Experience the beautiful evergreen Azores
Ponta Delgada is the economical center and biggest municipality of the evergreen Azores Islands. It is a city of 70.000 inhabitants on the Island of San Miguel. The islands are an autonomous region and part of Portugal. People speak Portuguese and they pay with the Euro. It is 785 nautical miles (1454 kilometers) west from Lisbon.
I was very excited to visit this evergreen island for the first time. We decided to take public transportation. We had a two-day stopover in the Azores, so we had no scheduled time to be back on board. The bus ticket was very cheap. We only had to pay €3,50 per person. The bus took us to the other side of the island. We had to transfer to another bus and finally we made it to the breathtaking Sete Cidades. It is a small village with 800 inhabitants in a crater of a former volcano. The fertile volcanic soil is the base for the many different green plants. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many shades of green. The colorful Hortensia was in bloom and was seen along the road and mostly everywhere on the island.
The blue- and green-eyed prince and princess
There are two lakes in the crater, the Lagoa Verde (green lake) and the Lagoa Azul (blue lake). The blue lake is blue because of the reflection of the blue sky and the green lake is green because of the reflection of all the green around it. There is a beautiful story explaining it differently. It is a story about two loved ones. A prince and princess were separated and had to live separate lives. They were extremely sad, and their tears filled both lakes. The color of the lakes changed by the color of their eyes.
We had to wait in Sete Cidades till the last (and only) bus could take us back. This was a bit of an adventure, but the bus came, and we looked back on a wonderful day excursion.
The next day we stayed in the city of Ponta Delgada. It is all very close and we walked around the city. We saw the harbor, the church and the market. At the market we were amazed by the pineapples. Sweet little yellow pineapples do come from this island. Besides that, they have beef (we saw many cows along the road the day before) and of course fish. This volcanic island with its black rock and sand beaches is definitely worth a visit. I would love to go back some day to the evergreen Azores.
Do you want to read more of my travels, start with It’s time to travel the world. We visit all these amazing places because of the cruise we make with MSC Divina.
