When we awoke this morning, we could see the Azores in the distance. The ship docked shortly after noon, and we made our way off the ship into Porta Delgada. It was very good to be in on solid ground after so many days at sea. The Azores are part of Portugal, so it was a nice way to sort of get ourselves ready to be in Europe. The contrast between the locals and the tourists was very obvious, but the locals seemed quite tolerant since the tourists bring in so much cash. I was fairly surprised when I overhead a woman from Texas asking if there was a Wal-Mart on the island. As in most European towns, most of the cars were very small and most of the drivers drove those small cars about a thousand miles an hour down the very narrow streets. They are supposed to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalks, and they seemed to actually do so. I’m going to have to get a lot more trusting however or I will never get across any street! Bill, who is very trusting of the rules and much more assertive than I, will consistently be a dot in the distance.
Bill and I got away from the crowds as quickly as we could. We stopped first at the ch
urch in the town center – St. Sebastian’s. The noon Mass was going on (in Portuguese of course) and we stood and watched for a bit until we could figure out at what point in the Mass they were, then wandered into the Porta Delgada community. We found a little local market and bought a couple of sandwiches (we didn’t know what kind they were) and a Coke Light (which is what they call Diet Coke). We took our goods to a nearby park and dug in. We made good choices, because his was a ham and cheese and mine was a tuna salad with pieces of corn and tomato. Both were delicious. We ate and watched the local lovers enjoying the sunshine during their lunch break.
We wandered around a bit more, and then found a little bar where we paid for a half bottle of the local wine – Vinho Verde – and two glasses. The label was Castel Garcia, which is available in the United States and which we’ve drunk on a number of occasions, but somehow it tasted better when sitting in a Portuguese café. We toasted our first day in Europe!
We were back on the ship by 4 o’clock, and we pulled out of Porta Delgada at 6 o'clock. We have two more days at sea, and then we will be in Cartagena on Friday.
Bill and I got away from the crowds as quickly as we could. We stopped first at the ch
urch in the town center – St. Sebastian’s. The noon Mass was going on (in Portuguese of course) and we stood and watched for a bit until we could figure out at what point in the Mass they were, then wandered into the Porta Delgada community. We found a little local market and bought a couple of sandwiches (we didn’t know what kind they were) and a Coke Light (which is what they call Diet Coke). We took our goods to a nearby park and dug in. We made good choices, because his was a ham and cheese and mine was a tuna salad with pieces of corn and tomato. Both were delicious. We ate and watched the local lovers enjoying the sunshine during their lunch break.We wandered around a bit more, and then found a little bar where we paid for a half bottle of the local wine – Vinho Verde – and two glasses. The label was Castel Garcia, which is available in the United States and which we’ve drunk on a number of occasions, but somehow it tasted better when sitting in a Portuguese café. We toasted our first day in Europe!
We were back on the ship by 4 o’clock, and we pulled out of Porta Delgada at 6 o'clock. We have two more days at sea, and then we will be in Cartagena on Friday.
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