If You Give a Moose an English Muffin . . .: October 31, 2014

Ponta Delgada, Azores

Sailing in to Ponta Delgada it looked as though all the buildings were white. As we got closer we could see that most buildings were in the customary Portuguese style of white-washed walls with tile roofs. Often buildings were trimmed with volcanic rock. It was a very neat Mediterranean look.

The Azores were discovered by the Portuguese in 1444, although there is evidence that the Greeks, Viking, Irish, and Arabs may have visited centuries earlier.

On shore we met our tour guide, Rui Medeiros of Azores Private Tours, and driver, Ricardo. There were 13 in our private tour group and we had a 15-passenger bus. Our group included a man in a wheelchair and a woman with a walker.

Our first stop was a pineapple "plantation." We were told that pineapples were currently the major agricultural industry in the Azores, along with tea. The pineapples in the Azores are grown organically in greenhouses. They take two years to mature here - about 6 months longer than in more tropical climates where they can be grown outdoors. They are a little bit smaller than the pineapples from Brazil, Hawaii, etc. They cost about €5-6 in a local market. It is not cost effective to export them.

After the tour of 3 small greenhouses, we were given "free time" in the gift shop. It was a very small place. We could taste such concoctions as pineapple mustard, pineapple chutney, pineapple marmalade, and pineapple liqueur. What I tasted wasn't that good. They also sold crappy souvenir merchandise at inflated prices and stuff that looked like it came from the flea market at the senior center. All of this merchandise was crammed into a tiny shop with aisles so narrow you could barely pass. A large motor-coach full of tourists arrived right before we left and I wondered how they were all going to fit into the cramped, crowded gift shop.

Artsy shots taken near pineapple plantation

The next paragraph is a bit of a rant, so feel free to skip it.

Mr. Wheelchair was taken in first and parked by the food samples. This effectively blocked the aisle and no one could get by or taste the samples or look at anything in the store. Now, I am happy to accommodate people with disabilities, and I am happy to let them have the front seat on the bus, so they don't have to walk far. But they are no more entitled to be rude or oblivious than anyone else. Instead of always having to be the first one off the bus and holding up everyone else while they slowly get off, maybe they could let everyone else off first. If they are not able to enter the greenhouse with the rest of the group, maybe they could position themselves somewhere other than right by the door if they wish to carry on a loud conversation while our guide is talking. And maybe they could just be a little bit more aware that they are blocking the way for the whole group. Finally, being old does not automatically entitle you to special status. Most of the people on this cruise are old.

End of rant

Upon reflection, after the tour was over, I realized the following:

1. The pineapple plantation wasn't very interesting.

2. The gift shop was even less interesting.

3. I very much doubt that pineapples are the major crop in the Azores. The so-called plantation we visited seemed to consist of about 5 small greenhouses. We saw no other greenhouses during our drive around the island. Maybe we just didn't go to the right part of the island. The port guide says there are thousands.

4. If they don't export pineapples, and if they are fairly expensive and are considered a special treat, how can they be a "major" crop?

Conclusion: This was all a ploy to get us into the horrible little gift shop because it was far away from the main shopping areas. We were taken there first so that we wouldn't have a chance to see prices elsewhere and figure out that their prices were jacked up. Pineapples are not the major crop.

Except for this stop, our tour was fantastic and Rui was an excellent guide. Many other tours also stopped at the pineapple plantation, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. The economy is very bad at this time and you gotta do what you gotta do.

For the rest of our tour we drove around the island and stopped at several scenic lookouts. The Azores are volcanic and that defines the landscape.

I don't know what it is

We visited an area called Sete Cidades (Seven Cities). This refers to six craters located inside a very large seventh crater.

One of the six craters in the foreground. The mountains in the background are part of the seventh crater. It's huge!

Also found inside the large crater are the Twin Lakes - one green and one blue.

The Twin Lakes

The Green Lake and the Blue Lake

Everything is lush and verdant. It's not particularly tropical, though.

We stopped in a small village inside the large crater for coffee and pastry. It seemed like Paradise.

Peaceful church inside the crater

Between each stop, Rui gave us information about life in the Azores. The unemployment rate is high - about 27%. (As with Samoa, the number of Azoreans who have emigrated is about 3 times the number living in the Azores.) But you wouldn't know the unemployment is so high from looking around. Everything is very well-tended and there is very little evidence of poverty. There is very little trash lying about, and very little graffiti. We didn't see a lot of men standing around on street corners.

We did see many neat, comfortable, freshly painted homes with carefully maintained yards. We saw lots of neat green pastures with dairy cows grazing in them. We saw schools where the children were wearing Halloween costumes. Well-maintained roads. Late-model cars. Parks and picnic areas. Pride of place.

And hydrangeas everywhere. They lined the roads on both sides. They formed the hedgerows between fields. They decorated gardens. They decorated parks. Mostly, the hydrangeas were blue, but we also saw pink, purple and white hydrangeas. They are very sensitive to the pH of the soil and this determines their coloration. The hydrangeas were already past their peak. I would love to have seen it earlier in the season.

There was an obnoxious woman on our bus who was a heavy smoker. She made only a token effort to stand out of the way while she smoked. Every time she got back on the bus she reeked of smoke. At one of the scenic overlooks we stopped at I watched her go over to a hydrangea bush and I knew what she was going to do. She broke one off. I couldn't believe anyone would do that, but if someone in our group was going to do it, she would be the one I would bet on. Then she tried to tuck it behind her ear. Of course, it is a huge blossom on a thick woody stem and it wouldn't stay put. I could have told you that in advance. Other people admired her flower. Apparently they saw nothing wrong with going to a foreign country and picking flowers. I don't care if they were growing wild.

One of the reasons the Azores look so unspoiled is probably the lack of tourism infrastructure. Our ship was the tallest man-made object in Ponta Delgada. It's just a little too far away from everything to become a major tourist destination.

After the tour we walked around the city center a little. It is a lovely place with the typical Portuguese construction style that seems so suited to this island. There are a number of shops. Most of them are not tourist shops. There are some statues and a beautiful old church. The Azores are so lovely.