Terceira
04 July 2018
Monday 18th June saw us off at 0830 for the 51nm to Terceira and the port of Angra do Heroismo. Another flat calm, no wind and motoring - aargh, that Azores High.
This turned out to be our favourite island. Busier than Faial, Pico and Sao Jorge with a fascinating, historic town, lovely architecture and the start of the Sao Joaoninas Festival.
Angra do Heroismo is in an imposing location with the bay formed by the Monte Brasil promontory and itself the site of massive Spanish-built fortifications from the late 16th century, Fort Sao Joao Baptista. Still used by the Portuguese military, we had a guided tour.
Highlights on the island are the wild hinterland and a visit to Praia da Vitoria. In the former we explored the outstanding caves Gruta do Algar do Carvao and Gruta do Natal along with the fumaroles of Furnas do Enxofre. Praia provide the excellent Restaurante O Pescador where we had a sumptuous lunch … fish of course.
As time had moved on then so had the brilliant hydrangea-hedged roads with the blue and white flowers coming into bloom and creating a sensation of driving through an enormous garden.
We were looking forward to seeing the bull running (different from Pamplona in that only one bull is on the street at a time and usually has a rope attached so that it can be partially controlled) but our timing was out. The bulls were being rested for the Sao Joaoninas Festival and our schedule meant we could only see the start of the festival.
We did watch a horse-riding bullfighter - a cavaleiro - a going through his paces in the Praça de Toiros.
However, this was a major compensation – floats and people processing through the street in costumes depicting the history of the island, balconies enlivened by hanging quilts, streets decorated with lights and ornamental hangings and a very appreciative crowd lining the streets and cramming the balconies. With pop-up bars, restaurants, food stalls and live music we could have stayed for days.