São Laurenço, Santa Maria, Azores
Today on our second day in the Azores we visited our second island of the archipelago, Santa Maria. Santa Maria was the first of the Azores to be discovered in 1427 and was the first to be settled shortly thereafter. When Columbus was returning from his first voyage of discovery he was blown off course in a storm and tried to land at the small village of Anjos on the north coast. There the local inhabitants tried to arrest him as a Spanish national, but he was eventually allowed to continue on his way. The island of Santa Maria was also an important refueling stop for Allied planes on their way to Europe during WW II.
We visited the small village of São Laurenço on the northeast coast of the island. Behind the village the vineyards rise in steep terraces up the hillside, and we were able to taste some of the local wine and some of the locally baked “biscoitos” or cookies served by villagers in traditional dress.
The setting was a magical one but as we cruised by Zodiac back to the ship we passed very fresh lava “pillows” which are produced when molten lava is released under water and we were reminded once again that these beautiful islands were produced by violent eruptions which originated deep in the earth and that they now stand several kilometers above their base on the ocean floor, making them comparable in size to Mt. McKinley or Mt. Whitney in North America.
In the late afternoon we left Santa Maria in our wake as we sailed south for Madeira.
Today on our second day in the Azores we visited our second island of the archipelago, Santa Maria. Santa Maria was the first of the Azores to be discovered in 1427 and was the first to be settled shortly thereafter. When Columbus was returning from his first voyage of discovery he was blown off course in a storm and tried to land at the small village of Anjos on the north coast. There the local inhabitants tried to arrest him as a Spanish national, but he was eventually allowed to continue on his way. The island of Santa Maria was also an important refueling stop for Allied planes on their way to Europe during WW II.
We visited the small village of São Laurenço on the northeast coast of the island. Behind the village the vineyards rise in steep terraces up the hillside, and we were able to taste some of the local wine and some of the locally baked “biscoitos” or cookies served by villagers in traditional dress.
The setting was a magical one but as we cruised by Zodiac back to the ship we passed very fresh lava “pillows” which are produced when molten lava is released under water and we were reminded once again that these beautiful islands were produced by violent eruptions which originated deep in the earth and that they now stand several kilometers above their base on the ocean floor, making them comparable in size to Mt. McKinley or Mt. Whitney in North America.
In the late afternoon we left Santa Maria in our wake as we sailed south for Madeira.
