Street – Ponta Delgada No. 1 is a photograph from my Sao Miguel – Azores Series. Many streets in Ponta Delgada are paved in a mosaic of black and white stone. The designs around Ponta Delgada vary between geometric and organic designs. This was one of my favorites that I saw during my time in the Azores.

Street – Ponta Delgada No. 1 – Sao Miguel, Azores can be purchased here at the Krauzyk.com online store.

More of the Sao Miguel, Azores Series can be seen here, at Krauzyk.com

If you live in the Greater Fall River, Massachusetts area please visit Taylor Photographic Studios for all your portraiture, family photograph or commercial photography needs!

Portuguese scientists find a fried egg-shaped depression on the Atlantic Ocean floor they think may be an impact crater…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: recession map. The blog is also related to: recession graph.

Straddling the mid Atlantic ridge around 950 miles west of Lisbon lays the stunning Azores archipelago. Often described as the tips of the lost continent of Atlantis, the islands maintain an Old World charm that is difficult to find almost anywhere
else in Europe.

The nine volcanic islands that make up the Azores lie about a third of the way across the Atlantic from the Portuguese coast. They are on the same latitude as Washington DC, but have a sub tropical feel about them due to the rich abundance of plants and flowers. Since the discovery of the islands in 1431 various authors have claimed that the islands are the remains of the lost continent of Atlantis.

Sao Miguel is the largest island consisting of two enormous volcanoes, Sete Cidades and Furnas, with a valley in the middle. Both volcanoes can be visited although Furnas is the only one still smoking. The sight of boiling black mud bubbling away within its craters is very dramatic and the mud is used in health treatments in the various spas that can be found on Sao Miguel.

The local restaurants offer Cozido das Caldeiras. A mixed stew cooked in a volcanoes crater although if you are serious about trying it you will need to order in advance as it takes eight hours to prepare. Sete Cidades is actually two linked craters that now form a double lake.

Taking immense pride in their discovery the Portuguese brought the finest architects and craftsmen to build magnificent churches and homes as they colonised the island.

The capital of the island, Ponta Delgada contains several baroque churches built of volcanic rock carved into arches and windows with anchors and shells.

The smaller islands of Santa Maria, Faial, Graciosa, Pico, Sao Jorge, Terceira, Corvo and Flores can all be reached by plane and there is a boat service connecting Sao Miguel with Santa Maria.

Whale Watch in Azores offers people from all walks of life a relaxing whale and holiday that can make a real difference to the environment. Regularly seeing 6 or 7 different species of cetacean in their natural environment, against the backdrop of Europes western frontier, the beautiful Azores archipelago.

The magic of the Azores guarantees a great time for all the family sun, sea, sand and a unique natural beauty to inspire even the youngest minds.

The Azores make a perfect holiday destination for families. Stunning scenery, fascinating sea life and a wealth of activities that can all be pre arranged by us to make sure you and your family enjoy a fantastic Azores Experience.

Roof Tiles – Sao Miguel, Azores is a black and white photograph from my Sao Miguel, Azores Series. While on Sao Miguel in the Azores, I would spend my down time photographing around my host’s property. I found many things around the home interesting. From shooting large landscapes of the hillsides, to smaller things surrounding the home. One afternoon while walking around I found some old roof tiles on the ground by the walkway to the home I was staying at. They were used, old and weathered, but still worth saving for future repairs. So, I photographed them and I am happy with the results.

Roof Tiles – Sao Miguel, Azores can be purchased here at the Krauzyk.com online store.

More of the Sao Miguel, Azores Series can be seen here, at Krauzyk.com

If you live in the Greater Fall River, Massachusetts area please visit Taylor Photographic Studios for all your portraiture, family photograph or commercial photography needs!

Two Stones – Sao Miguel, Azores is a photograph from my Sao Miguel – Azores Series of black and white photography. I was staying in the small hillside town of Lomba de Sao Pedro on Sao Miguel in the Azores. During my down time in between road trips around the island I would walk around my host’s property or into town to snap photos. I was walking around an adjacent property and came upon these two volcanic stones placed against the wall of a traditional home. I captured the photo, but the real artist was my host’s sister who placed the stones where they were. For me, this photograph says a great deal about Sao Miguel, especially the things I love most about it.

Two Stones – Sao Miguel, Azores can be purchased in a variety of sizes at my online store at www.krauzyk.com

More of the Sao Miguel – Azores series of photographs, can be found on www.krauzyk.com

My portraiture, family photography and commercial photography studio in Fall River, Massachusetts’ website it located here.

I was staying in the small, hillside town of Lomba de Sao Pedro in the Azores. The view from the garden of my host’s home looked across the countryside leading to the town of Salga set high on a nearby hill. Upon that hill sits the town church. I saw that scene many times each day under a variety of light conditions. I sketched it and took several photographs of it. The Church at Salga – Sao Miguel, Azores is a select favorite of all the photographs I’ve ever taken. It is certainly one of the best from my Sao Miguel – Azores series.

A musician friend of mine who, when performing well or witnessing another band or artist performing well used to always say “there are things going right here that only God is in charge of”. That’s how I feel about this photograph. For me, there’s just something about it. Unfortunately, since my visit, I’ve learned that this view had been obliterated by a modern building.  This must be a disappointment for my former host.

The Church of Salga – Sao Miguel, Azores is available for sale at my online store.

More of the Sao Miguel – Azores series of photographs, can be found on www.krauzyk.com

My portraiture, family photography and commercial photography studio in Fall River, Massachusetts’ website it located here.

Avo’s Garden – St. Michael (Sao Miguel), Azores, is a photograph is from my Sao Miguel – Azores series of black and white film photography. What struck me most about photographing St. Michael was the texture and contrast. Everywhere I went there was interesting subject matter. Old weathered stone, emerald green pastures, tea farms, long lava stone walls and endless rows of cobalt blue hydrangea. Around every corner something remarkable and beautiful would present itself. Even in the tiny little town of Lomba de Sao Pedro there was endless subject matter to photograph. It is there that I captured this photograph in my host’s garden. For me, it shows a lot of what I like about the Azores. The contrast, the texture and the weathering. I look forward to returning there in the future, it is an inspiring place. Avo’s Garden – Sao Miguel, Azores is available for purchase on my online store.

Avo’s Garden – Sao Miguel, Azores can be purchased at my online store at www.krauzyk.com

More of the Sao Miguel – Azores series of photographs, can be found on www.krauzyk.com

My portraiture, family photography and commercial photography studio in Fall River, Massachusetts’ website it located here.

But perhaps I have jumped into things too quickly. I haven’t really had much of a chance to explain that yes, I successfully made

Airport in São Miguel. Sort of classy for an airport, eh?

it though a wonderful week in the Azores (which I’m sure you all will hear plenty about, especially when I’m sitting in my lonesome back home in DC, whenever that is), arrived in São Tomé, learned how to type accents on my new computer, and, well, have just been having a heck of a time.

I took a plane from Ponta Delgada on the island of São Miguel in the Azores to Lisbon, then stayed with my cousins Marina and Sérgio and their adorable new bundle of baby, Santiago, for a couple of days. After getting a small preview of the awesome effects of Doxycycline if not swallowed under its very specific and rigid guidelines (I say “preview” because there was much more to come but two weeks later), I hit the airport again, bags ready to go, toting a spartan number of tank tops and shorts, a disproportionate weight of candy and books, and a really nice bottle of Azorean wine to give to my gracious host, Ned.

All this was in the forefront of my mind when we traveled from the little mini airport shuttle at nearly midnight towards our plane, an odd time for a flight and a totally disorganized system of boarding that even seemed a little out of the ordinary for Portugal, a country I once lambasted for its own lack of efficiency and charm. I couldn’t help but wonder if Portugal and São Tomé were still on hesitant (if not hostile) terms.

My wondering was quickly floored by awe as we approached our plane, a once-a-week luxury of TAP Portugal, and, clear as anything else I’d ever read in my life, in letters the size of people, the name of the plane reads:

WHITE

No, this is not a joke. But you might think the following is: Below it reads:

Coloured by You

White, Coloured by You, courtesy of the White website- http://www.flywhite.eu

Good Lord, how I wish I could make this stuff up.

I could hardly keep myself from laughing. I’m sure people thought I was crazy. The plane is called WHITE? And it’s colored by…what…a rainbow of singing, dumb Africans that somehow, at the right time, just showed up for the plane trip of their lives??

Well, what do you do?

You say, okay! We’re getting on this huge, phallic machine called WHITE, and we’re going to penetrate virgin Mother Afrika at 400 miles per hour.

My life in São Tomé has been peppered with little bits that make me laugh like this. What else CAN you do when a country’s history of European control is so recent (they only became independent in the mid-1970s)? Not only this, but their whole home, their entire history began as an overflow zone for starving Cape Verdeans in an overpopulated island to contract into honest work, only to be deceived and thrown into slavery. How do you come to terms with that when it’s something the Santomenses deal with every day of their life?

The STeP UP office

Among a few English classes, some translations, some great friend-making (I love standing out; I feel like people in the USA never remember my face but here everyone knows who I am) and other things, the thing that keeps me busy here (and what I originally arrived for) was to help an incredible NGO called STeP UP (São Tomé e Príncipe Union for Promotion) coordinate and work out the kinks of a very generous donation by the One Laptop Per Child Program to a local middle school in the capital. About 90 very excited twelve year olds were handed an amazingly efficient, durable, and inexpensive laptop computer that is complete with photo/video camera, microphone, a swivel frame, multiple USB ports and wireless internet access (you can buy one for yourself or any child for $250, and included in this $250 is the donation of a laptop to a child in a poor country as well- how about that!). I’m here to learn the OLPC platform and teach it to teachers and students alike, then facilitate a way for them to incorporate these computers in their everyday learning environment (both in school and at home).

Yesterday was my first day of class with the kids themselves. While we waited in hopes that the energy would turn back on

The kids wait for the energy to come back on in class. And go camera-happy while we wait

(something that is horribly unreliable and inconsistent, and often just doesn’t work at all), the poor kids waited, say 75 of them, crowded into one classroom, for hours. I couldn’t leave them there so I thought I would at least get their attention and play some games- whatever I could think of on my feet, really- 7 Up, red light green light (outside), and, my favorite, Hangman.

At least it was my favorite, until I suddenly wanted to simultaneously laugh and cry. Here I am, a white woman, of Portuguese descent nonetheless, teaching these African children a really great spelling game that incorporates lynching. I am certainly going to Hell.

Either the kids never picked up the reference, or someone Up There was on my side yesterday, because the kids actually loved the game and it occupied a solid 30 minutes of our time. But good grief, what a trip. I had played my own race card, and it was a wild card, and here I am in Africa, and, from now on, Hangman is going to be something much, much less violent.

iLoveAzores é uma comunidade virtual que pretende reunir a maior base de dados georeferenciada dos Açores. O projecto foi  desenvolvido pela equipa responsável pelo site Belacena, comunidade online para partilha de vídeos que actualmente conta com um milhão e meio de visualizações mensais e uma média de 20 mil vídeos vistos por dia.

O site foi lançado a 25 de Outubro e já tem cerca de uma centena de membros.

Para ficar com uma ideia do funcionamento do site, aconselho-o a ver o vídeo de apresentação. Um excelente exemplo de como a Web 2.0 poderá contribuir para a divulgação e promoção de uma região.

After a walk along the coast i noticed that the  Sunset would be majestic. I putted the tripod near the sea but the waves of 2 to 3 meters would not let me get too close, in fact I arrived and equipment to get a little wet.

For about 30 minutes after the sun goes down, the sky was filled with bright colors and strong.

Photograph made in the Azores, the island of Sao Jorge, Pico horizon.

By Beth

It looked like the town was on fire.

That might have been what early settlers thought, as Furnas, a small town on the island of Sao Miguel, in the Azores, took a little bit longer than other places to build a community. My guess is that they second they landed, they turned right back. Not only did the town look like it was about to explode, but it smelled terrible too; sulfur covered you in whiffs that cascaded into your nostrils with every touch of the lighest breeze. It was unavoidable. You felt the sulphur in your clothes; your hair. It seemed a land of bad eggs- and what killed me was that the real estate is surprisingly costly here.

Furnas is a hot tourist attraction- and I don’t mean that they way Paris Hilton uses it. Its ground, in many places, is about 180 degrees Fahrenheit and warmer. The whole area is nearly plagued with small volcanic holes, entrances into the earth’s extremely hot eruptive source. Yet it’s not as scary as you may think: the volcano it self has been inactive for years.

Water high in iron oxidizes the rock it touches

Though this may be something known regularly by Furnas’ locals, to me it seemed like the earth would explode at any minute. Pools of hot water bubbled fervently. Holes that have been dried up for years still steam hot vapor, and deep below the earth’s surface you can hear a low rumbling down underneath (the story goes that when settlers arrived, little devils were all over the area. Saint Michael threw them into these deep holes, and the low rumbling that you hear when you walk by the smoky wells is actually the little devils scratching and roaring to escape). The ground itself is a multitude of color- yellow sulfur, silver and bright reds and oranges from a high iron content turn the volcanic rock into a virtual rainbow.

Yet Furnas has made the most of what it has been offered. The town and its surrounding areas have been boasting hot baths, fresh water and, my favorite,

Old-style hot bath!

naturally heated swimming pools, for years. If you make the request a day ahead of time, local restaurants will happily serve you with their favorite- steamed meat, vegetables and potatoes. And they’re steamed in nothing less than the Earth’s mighty furnace itself. Large pots of food are covered and placed in the holes that are waterless yet steaming. They sit there for nearly seven hours, and at 12:30 each day, restaurant workers come to the area to remove, with very long hooks, the day’s “catch”. It is a direct interaction between man and nature, and to watch it is beautiful (if not slightly posed- for pictures, of course).

After the food is fished out of the volcano, you can follow your own restaurant’s truck to lunch. And there it is- seasoned, steamed, delicious piles of chourico, pork, chicken, cabbage, carrots, potatoes and the Azores’ best yams.

My food’s been to Hell and back. Has yours?

Hoje vi uma notícia na RTP-Açores que me fez perder as estribeiras!

Para quem não sabe, o Governo Regional adquiriu alguns terrenos circundantes da Lagoa das Sete Cidades, para prevenir a eutrofização. Isto porquê?

Lavradores locais utilizavam(utilizam) adubos/fertilizantes que, com a ajuda das chuvas, vão parar para a lagoa.

Ora… com esta situação, começa a acelerar de forma descontrolada a eutrofização:

Quando, para meu espanto… o jornalista da RTP diz que um lavrador, como sinal de protesto, tinha depositado ainda mais adubos/fertilizantes para a lagoa.

Passei-me…

E só digo… ERA ARRANCAR a cabeça a esse cabrão!

Señores, compatriotas y compañeros de batalla. Ya dije algo hace poco acerca de mi idea de la Hispanidad. Mucha gente se espantó, y otra cosa no me esperaba de los buenistas. Sin embargo, a pesar de que valoro el día de la conquista y el descubrimiento de América, por las implicaciones que tuvo para nuestra prosperidad económica, siento decir que el día 12 de octubre no me van a ver en el desfile de la “hispanidad” porque este concepto, “hispanidad”, es uno que no comparto por lo que se ha convertido hoy en día, por culpa de, en parte, el filo-falangista General Francisco Franco. No obstante, celebraré la conquista a mi manera: prometí a mis detractores que celebraré ese día tomándome unas pintas de cerveza, al más puro estílo germánico. Hoy les hablaré de varios conceptos, en ningún orden particular.
——————————————————————
Nuestro patrimonio está en peligro, nuestro patrimonio común. Los valores básicos de una sociedad libre, una sociedad decente, se ven amenazados.

La hispanidad, tal y como se celebrará el 12 de octubre, se ha convertido en una enfermedad, y en un festival cutre, latino y mediocre. Ya dije en agosto cual era la España que yo celebro y cuales son los conceptos que rechazo. Me tomaré las pintas, celebraré la conquista y el proyecto civilizador para Occidente, pero no me verá nadie en el desfile, pues mi sentimiento internacional no está con Sudamérica – está con toda persona y país que ame y defienda la libertad, sean de habla hispana o no. Espero que el 12 de octubre al menos sirva para despertar algo de conciencia nacional entre algunos españoles. El hecho de que una mayoría haya elegido a Zapatero como presidente es señal de que, por mucho que nos digan lo contrario, el sentido/sentimiento nacional casi ha muerto. El 12 de octubre debe utilizarse para reafirmar España y nuestro futuro, un futuro que, si Dios quiere, eliminará a Zapatero y el PSOE del poder, con una fuerte recuperación de la derecha democrática y liberal, la reactivación de nuestra economía, la legalidad reestablecida, y que España vuelva al protagonismo de las Azores, una foto que me enorgullece como español, y deje de estar al margen, compartiendo sobremesa con dictadores repugnantes y barriobajeros como Evo Morales y Hugo Chávez. Es normal que un gobierno del PSOE comparta tiempo con esos personajes: los socialistas, en España, y en todo el mundo, siempre han representado los sectores más bajos y fracasados de las sociedades.

Sperm Whale ©George Karbus 2009

Irelands leading underwater marine photographer George Karbus has added a new gallery of images, mostly from deep waters close to the Azores Islands. Along with his galleries of award winning Irish images of marine wildlife, this is a rare chance to see some top quality underwater images of cetaceans, shot in open ocean locations.

See the photos here

A cultural and community complex is proposed for construction on more than a half acre of land in Paia.  The Heritage Hall project would serve as a multi-purpose community center and office complex, honoring the history and culture of Portuguese and Puerto Rican immigrants to Maui.

The proposed Heritage Hall is planned for development on land once used by the old Paia Dispensory. Archival photograph of Paia Dispensary Facility provided by D. Heafey, HC&S & published in the State of Hawaii’s Environmental Notice in report filed by Munekiyo & Hiraga, Inc.

Word of the planned project first surfaced in 2003 when A&B offered the parcel for the development under a partnership between the Maui Puerto Rican Association and the Portuguese Association of Maui.

The subject parcel is located on land along Baldwin Avenue just mauka of the Lower Hamakuapoko Road near the former Paia Mill, Paia Post office and Paia Train Depot sites.  The project site is currently vacant, however there are remnants of the foundation and walls from the former Paia Dispensary, which was located at the project site.

The project consists of two separate structures totaling approximately 5,596 square feet. The structures would house a social hall, kitchen, cultural resource center, and related amenities. The facility would also include approximately 1,025 square feet of space that can be leased to a public or non-profit organization serving the Paia area.

The two groups plan to offer assistance with genealogical research and translations as well as demonstrations at the site.  Proposed activities include demonstrations on the making of pasteles, dancing plenas and meringues from Puerto Rico, learning the Portuguese chamarrita (dance from the Azores), and baking bread in an outdoor stone oven.  The activities, along with Portuguese and Spanish language classes, are currently being provided to the community by the partner organizations.

Heritage Hall is also proposed to provide space for meetings, and various other community activities.

Estimated construction cost of the project is in the $4.5 million range.

(Posted by Wendy Osher; Information provided courtesy the State of Hawaii and Munekiyo & Hiraga, Inc.; Archival photograph of Paia Dispensary Facility provided by D. Heafey, HC&S & published in the State of Hawaii’s Environmental Notice)

Ok ok, I know what you are thinking..a grilled brie and pineapple jam sandwich? I am totally not a fan of mixing fruit with my dinner, but this is truly an amazing combination. This summer I spent a few weeks on the Azores Island with my girlfriends family. She is a vegetarian and didn’t have to many exciting meals options, manly because the only food options on the islands are chicken, beef, cheese and bread. Good thing the islands also grow some amazing pineapples. We started eating corn bread, cheese and pineapple jam on day one and took it back to Canada with us.

Ingredients

• Fresh egg bread
• Slices of brie ( a little goes a long way)
• Pineapple jam
• Butter

Method

1. Butter the bread on the outsides and spread a thin layer of pineapple jam on the inside
2. Place on a skillet on medium high heat and place something heavy on top of the sandwich to weigh it down. I use a cast-iron pan, this will ensure even and direct heat
3. Cook on both sides until the cheese starts to melt, total cook time was about 6 minutes

I am going to tell you all a story.

Once upon a time there was a young girl who traveled to the lands of her ancestors for the first time since she was two years old. She had no memory of the islands and so didn’t know what to expect, thus the journey was very hard. She braved the world’s smallest sidewalks and streets full of wild drivers. She endured the stares of strange men who acted as though they had never seen a woman before and who spoke in a language she didn’t understand. She stood on the rim of vast volcanic craters and bathed in the sea where sirens were said to have seduced many a sailor. She battled giant insects.

But one day she followed her parents to a place that had belonged to the ancestors of her stepmother (who was not at all wicked) and she fell in love. A guide, a humble farmer, led them through an old stone gateway and up a long winding path lined with walls that were slowly collapsing over time. As they climbed the hill, which was shrouded in trees, they came to a second stone gateway, more impressive than the first, and which seemed among the trees like some remnant of an ancient race. Next, they came to a small overgrown coach house, barely recognizable. And finally, they arrived at the great stone steps leading up to a house that seemed to have been sleeping for a hundred years. It had been abandoned twenty years ago but before that it had been a beautiful 18th century English style manor house. Now it had no roof. The walls, once a beautiful rose color, were faded and covered in Mulberry bushes. And over the years some of the Islanders had snuck onto the property and stolen the stone steps.

The house called to her. The bracken and the land called to her. And whatever spirits there are on that, the oldest of the nine islands, reached out to her. So she wished a powerful wish that somehow, no matter what it took, they would be able to save the house and wake it from its slumbers. But, of course, no one could grant her wish for the house was not for sale and so they left. But they never forgot.

Years later, when they no longer thought of such impossible things the girl’s stepmother was looking through the paper when she noticed the house was for sale. But, unfortunately, the price was too high and there was no way they could even think of buying it. Time passed. Rich Europeans came to the house wanting to build a golf course or looking for some way to make money. But none of them committed to buying it. Then, one day, the price had gone so far down that it seemed suddenly quite possible to buy the house for themselves.

With growing excitement, the girl consulted the cards. She asked, "What will happen if we get this house and what will happen if we do not." The answer was clear. Both paths were good, but only one was fated. The cards said without a doubt that they were fated to get the house. So when life grew more complicated, when it seemed over the course of a year that there was no way they could afford such a project, the girl heard a voice whispering over and over again, "It is fated".

At last, they returned to the islands once more, without a hope of ever getting the house they dreamed of. The property taxes were too high, the house would need water, sewage, and electricity and they had no idea whether or not they could get funding from the government. So they looked at other houses, never truly satisfied with what they saw.

After a few weeks they decided to return once more to the house. Once more they called the farmer to lead them up the pathway only this time they were not alone. The owners of the house, the heirs, had come the very same day from the continent to walk through the ruins. It seemed as though fate had called them at the very same moment. They shared stories of the house’s grandeur and beauty when it had been awake and full of life. And the girl’s parents made it clear they were interested in restoring the house to its former glory. Once more they were reminded, in walking through the forest, of the magic that hummed in the land and they resolved to try to buy it.

They talked to the government. They talked to an architect. They discovered that the government would pay for a third of the cost of restoring it. And so they made an offer, lower than the asking price, fearful the owners would never accept it. But, reader, they did. And now they are the proud owners of seventeen acres of land and a ruined mansion on a hill in the Azores.

***
Perhaps I should change all my profiles to say "dreaming of her quinta on one of the nine islands of the Azores And if you don’t believe me, here are some pictures to prove it’s true!

The quinta

the quinta again

The second gate

The stone steps

Depois de dois dias agradáveis em Santa Maria, voltei à terra – São Miguel – ao stress!

Para quem não sabe (e deve haver muito boa gente que não sabe), é a “ilha-vizinha” de São Miguel.

Começou com a viagem de barco: no famoso Viking

Duas horas de viagem (mais meia hora de espera, aproximadamente, entre embarque e desembarque). Porquê?!

Sim, porque a rampa para saída de viaturas do famoso barco só sai na vertical e, como podem ver pela imagem, precisa de um (não me lembro o nome), para trazê-la para fora.

Depois, começou o melhor: o relaxo total!

Chegar à pousada (já por volta das 23 horas de Sexta-feira) e deitar-me, com o magnífico som das ondas!

Abrir a janela e deparar-me com isto à minha frente:

Passeio matinal na praia (9h00 - Praia Formosa)

Praia Formosa - vista da varanda do apartamento

Saindo da Praia, começa uma íngreme subida rumo a outras andanças. Aqui fica a vista de cima da Praia Formosa.

Vista da Praia Formosa (Miradouro da Macela)

Ainda de outro ângulo:

Passando por outro local espectacular: Maia

Maia

Piscina natural na Maia

Por outros lados, uma particularidade, as chaminés típicas de Santa Maria.

Chaminé Típica de Santa Maria

Outro local, desta vez,  foi o último local que visitei… mas, ao contrário das duas idas a Santa Maria no ano passado, apanhei um tempo FABULOSO, que permitiu imagens como estas:

São Lourenço visto de um miradouro

São Lourenço

Algures pela ilha, podemos ver mais algumas imagens curiosas:

Amigos?

E aqui, a caminho do lugar dos Anjos, algumas parecenças com o Algarve.

A caminho do lugar dos Anjos

Finalizada a estadia em Santa Maria e, já no decorrer da viagem de barco, momentos como estes são sempre lindos:

Pôr-do-sol algures pelo oceano Atlântico

Quais as razões para gostar tanto de ir a Santa Maria?

- Adoro a viagem de barco;

- É bom espairecer, não ter ninguém que nos chateie (tudo “novo”, não conheço ninguém, estou por minha conta);

- Ilha MUITO pacata (a melhor característica desta ilha) (é costume encontrar-se casas com chave na porta);

- Bonita ilha;

- Gentes fantásticas (hospitaleiras, simpáticas, tudo de bom mesmo) (mas, como tudo na vida, nada é perfeito, obviamente) – mas não tive razões de queixa até hoje (e já vão 5 viagens a Santa Maria);

- Etc, etc…

Só quem lá vai pode dizer o mesmo (para quem gosta de descansar, claro), é o local ideal!

I’m not sure where to start. My trip was really good, much better than the last time I was there six years ago after I had just graduated from high school. I’m not sure if it was easier this time because the Azores has changed a lot in six year or if it’s because I have changed a lot. Probably a little of both. I think I’m just going through all of this in bits and pieces, so bear with me.

1. The food is bloody fantastic. There are not enough expletives to describe how marvelous the food was. The egg yolks are brighter, a more brilliant reddish-orange. The cheese is pungent and makes me think of sulphur. The fruit there is better than any fruit I have ever had, barring the oranges in Spain. I do not even like fruit, but I could eat nothing but fruit there. The grapes, the cantaloupe, the pineapple, the passionfruit! Oh the desserts I could make with those fruits!

Of course, the best food I had there was cooked by Liz’s mother who is a genius and who would be the richest woman in the world if she were to open her own restaurant. I never understood why everyone thought Portuguese cuisine was so delicious for years because I was a vegetarian. Now that I can eat nothing but meat and vegetables I understand what they were talking about. The blood sausage is addictive, and again I don’t even like blood sausage. They also have a bread sausage called alheira which I could not stop eating.

Surprisingly, the most disappointing foods were the sweets. They really only have one bakery there and nothing in particular stood out to me as fantastic. They did have a sweet bread or massa sovada that was less sweet than they usually make it and tasted like challah which was delicious. And they had corn bread (not like ours, but an actual bread made with corn flour) that was made without wheat flour and that I wish I could send to all my gluten intolerant friends. But by far the best thing I had there were the queijadas from Sao Miguel (the main island). Queijadas are a bit confusing to describe. They are pastries sometimes made with fresh cheese sometimes with bean paste or other fillings. These may have just been made with milk and not cheese. I’m not sure. But, friends, I could eat these particular queijadas everyday. All the time. Forever! Needless to say I ate way too many thing I should not have eaten, and paid for it. Oh but it was worth it.

2. Giant insects and one mouse. Yes, there are giant insects. Santa Maria is prone to giant flying cockroaches. They mostly live at the beach and come out at night. Can I just say that again? Giant, flying cockroaches. The length of my thumb. Also, my father encountered what he named the giant spider of death. It was black and very ugly and climbing up a wall outside, thank god! The mouse I encountered in LIz’s grandmother’s house because I happen to stay up later than everyone else. We enjoyed fun times together which included me accidentally chasing him into my bedroom. Thankfully, I am not afraid of mice, even wild ones, and was just happy to have a friend.

3. It never does go smooth. We spent the first week at the beach which was lovely, but then we moved to a house in the most rural part of the island. It was painfully beautiful there, but unfortunately there had been a drought and so lucky us the day we moved there there was no running water. I’m not sure if any of you have ever experienced this before, but it is not fun. However, it does make you realize how dependent we are on such things. No showers, no toilet flushing, no washing hands in the sink, no brushing teeth, no washing dishes. Oh yes, it was hell. We only stayed there for a day. Then we moved on to Liz’s grandmother’s house where –surprise!– the phone was no longer working. Some men were working on the phone lines and they ended up hooking up everyone’s phones except ours.

4. Most of the cats on the island look like scruffy oversized rats. I suspect they are not well cared for. However we did see some cats who were plump and lazy and one house had kittens. A black kitten, to be exact. I fell in love. We wanted to steal it away with us.

5. We also spent most of our time running around looking at houses for sale. Something that struck me while we were doing this was that there seemed to be two very distinct options. THere were houses that were small, ruined, but traditional and those were always the one’s we felt more drawn to. And then there were large, modern houses with dream kitchens (which, let’s face it, is all I really care about) and even though these houses were ideal in so many ways, I didn’t want them. They weren’t special. My parents echoed this sentiment which just goes to prove that we are all quite mad in this household.

6. We also performed some of my dad’s portuguese for various people and everyone really liked them and my voice. I fell torn because I know I could do a lot with music in Portugal, but I’m not ready to exile myself to a foreign country just yet. Still, I think if we do manage to record this CD people are going to be blown away.

7. Cookbooks! I have now a ridiculous number of Portuguese cookbooks so I’ll be experimenting with making delicious foods soon.

I’m not sure what else to say. I’ve got some other exciting news for separate posts. And I will try to post pictures soon!

Em Santa Maria!

Valokuvatorstaissa jäljietään tämän linkin takana olevan kuvan viitoittamaa polkua.

- tutista tie vie… -

© All pics: aritzaranburu.com

Summer is one of the four seasons of temperate zones. It begins with the summer solstice, and ends with the autumn equinox. Summer is characterized by having longer days and more sunlight inclination, and the highest temperatures of the year …

The waves are not normally very good, not to mention the yellow flags of blackball, and other crap like; if you get caught riding a bike or skateboard along the seawall from the beach, you’ll be fined; parking inspectors will be on your back, watching every 5 minutes …

Why are we so fond of summer and why does no one take a vacation in September?

I’m writing from the Azores, the island of Sao Miguel to be precise. It’s the first time the WQS has wrapped up in these islands and the truth is, it has been a success. The waves have hardly stopped pumping. The WT at Lowers also approaches, which will start the second half of the season.

I’ll leave you with some photos …

- Aritz

Foi excelente esta prova do mundial.

Cento e tal candidatos, de diversos países, 6 dias de prova.

Por circunstâncias óbvias (trabalho), só fui ontem e hoje.. e ADOREI!

FINAL
1st, William Cardoso (BRA) 13.57 pts
2nd, Jadson Andre (BRA) 10.80 pts

SEMIFINALS
Heat 1: William Cardoso (BRA) 14.00 pts Def. Austin Ware (USA) 10.36 pts
Heat 2: Jadson Andre (BRA) 13.27 pts Def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 11.94 pts

Parabéns ao português Tiago Pires, que chegou às meias-finais, foi o único surfista a ter nota máxima numa das ondas: 10.

E ele que até partiu uma das pranchas no dia de ontem, como podem ver numa das fotos.

Aqui ficam algumas fotos.