Bonkers

Our vacation in 2016 brought us to the Acores, more specifically to Terceira. Different to the largest island Sao Miguel Terceira has only very limited tourism. What we experienced is a lifely island with beautiful landscapes, coasts and buildings, as well as a lot of friendly people. Surprisingly many of whom spoke english, which easily made up for our total lack of portugese.

The Hotel

Terceira Mar Hotel was our first choice and it was a good choice. The room was clean, the view spectacular, the employees friendly and competent and the food good.

The huge salt water pool was a welcome refreshment after a day of touring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Angra do Heroismo

Angra is the capital of the island and the largest city. The city center is in walking distance from the hotel, which made it easy to discover restaurants and shops before falling tired into our beds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Coast

Since Terceira is a volcanic island there is little what you would call a sandy beach. There are a few smaller patches that are inviting for a swim though. The locals mostly make do with what is prepared for swimming by adding ramps, handrails or steps.

On the Island

I let the images speak for themselves, this is one of the places I really want to visit again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since agriculture is a primary part of the islands economy a lot of land is used for cattle and crop, however the efforts to conserve the islands beauty are paying off, you don’t see any massive scale fields or herds, on the contrary, what is there adds to the experience.

Volcanos

The main reason for the existence of the island is volcanism and it shows. Not only at the coast where the lava met the see, but also inland where most of the walls that seperate the fields are made of volcanic rocks.

The last erruptions happened only a few thousand years ago so there is still some activity left.

One of the volcanos can be visited and differently to most volcanos on the world you can visit this on the inside!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Misc

The highest point of the island is Serra de Santa Bárbara. On a clear day the view is phantastic and you can see some of the other islands of the acores

On not so clear days you get moistureized 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Whale Dolphin watching tour was a failure success, we saw at least 20 dolphins.

 

Food

Last but certainly not least, the portugese like their food and here on Terceira that means either sweet, meat, cheese or fish. All are excellent and even the smallest food joint can cook up a mean burger. Don’t forget to try the icecream and don’t bother with Strawberry or Vanilla, go full hog 🙂