Day 5: Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island, Portugal

I woke up ready to explore!  

I love being out early wandering the side streets without many people out.  I absolutely love all the black and white stone walkways.

Ponta Delgada lines up longitudinally with New York . . . that surprised me.  The weather is amazing and the hydrangeas are everywhere.  The guide said they can not be gotten rid of because they have taken over the island.  I had booked a walking food tour with Hungry Whales and was excited to try the local foods.

Oh I know some are interesting, but I tried them all . . . I'm talking about you cold octopus salad (top right) and tempura fried mackerel (bottom middle) . . . needless to say a second taste was not needed.  The most interesting was the araçá (strawberry guava) and pineapple.  The pineapples are much smaller (and expensive) and grown only in greenhouses.  The entire pineapple is edible and soft including the core.  This is possible because of the controlled growing environment . . . something about stressing the plants and smoking them.  It was amazing!  After the food tour, I stopped by one of the churches . . .

. . . and headed out on my own to explore the Forte de São Brás.

A final walk by the beautiful square.

I headed back to the hotel to meet my G Adventures group tour, Hiking the Azores  . . . the next 5 days should be interesting!