Hot and Cold Running Water

RIBEIRA GRANDE, Sao Miguel

Hot & Cold Running Water

I stole this picture (and joke) from a Sata Airlines FB post!!  

The red water comes from the heated springs (which smell like sulphur), but are very healthy to swim in.  The cold water looks a little too blue, but that's how water looks in the Azores.  

Beautiful and clear.  

It's a running joke that pictures of the water look like they've been photoshopped.  I visited with a friend in 1988, and when she had her pictures developed at a drugstore (they used to do that!!)  they all questioned her!!  "Where IS that?? It doesn't look like a real place!!  The water is too blue!"

P.S. My Mom grew up using an outhouse, but in all of my travels, I've only ever used modern plumbing in the Azores.  (Sometimes it may be recommended to put used toilet paper in a wastebasket-in order to save the septic tank or plumbing) 

P.P.S. Waterfalls are always my preferred baths!!

Meredith Vieira: Second Generation Immigrant

Meredith Vieira is the MOST famous (in America) person of Azorean descent.

To quote her Wikipedia article (is anyone out there related to anyone here?):

"Vieira was born in East Providence, Rhode Island, to Mary Louisa Elsie Rosa Silveira Vieira (née Costa) (October 28, 1904 – November 5, 2004) and Dr. Edwin Vieira (May 15, 1904 – February 1987), both first-generation Portuguese Americans. "

And 3 of 4 grandparents came from Faial.  The other one was from the Azores as well, but whoever knows hasn't updated Wikipedia. (First generation is defined as the first to be "citizens")

She admits that she "doesn't know how to say" her own last name. She had gone a few decades ago, and grew up in a Portuguese-speaking region; one of her early broadcasting gigs hired her because they thought she'd be able to speak Portuguese.  In her words, "I don't"

Everyone should do research on their own family.  She has a clip from an interview she did with her grandfather a year before he died.  Not enough questions about his life on the islands.

(Also, her father's father had been a priest.  And left to start a family.  I wonder how common a practice that was . . . it happened in my family too!)

http://shenews.projo.com/2008/08/meredith-vieira.html

Visit 59 National Parks in Two Weeks! (Not!)

I am still enraged by yesterday's discovery of a couple who had "done" the 9 islands of the Azores and dismissed one island as "can be done in a day by car".

Let me offer some advice:

If you were visiting the US for the first time, you would not try to cram in all 50 States, just because there are 50 states.  And for anyone who has done it: congrats.  You have a very specific (and weird) experience.

OR, if you were visiting America (especially for any limited period of "vacation" time) I am pretty sure that you would not want to cram in all 59 NATIONAL PARKS.  Because that would be ridiculous.

In the same way, I would beg you not to try to visit all 9 Azores Islands (or even more than 3) in less than a space of 2 weeks.

Logistics are difficult.

This is not The Amazing Race.

If you are a grownup, you should plan to be interested.  And puzzled.  And surprised. Hang around an interesting area and see an amazing view (even if you have to do it a few times, it does not get boring).

Here is another (American's) report about the Azores.  I'm not sure how long they stayed, but a few nights on a few islands which are grouped together (they did Pico, Faial, Sao Miguel) are recommended.

I got the above off this original posting on Fodor's, with a great series of comments too!

Traveling Advice in The Islands

On Facebook, I see lots of postings by SATA, which is the major/only airline that flies to the Azores (although I think they are partnering with Jetblue to get you there from anywhere in the US, as long as you can fly through Boston or Newark).  Today, they posted a review from Fodor's, the travel site.

The title includes "Lovely Lovely Experiences".

Understanding that the travel industry is great at trying to target the "Tourist" population (vs the Returning Natives and Families), but I always find myself caught up between the two worlds.

My Mom is from Faial, and I return every 4 years or so.  I've been to the mainland (Portugal) and all of the 9 islands.  And I never understand why someone who has been there would recommend spending "a day by car"

I can appreciate that the "Adventure Tourists" are hikers, bikers, sailors and other "sporty" types.  This group also has a lot of crossover potential into the "Nature Tourist" group, who are birders, botanizers, ecologists and nature lovers in general.

Both groups would HATE to be put into any kind of "Tourist" group at all, because they despise anything that may have that label.  They want to experience the "purity" of a location, despite what negative environmental impact may be occurring-see The Galapagos. They want to avoid any other people who speak the same language as they do, even if that means missing out on "local natives" who happen to be sophisticated enough to speak English and have the ability to hold up their end of an intellectual conversation.  Any store that sells magnets emblazoned with the name of the location MUST be avoided at all costs, even if they contain books or objects that may intrigue the most sophisticated traveler.

I'm also a big fan of Walden Pond (which has its own flavors of tourists) and I'd recommend exactly what I recommend there.

Go.  Be.  Enjoy yourself.  Walk around, get up close.  Look for flowers/birds/people that you wouldn't encounter at home.

==
The above was inspired by the following review on Fodor's:

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/visiting-the-azores-islands-portugal-lovely-lovely-experiences.cfm#comments-open

My comment (as GirlsRock) on Fodor's site.

"I was intrigued by your title "Lovely Lovely Experiences", yet it seems as if you spent your time trying to cram in each island and then "easily tour it by car and see everything really in one day".  I wish you could offer up an example of one of the "Lovely Lovely Experiences", so future travelers don't get overwhelmed by the complex logistics.

That is NOT the point of the Azores.

This is the one spot on Earth where you don't have to rush.  Take as much time as you can afford.  Pick one or two islands.  By all means, make sure you travel between them by boat. Enjoy everything and let it unfold.

The views are GORGEOUS. Allow yourself to see something spectacular more than once. The flora is amazing, but anyone can easily be overwhelmed by all of the beauty and quickly lose touch with the idea of such a lush ecosystem in the middle of the Atlantic.

It sounds as if you had a marvelous time and that you have a great variety of resources to share with future visitors. Don't judge your vacations by how many waterfalls/caldeiras/hikes you can see or how many "tourist traps" you pride yourself on avoiding. This is not something to just check off your list.

If you are thinking of visiting, I'd highly recommend it.  But take a deep breath and let yourself catch up with The Place."

Happy Bartholome Day!!

Read this about Columbus' true adventures.

Sure he was a sailor & got famous for bumping into America. (And there's a stone doorway of a chapel on Santa Maria where his sailors prayed to God on the voyage back, because they nearly died)

And then GREED took over.  And he decided to conquer the New World.  He directly and indirectly caused hundreds and 5 Million deaths (respectively).

Really, the comic at The Oatmeal really gets it right. Plus, it's an informative comic about history.  About REAL history, and why we should pay attention.

So Bartholome de Las Casas was Spanish (not Portuguese), but we should make any guy a SAINT who witnesses "atrocities against the Natives, gave up his land, freed his slaves, became a priest and spent the rest of his life fighting the brutal colonization of the New World".

Prince Henry the Navigator had a navigation school (founded 1418) on the SouthWestern most tip of Portugal.  Known as Sagres (aka the Beer).  He taught everyone, or at least created the textbooks & lesson plans.  The jury's not out yet as to his virtue.  But being on the side of teachers and exploration, I have faith in his contributions to the world.

Nelly Furtado's Azores is Pre-Trendy

I will admit, I don't listen to Nelly Furtado.

Probably, I should.  She is the beloved daughter of the Azores.  Or, the "Pre-trendy" Azores, anyway

And she visits, and thus lends some kind of "hipness" (or cultural relevance) to all those wanna-be kids who lust after the glam-party-scene.

Okay, I have to include most of the article, because it is so weird. I have never seen it marketed as "hip", although my cousins there are some of the coolest people I know.  This is not a throwaway issue.  There are Art and Music festivals (mostly oriented toward European hipsters).

But if an American wants to go over and "appropriate", then by all means, turn it into Paris Hilton's paradise for the sake of tourist dollars. (NOT!)

Nelly Furtado traveled to the pre-trendy destination of the Azores while on break in between tours and award shows.  The Azores, nine Portuguese islands, traditionally known for a year-round Spring climate, sea cliffs, cove beaches, fishing villages and ancient palaces, may now be known as the birthplace of Furtado’s album, “Whoa Nelly!”  The Grammy winner’s homepage reads, “It was summertime and I was in the Azores hanging around the small village my parents are from, I was looking out on this very rural setting, on a road going up a hill.  There was an old man coming down the hill with a pitchfork on his shoulder. He was wearing gum boats, work pants and a Coca-Cola t-shirt, I saw that and thought ‘That’s my album!’” 

And the old man in the Coca Cola shirt is her "album"?  Can they explain please?  (For instance, is it insulting?  Is it just some guy who got an American hand-me-down?  Is he a rich guy who is just taking care of his backyard?)

Synthesizing old and new is a process Europe is quite familiar with. From London’s warehouse parties, and dance-hall churches to Spain’s Ibiza, many of Europe’s music scenes have set the stage for America’s pop-culture junky travelers. However, the Azores, an emerging tourist destination, are rarely associated with these already passé scenes.  However, Furtado’s observation is what most people see while traveling through the Azores, a fusion of ancient and modern, old and new, without candy raver glow sticks, trance bass lines, and Louis Vuitton bags cluttering the panorama.

 Note "America's pop culture junky travelers" (are those junkies on vacation?)  And I'm so out of touch, I will admit I don't know what some of this stuff is (candy raver glow sticks?)

Among the diverse surroundings, travelers will not find five-story clubs with P-Diddy and Paris Hilton sipping Crystal, but they will find a rich culture that stands on its own.  A destination that you don’t have to cram your rucksack full of your Saturday night outfits, but with cool traveling clothes to accent the established by the sea watering holes.   So, while a visitor may stand on a cobblestone street overlooking looking the ocean, watching a local woman hang out her laundry, it is possible to hear modern day music bumping away in the background from a local coffee shop, or some young guys 12 inch kickers.  And it may just be Nelly Furtado’s music, influenced by her own Azorean descent and experience."

It is possible to watch the locals doing laundry AND see some guys/some guy's 12 inch kicks.  This means it's like visiting your relatives and their awkward laundry rituals, but still run into other wanna be partiers fuming to cool music in formerly quiet cafes.  What a vacationer's paradise! (NOT!)  

Quoted from http://www.azores-adventures.com/2013/10/nelly-furtados-azores-.html