Faial, Azores
A sorte bateu a nossa porta - or as you say in English, “luck was upon us” this morning as we awoke to a magnificent show of pink light against the buildings in Horta, as the sun rose without clouds on the horizon. Horta is the capital of the island of Faial, where we arrived the night before from Pico Island, whose mountain peak is now a black shadow from the rising star just across the channel as the new day begins.
There’s a slow pace in this gorgeous town that is in direct contradiction with what is underneath the surface of this island. In fact, the island of Faial and its surrounding waters have been the scene of quite a bit of seismic activity. The most recent one in 1998 in the form of an earthquake registering 8.0 on the Ritcher scale which destroyed some buildings in the southeast corner of the island. And the most famous one in the form of a volcanic eruption in a place called Capelinhos on the northwestern part of this star-shaped island that took place in 1957. It was to this place that our excursion took us this morning for us to see some of the newest formations of land on this living planet of ours. Were it not for the surrounding ocean and the remnants of a lighthouse, the bleakness of the ashen landscape might lead you to believe you were visiting Mars.
After another delicious lunch on the ship, we headed up the pier to the Whale Factory Museum where we saw the German-designed machinery that, in its heyday, “processed” 30-40 sperm whales per season (June - August) until it closed in the mid 1970’s. From there it was a short walk down the beach to the center of town and the most famous spot in this island.
Peter Cafe Sport is the place where everyone crossing “the Pond” who needs to stop stops. From the first Yankee whalers’ base here in the 19th century, to the passengers of the early PanAm clippers in the early part of the 20th century, to the modern-day yachtsman of this 21st century, Peter Cafe Sport has been the meeting point and the melting pot. Here, sailors from all over the world stop in for their mail and one of Peter’s famous gin tonicos. And if the gin doesn’t interest you, there is always the scrimshaw museum upstairs—one of the best private collections anywhere. The man behind all this is Jose Azevedo, probably the most well-known face in the North Atlantic (pictured above).
Our day concluded on board with some local musicians who entertained us with songs from the various islands, as well as fado—the haunting, soulful music from Lisbon, sung, as tradition demands accompanied by the 12-string Portuguese guitarra.
A sorte bateu a nossa porta - or as you say in English, “luck was upon us” this morning as we awoke to a magnificent show of pink light against the buildings in Horta, as the sun rose without clouds on the horizon. Horta is the capital of the island of Faial, where we arrived the night before from Pico Island, whose mountain peak is now a black shadow from the rising star just across the channel as the new day begins.
There’s a slow pace in this gorgeous town that is in direct contradiction with what is underneath the surface of this island. In fact, the island of Faial and its surrounding waters have been the scene of quite a bit of seismic activity. The most recent one in 1998 in the form of an earthquake registering 8.0 on the Ritcher scale which destroyed some buildings in the southeast corner of the island. And the most famous one in the form of a volcanic eruption in a place called Capelinhos on the northwestern part of this star-shaped island that took place in 1957. It was to this place that our excursion took us this morning for us to see some of the newest formations of land on this living planet of ours. Were it not for the surrounding ocean and the remnants of a lighthouse, the bleakness of the ashen landscape might lead you to believe you were visiting Mars.
After another delicious lunch on the ship, we headed up the pier to the Whale Factory Museum where we saw the German-designed machinery that, in its heyday, “processed” 30-40 sperm whales per season (June - August) until it closed in the mid 1970’s. From there it was a short walk down the beach to the center of town and the most famous spot in this island.
Peter Cafe Sport is the place where everyone crossing “the Pond” who needs to stop stops. From the first Yankee whalers’ base here in the 19th century, to the passengers of the early PanAm clippers in the early part of the 20th century, to the modern-day yachtsman of this 21st century, Peter Cafe Sport has been the meeting point and the melting pot. Here, sailors from all over the world stop in for their mail and one of Peter’s famous gin tonicos. And if the gin doesn’t interest you, there is always the scrimshaw museum upstairs—one of the best private collections anywhere. The man behind all this is Jose Azevedo, probably the most well-known face in the North Atlantic (pictured above).
Our day concluded on board with some local musicians who entertained us with songs from the various islands, as well as fado—the haunting, soulful music from Lisbon, sung, as tradition demands accompanied by the 12-string Portuguese guitarra.
