We were not due to arrive until lunchtime and the weather
was cloudy and cool so I went to the Travelling Alone meet and then wandered
round the shops etc. before going up to the observation deck to watch our
arrival. It was very windy but slowly San Miguel – the largest island in the
Azores – appeared through the mist.
We were originally due to call here on the
way to the Caribbean, when we would have had a full day, but as it was we only
had the afternoon and early evening. I had booked a half day excursion with the
intention of exploring on my own in the afternoon, but of course the tours were
rescheduled for the afternoon. Sadly the low cloud meant that our views of the
Fire Lake and Mountain were totally obscured, but we had a walk around Ribeira
Grande which was a very interesting little town, ending up at a shop that sold
local liqueurs – with free samples!
We then drove to a pineapple plantation –
in actual fact more like a Ppneapple nursery, as they were growing in
glasshouses – more pineapple liqueur!
As we returned through Ponta Delgada, it
looked a very nice town, although friends who walked ashore on their own said
they were constantly accosted for money, which put them off somewhat.
We were due to leave at 7 but, with 2 pilots on board, were
delayed half an hour for some reason. It was the most beautiful sunset though
so I stayed on deck until we sailed.
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