn from downtown, we set off for Grena Park where we paid 3 euros to see the "cooking show". If you want to visit the whole park you have to pay another 7 euros.

Around 12:00-13:00 the area is full of tourists who want to see and capture in photos the process of removing the pots from the ground. This dish cooked here is called "cozido" and contains chicken, beef, pork, sausages, carrots, sweet potatoes, etc. It's kind of a stew but with no water, no spices, just salt, everything is slow cooked practically.

Terra Nostra Park is the park of the hotel with the same name in Furnas, Sao Miguel, Azore. Most of the food cooked at the volcano is brought here and served for lunch to those staying here, but also to those who want to pay.

The park is a garden with lush vegetation, it seems like you're in another century when you enter it, dozens of shades of green and many species of exotic flowers take your eyes, you don't know what to admire first. Near the entrance of the park you can also find a lake with thermal water of rusty color, and also a "spa" area with smaller thermal water pools, which we have tried and we guarantee that they are extremely relaxing.

From the park we left for Poca da Dona Beija, a smaller park with thermal water pools where we paid 6 euros for entry. Here the rules were stricter, there was also a guard so you have to wear the mask all the time, slippers, and to not stay too long in the pools (you are allowed about 15 minutes in each). It's very nice here too and clearly worth a visit if you have time.

Practical aspects of our trip to Azores

Car rental

You can't travel to the island without a car, unfortunately. There are buses, we've seen stations at all the touristic attractions, but we've never seen the bus. It circulates very rarely, probably it has a fixed schedule, which means you spend a lot of time waiting. There are also hiking trails, but you can't get to all the attractions on foot, some are tens of km apart. We rented the car from Go Rentacar,, they have affordable prices and don't ask for a credit card, only a daily guarantee. We paid around 120 euros for the rental (with the daily fee) and the gasoline cost around 50 euros. We received a new Renault that brilliantly handled the slopes and ramps of Sao Miguel, including a street with a inclination of almost 30%. It's great that you have several points where you can pick up the car, including from the airport. You get it with the tank filled and you have to return it the same way.

Ideal period for visiting

The months of May and June would be ideal to visit, it wasn't crowded at all, we really wondered how such a wonderful place is so deserted. Sometimes we were alone at the attractions, especially if we went in the morning. Only at the pools was more crowded because we were on weekends and locals were coming, too, otherwise it was really free everywhere. In terms of temperatures it's the ideal time, too, there weren't more than 28 degrees, and the rains were rare and extremely short, maximum 5-10 minutes. Sometimes fog frequently appears but you should not be worried if you wake up with the view covered by a white canvas, you just have to wait a few minutes and it will disappear. It's also (theoretically) the ideal time to see whales and dolphins, although we told you in the previous post that we couldn't see them, it's all about luck.

Prices

– almost all the touristic attractions are free, except the thermal water pools (6-8 euro);

– food prices vary between 5-10 euros per dish (in Ponta Delgada is close to 10 euros, but in Porto Formoso or at restaurants in Monheios are around 5-7 euros, and the portions are extremely generous, sometimes triple compared to Romania. We've never seen anywhere large portions as here, we received 3 pieces of roast beef for a serving, accompanied by rice, salad and fried egg (this was one of their traditional dishes), as well as the fish portions, bacalhau (cod) was the most popular, being present in all restaurant menus;

-athir restaurants are not vegan friendly, they eat a lot of beef (the island is full of cows, you see them everywhere) and you don't find any traditional dish without meat or cheese, which again is found in a lot of varieties. It's difficult hard to find anything vegan besides fries and salad, but not impossible.

Spoken language

In Sao Miguel they speak Portuguese and, unfortunately, the inhabitants don't know English very well but they are very nice and use Google Translate in order to help you.

Time Zone

Sao Miguel is 3 hours behind Romanian time and it was quite difficult at first to get used to it, especially since we stayed in Lisbon where there were 2 hours difference, so keep that in mind when you check the flight schedule.

Roaming

If you don't have a mobile plan and you are on the card, you should know that you can activate the Roaming option for Europe because Azores belongs to Portugal and is part of the SEE space.

We really liked Sao Miguel, we knew it was going to be nice because we had thoroughly researched our destinations, but it exceeded our expectations. You have absolutely everything you want on the island: breathtaking landscapes, ocean, parks, waterfalls, you can also do hiking, luxuriant vegetation that seems like you are in the jungle + tens of kilometers of hydrangeas on either side of the road that seem unreal, perfectly paved roads, super nice and friendly people, affordable prices, it really is the green paradise of Europe. In the future we want to visit the other islands of the Azores, but also Madeira, which we understood is very beautiful, too.

Until we get there, we'll leave you with the photos from Sao Miguel: