the azores, a tiny group of islands in the atlantic ocean. illustration: m. s., type font: g. w.

this is a rough translation of my short azores blog (in german language); it was read and appreciated by so many readers that it might be interesting to make it accessable to english readers.

i just came back from my second visit to the azores and would like to put this group of islands in the middle of the atlantic ocean a little bit more into focus. and: the people there deserve more attention. the azores are located ca. 3,000 km west of central europe. drawing a straight line from lisbon to philadelphia, you reach the azores after a bout 1/3 of the trip. the flights between lisbon and the azores are subsidized and cheap. we flew from frankfurt (with SATA) and düsseldorf (with airberlin) nonstop within 4 hours to the main island of sao miguel. i’ve heard that easyjet is intending to fly there. the prices are in the realm of prices for flights to the canary islands.

other than the canaries the azores are green, green, green, all year through. like the canaries the azores have lots of ex-vulcano craters. other than on the canaries the water is abundant. like the canaries the azores are very hilly.

the azores are known as the weather kitchen for central europe. and indeed we sometimes, after flying back, found that the azorean weather reached us about three days later. the clouds on the azores are spectacle, always. the dolphins which you see with your naked eye, hundreds and hundreds, too. the roads are in good condition, whereas the tourism is still in a starting state. the azores have an extraordinary variety of public and private botanical gardens, called jardins. most were originally planted by english biologists in the 19th century. here you find all kinds of plants, and the azorean people keep everything neat and tidy. even the roadsides are planted, many with hydrangea.

farming is so omnipresent that the soil is over-fertilized – which does no good to the ground water. we bought the commonly used 6 liter water bottles in supermarkets. excellent tasty water for very little money. the bottled water is especially good for tea, and, believe it or not: → they do grow tea here (green and black)! the orange pekoe from sao miguel island used to be very popular in england. the tea plants in the north of the island are up to 100 years old.

excellent street, not much traffic and overwhelming clouds over sao miguel island. photo: d. r.

due to the gulf stream the climate is mild. during the late summer weeks of our two stays we had moderate temperatures around 22° C. but in the sun it can easily go up to 30°. the nights in september were mild with around 18°. we sometimes encountered mosquitos, but not this summer. also, wind is said to be typical for the azores. we had mighty and up on the hills sometimes brisk winds a year before, but hardly any wind this time. the water temperature in summer until autumn is moderate as well, i experienced 21° C this time. there are lots of lagunas and beaches with clear water, wonderful to swim and, from what we’ve heard, to dive. we saw lots of portuguese men of war, a certain type of jellyfish in the water or on the beach on some days. when they are big enough their tentacles do burn. it’s good to do some snorkeling before swimming blindly. according to locals, the sharks or barracudas avoid the coasts; no injuries reported.

the islands would not be that green, flowery and fertile if it didn’t rain from time to time. rain is always possible, but we encountered no periods of rain longer than half a day or so. most portuguese people, even in the center town ponta delagada, don’t use umbrellas when it drizzles. my brother, however, experienced a whole week of rain in spring. you see clouds hovering above or in the mountains all the time. so if you’re getting hot at the south coast, just drive up 10 minutes to 1,000 meters and you’ll encounter quite a different climate. i love driving through the azorean fog – and out of the fog downhill, into the sun.

i haven’t visited the other azorean islands. they are so far apart from each other that you better fly there. the tourist council has to do something about the pricing, maybe subsidizing certain routes on certain days. the island of pico is famous for its excellent wines, red and white. the fish in the restaurants are fresh. portuguese cooking is simple and excellent for fish. it comes grilled, with potatoes and salad. i had delicious barracuda, tuna, bluefish and sepia. you need to know the restaurants who do a good job here. the others don’t want to rip you off, they are just not that experienced to keep the fish juicy and delicious. often one meal serves two, and the prices for basically everything (but the gasoline) are so low that you can eat fish every day. we have three favourite restaurants where a standard meal with fish and wine never exceeded 30 € for two.

tourism is still “under development”. in cafés it sometimes takes ages until the waiter comes to your table. it’s better to come to them. the reason is not rudeness, just a lack of experience with what we in central europa consider as good service.

lagoa do fogo. steep walk down. 100 m. photo: m. s.

the mobile phone network on the main island (and probably on the others) is okay. many cafés and houses do have wifi. the mobile phone providers sell SIM-cards for iPad, android & co without asking for your ID or credit card. example: prepaid 9.99 € with MEA. that includes SIM-card, automatic authorisation and 10 hours mobile internet. i never saw “LTE” on my display, but the 3G network and even E is decently fast. many places on the island, however, have no mobile access at all. when you’ve used up your 10 hours (we used only half within two weeks) you pay another 9.99 to get another set of 10 hours. and when you fly back, just take the SIM card out. no obligations.

before my first visit i was concerned about the island being maybe to small for me and the main town, ponta delgada, a mere village. both was not the case, and now i still find roads and views i haven’t seen before. since the light and the clouds change all the time, the same spots look different all the time anyway. sao miguel island is about 60 km long and only 6 km wide at its slim center.

well, there are lots of things like the market in downtown ponta delgada with the fresh fish, ananas, sweet potatoes, fresh coriander… and don’t forget to read isabel albergaria’s wonderful book about the gardens of the azores.