The forecast for the 34 hours that we had on Sao Miguel island was just pure clouds and rain. By this point in our vacation, we were starting to get pretty tired...we'd been going non-stop and were pooped. Though disappointed that it was going to be nasty out, I was a teeny bit relieved that we would be able to sleep in and take bubble baths and take it slow and not feel guilty about it.
We picked up our rental car and drove the hour to the tiny coastal village of Mosteiros where I'd booked our hotel for the trip. The drive was beautiful and the scenery was so lush with massive hydrangeas lining the roads and morning glory vines blanketing the hillsides.
Our hotel consisted of 6 modern cubes overlooking the bay. It was one of my favorite hotels that we've ever stayed in. The walls looking out consisted of a massive sheet of glass and the bathroom had the most luxurious bathtub I've ever soaked in. We were giddy with excitement!
We unpacked and got settled in. It was storming like crazy with gale-force winds, but for a moment, it calmed down a bit and we saw a dash of blue skies! As is the custom, I had things that I wanted to see and wanted to check them out in case the weather got worse and we wouldn't have a chance later, so with some begging and pleading and bribery, I convinced Brian to drive us up to Lagoa do Fogo.
Lagoa do Fogo is a lake inside of the caldera of a volcano. There are several calderas near each other with lakes in different shades of blue and green and it's supposed to be a real sight to behold. The drive was about 40 minutes away, up through farm land and through dense forests. It's so lush there with so much sunshine and rain and it's just like a perfect little piece of paradise in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It still feels relatively undiscovered too, which was nice. I assume that in another ten years, it'll be Europe's newest hotspot and won't be the same.
As we climbed, it got cloudy again and the wind was like nothing I'd experienced before...it had to have been blowing at 70 mph. We parked and watched the rain blow sideways for a bit and marveled at it before getting out. It looked like it would be so cold and icy and miserable, but it was about 75 degrees and the rain was in such tiny droplets that you barely even noticed them and it was actually pretty cool. However, we couldn't see more than 5 feet in front of us, so we drove into Ponta Delgada to find something to eat for dinner. It was completely dead...like NOBODY was around. We walked around the Old Town for a bit but nothing was open and it was still crazy windy and rainy. We finally found a restaurant at the marina that was open and had an absolutely amazing meal there.
We drove back to our motel for the night where I took a bubble bath and we slept hard with the rain battering the side of our cube.
The next morning, the weather was much more agreeable - windy but warm with periodic moments of sunshine. We slept in a tad and ate breakfast at the motel and then ventured back up to Lagoa do Fogo to see if we could see anything this time. Again, the volcanos were shrouded in fog. We parked and went for a long hike through the Laurisilva forest and were mesmerized by the mist and the quiet and how beautiful everything was there.
All along our hike were these supposedly stunning lookouts, but we were just in a massive cloud and couldn't see anything. It made it feel pretty magical though.
From there, we followed the coast clockwise and soaked in the scenery. It reminded me so much of Ireland and a bit like Iceland for some reason...I suppose it was the green and the lava and the rough seas and the farmland. It was really beautiful.
We found a spot on the water for lunch while the sun was out and then continued along towards the northeast side of the island.
We finally made it to Furnas as it started pouring rain. Furnas is a town that's built literally inside the caldera of an active volcano that last erupted in 1630. It's considered to be the most dangerous volcano in the archipelago. There, we spent a couple of hours at these stunning Poca de Dona Beija hot springs while it rained. It was perfect <3
From Furnas, we had a couple hours' drive back to the hotel, so we grabbed KFC takeout and ate in our room that night. The next morning was our flight back to Lisbon for the day and then we continued back to Phoenix. We both agreed that we need to get back there again eventually and also explore some of the other islands of the Azores...we absolutely loved it! I must admit that our trip was a little rushed...there was so much to see and do and not nearly enough time to see and do it all, so I'm sure we'll go back someday and take a bit more time in the places that we really loved.
