I was asked to write a little more about my trip, so here it goes....

A little history first. My parents immigrated to California as teenagers where they met, got married and eventually had me. Growing up, my dad was never interested in going back to the "old country" so it wasn't until I was 32 and married, that I finally went back. My wife's grandparents, whom I'd never met, where still living in São Jorge and I also felt a need to go see where my parents grew up and get a better sense of my heritage. We arranged to get two weeks off from our jobs and decided to spend one week in São Miguel and another in São Jorge. São Miguel was going to be the "vacation" and São Jorge was going to be about family and visiting.

São Miguel

This was my fist time out of the country and a much needed vacation so we splurged a bit. We booked a really nice room at the Hotel Atlantico in Ponta Delgada over looking the harbor. The view was awesome and I loved the smell of the ocean that came into our room. I was really impressed with all the cobblestone, architecture and overall beauty of the city. I love the water so I was in heaven with all the swimming facilities they had right across the street from our hotel. One of the things that I really miss in the states is diving boards. As a kid, we would go camping a lot and diving boards where a normal part of every swimming pool, but thanks to insurance companies and lawyers, it's rare to find one anymore. That's not the case in the Azores. Granted, diving off a diving board into the ocean with sharp lava rock and jellyfish all around isn't the safest thing to do, it sure is fun!

We rented a car one day and decided to drive around the island. I drive automatic and apparently there is only one rental car on the WHOLE ISLAND that is automatic and it's always booked, so I had fun burning up the clutch of a brand new convertible bug. I can't think of a worse place to learn how to drive a stick shift than the narrow, steep, crowded alleys of São Miguel. I don't know how I didn't hit or kill anyone! By the end of the day, I was a pro but we still decided to rent a scooter the following days. Driving around the island was great. The scenery was beautiful and the roads, except for in the city, were a joy to drive. Hardly any traffic, except for the occasional heard of cows walking down the road. The people were great and extremely patient with what was obviously some tourist who didn't know how to drive stick. We stopped at all the touristy spots that you usually see in post cards from São Miguel and again, we where reminded that this was not the United States when we went to see the furnas. Here you have boiling hot water spewing up from deep within the earth and not a guardrail to be found. You could, and people do, boil food in them. This is both good and bad. Good because people don't need binoculars and a ticket to see these natural wonders, but bad because people also don't appreciate that these are natural wonders and as a result, they're littered with plastic bottles and trash. Hopefully no permanent damage will be done before people realize what they have.

The nightlife was fun and I miss walking along the sea wall in Ponta Delgada on those warm nights drinking coffee and hanging out people watching. I look forward to going back.

São Jorge

I used to travel a lot as part of a job I once had so I got a little spoiled, I admit it. So when we planned to go to São Jorge I was determined to stay in a hotel and not shack up in someone's home so we stayed at the Hotel São Jorge. It was a nice hotel in a great location and had a pool with a diving board! It took me a little bit to adjust to the pace of the island (SLOW) but I learned to appreciate it pretty quick. Not so much site seeing on this part of our trip but it was great to finally meet my wife's grandparents. Her grandparents had just put a fresh coat of paint on the outside of their house in preparation for our visit so it was bright white with blue trim and couldn't be missed. Their house was so interesting to me and I loved all the old stuff they had. From hand made brooms, the old out house (which was replaced by more modern indoor restroom) to the light switches in the house. They even had the old washbasin used to wash and ring out clothes. It's not used anymore, but it's concrete so it isn't going anywhere either.

My father is from São Jorge so I got to see the house where he grew up. The house was pretty much falling apart now but we still found pots and pans in the old kitchen. Growing up, my dad's parents used to live across the street from us so I got to spend a lot of time with them. They've both passed away now so it meant a lot to me to see where and how they lived before coming to the states. It's hard to imagine the risk they took to give their family a chance at a better life.

Like I mentioned earlier, I love the water so I thoroughly enjoyed the swimming holes in Velas. I packed a snorkel and fins and loved seeing all the fish everywhere. I didn't see many people snorkeling and I couldn't figure out why. With all the fish and rock it was a great place to snorkel. Next time I'll pack a spring suit (water a little on the cool side) and take a spear gun because I definitely saw some fish worth eating!

We had planned to visit Faial to see where my mom grew up, but the ferry broke down and then their schedule got messed up and we never ended up going. So next time, hopefully the summer of 2005, Faial is definitely going to be one of our stops. There's a lot of stuff I've left out and/or forgotten, but hopefully after reading all this, it's clear that we had a great time and look forward to going back.

I would like to thank some people and the business they work for, for the excellent service they provided. They are: 

Cora, now at Top Atlantico Travel Agency in Faial for finding us great rooms in great hotels during their busiest time of the year.

Jacinta at Caravelle World Travel in Gilroy, CA for helping us book all our air travel between Lisbon and the islands.

Greet and Captain Joseph Franck of Shanghai Fishing Charters in Faial for an experience I won’t soon forget.

The people at Hotel Açores Atlântico - Ponta Delgada
And
at Hotel São Jorge - Velas for all their great service.

Rent-A-Scooter on São Miguel for giving me an alternative to driving stick!
Rua dos mercadores, 65
Ponta Delgada
296-282-957

O Curisco Restaurant in São Miguel for some great food.

Rodney Santos
Festas Online