Wednesday, August 18th, 2021 - On An Island Far Away From it All

 A friend told me about his place and alerted me to a sale the airline was having. But, other than saving a bit on an airfare, what else did I take into account? 

Ilhéu dos Mosteiros

First, it helped that it was a long way from everywhere, and offers primarily nature and beauty. We could get here with a five hour flight direct from Boston and the government requires a negative Covid test or quarantine for entry. This assured me that Covid is not taken lightly and the case rates are so much lower than in Florida, it seemed to be working. We understood there would be additional testing after day three and day twelve, but when we arrived, they said no more was required. 

It also offers accommodation for reasonable prices (less than $100 for clean, two bedroom apartments) and restaurants are said to offer meals for a lot less than home. The expected temperatures of high 70's during the day and low 70's at night were also very appealing compared to the heat and humidity in Florida at present. At this time it is not on the 'must see' list of most people - especially Americans - so I might have to extract a promise that you won't visit, to help keep it off  'the beaten track'! LOL!

(I say that after seeing the flights for Reyjavik at the airport in Boston - the lines for Iceland were long and crowded. Ours was quite small and the plane was only half full.)

Mosteiros Beach

So yesterday sunset found me at the beach in Mosteiros, Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The view here holds nothing but water until Washington DC approximately 2,700 miles to the west and Lisbon 825 miles to the east. The time zone difference is four hours ahead of Florida. We are on Sao Miguel, the largest of nine islands in this archipelago that is slap bang in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Our Lady of the Conception Church - back entry

We arrived at Ponta Delgada early in the morning after a five hour flight, waited around for the car rental place to open and then drove about 20 miles to this little town. Although only 20 miles, it took nearly an hour - the roads are winding and narrow. Mosteiros lies on the northwest corner of the main island of Sao Miguel, and was settled by the Portuguese about 70 years before Columbus sailed to America. While it had been logged on charts as early as 1351, it was not settled by the Portuguese until it was officially 'found' around 1420. To date, there has been no evidence of previous cultures living here, so this might be one of the few examples of true terra nullius of European colonization. 

Porto de Pescas, Mosteiro

Mosteiros means monastery, and was settled around 1480, relying largely on fishing. They now offer traditional fishing excursions for tourists using these boats with oars - although I'm sure they're glad of the motors to get them to and from the shore.

Porto de Pescas, Mosteiro

While clearly catering to tourists, it is not glamourous by any means. Although many of the people we have interacted with speak English, I have not heard very many other English speakers since being here.

There is a wonderful plain-ness that I really like. It seems clean and orderly. These little houses in the older part of the town have very simple facades. The streets are narrow. Fortunately we have not seen a lot of traffic.

These older houses are very plain from the street. Almost all have some type of religious tile work above the door. During the day the jalousie windows are open, showing a little alcove with long, gauzy curtains providing both privacy and light. They remind me a little of the slave quarters at the Kingsley Plantation in Florida, although I expect these are now fully modernized with good quality European fixtures within. However, it does evoke the early history of the island in which the Portuguese brought slaves from Africa for sugar plantations here. It was their efforts and the Spanish that brought the practice to the New World, as it had died out in other parts of Western Europe. 

https://web-clear.unt.edu/course_projects/HIST2610/content/01_Unit_One/04_lesson_four/05_slavery_colonies.htm

While most of the houses are white, with some colorful decoration, a few in the 'beachy' part of town were brightly colored. I really liked the 'Caribbean' feel and vibrancy in the light of the setting sun.

So, now you know where we are, you can hope that we extend ourselves enough to offer you some fresh images of this lovely world we live on. This is not a 'whizz bang' place - it is quiet, with a traditional, natural feel to it. We planned the trip knowing that Robyn needs to continue her 'remote' job as well as one of her classes, so we will be moving at a slowish pace. In all honesty, it is lovely to have a break and to get my traveling curiosity going again. We'll do our best to find experiences that will keep you interested as well.