Day 1 – Wednesday, June 20, 2012
We arrived in Ponta Delgada at 6:30 this morning to a
rainy and cool morning after an easy overnight flight from Toronto. The kids enjoyed the flight, though weren’t
able to stay awake for the meal, which wasn’t served until 11 pm as the flight
departed at 9:45 pm. I don’t think
Magnus would have impressed with the chicken anyway – the crunchy delicious
exterior neatly disguised the mashed broccoli stuffing inside which, while
delicious to most adult palates, would have made him gag. And the last time we flew to Azores, five
years previous, Magnus began the flight by unloading his stomach contents on
his dad, covering me from neck to ankle in coagulated milk substance whose foul
smell nearly caused a chain reaction vomit party on the airplane. I’ve reminded him frequently about that
experience since then and it makes him laugh every time.
We were met at the airport by several of Ana’s family –
Tio Luis, cousin Natarcia and cousin Pedro and his beautiful daughter Bella,
who seemed two feet taller than the last time we saw her. We drove to Natarcia’s parent’s house and had
a short visit over a delicious breakfast of fresh buns, cheese and coffee. We then moved onto Ana’s aunt Ana’s house,
which was to become our home for the next two weeks. It was so nice to see her and tio Joe again
after so many years. To our delight,
absolutely nothing had changed in the neighbourhood, and this is the real
delight of the Azores, the slow pace of change and the simpler style of living. This is still a place where the mornings
bring vendors, sometimes by truck, other times by horse and cart, down the
street selling milk, vegetables, bread and fish. We were astonished to see this the first time
we visited ten years ago, and it continues on today.
After a visit with Ana and Joe, a delightful nap for
yours truly, and a delicious fish lunch, we took the kids for a big walk down
to the nearby town of Lagoa, which is home to an amazing ocean-side recreation
area consisting of natural ocean swimming areas, artificial chlorinated pools,
and a snack bar serving food, drinks and ice cream. By this time, the rain clouds had scattered,
and it was a sunny 22 degrees outside, which brought out the lizards on the
rock fences which are everywhere and serve as property line divisions,
providing amble hunting opportunities for the kids. Since we didn’t pack our swimsuits, we just
stopped at the pools for a coffee and ice cream and to show the kids around, in
particular, we had to show them the “Boca da Belaea”, which is a part of the
pools where the incoming swells force out the air from an underwater cave and
result in an explosion of water which resembles the blow hole expulsion of a
whale. Stella and Magnus were very
impressed, but failed to believe our assertions that there was indeed a whale
trapped in there causing the spray.
On the way back home we stopped at the nearby port to see
the fishermen chopping bait and getting ready for the next morning’s efforts on
the sea. We passed by one proud fellow
who had caught a gigantic lobster, and Ana was quick to snap a picture. We also stopped at a small market and picked
up some essentials – kids sugar cereal, beer and wine!
After we arrived, it wasn’t long until all four of us
were napping – Ana out on the balcony in the sun, and the kids and I on a bed
in a cool room. Considering the kids
only slept for a few hours on the plane, I was amazed they had stayed awake
that long. Ana and I woke up around 7pm
and tried to wake the kids, but they were finished for the night, so we just
packed them into bed, then went downstairs for a nice dinner and an easy evening
visiting with tia Ana.
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