Sete Cidades etc.

We took our time getting going this morning, as Jenn had some work to do and I did some sewing (which has traveled the Atlantic very well thus far).

Around 11:30, taking advantage of the freedom afforded to us by Stripey McStriperson, we headed off to Sete Cidades, which is a protected area around a lake, and one of the Ten Wonders of Portugal.

The first place we stopped was a designated lookout area across the street from an abandoned hotel.  These were some of our first views of Lagoa Azul (the distant lake) and Lagoa Verde (the closer lake).

Clearly, very lovely.  In search of better views, we decided to explore the abandoned hotel.

This is what the hotel looked like from the outside...

.... And this is the lobby.  So, clearly the hotel has seen better days.  Which is sad, because we wandered through some of the suites, and clearly in its prime, this place was gorgeous.  Ultimately, we did get our better views.

Moving on from abandoned hotel land, we drove down to the lakes and stopped at a few more viewing places along the way.  Unfortunately, the town itself is pretty small and didn't have much for us to stop and do.  As such, we decided to head to the beach at Mosteiros.

We made it there, but not before getting in our ridiculous hike du jour.  So, today, we'd had pretty good luck with the marked lookout points.  So, on the edge of the crater (this island is volcanic, and Sete Cidades sits in the center of a volcanic crater), we saw a sign for a lookout point.  Not believing that Stripey would do well on the dirt roads, we decided to walk.  Forty minutes later, straight up the mountain, we decided that we must have somehow missed it, and we headed back.  We now don't think that we missed it, it was even further out.  We did get run off the road by cows though, so that's something.

And we also got some lovely views, and what turned out to be a very solid hike.  So it's all good.

When we did make it to Mosteiros, the sun was more or less trapped behind a cloud, so we sat on the beach for a little while, decided it was too breezy, and opted to head to the hot springs 20 minutes away instead.  I did gather some sand for Dr. Fenster, since Mosteiros has lovely black sand beaches.

Next, we went to the hot springs at Ponte de Ferraria.  We had been warned that the time to go was at low tide, otherwise the chill of the ocean water overwhelmed the hot spring itself.  As you may be able to tell from the picture, this was not advice that we followed, and thus observed the hot springs rather than participated in them.

Also, given that we were at the bottom of a very, very harrowing drive to the coast, and there were exactly two other people in the general vicinity, there was nothing that really screamed safe about the "climb down a ladder and swim across this cove of unknown depth, to where you can hang on to a rope and experience the warm water" experience.  So we passed.

After an equally harrowing drive back up the cliff (and almost having Stripey run off the switchback by a land rover), it was getting late, so we headed back to Ponta Delgada for dinner etc.  The island has kind of a weird deserted feel.  We never see too many people, and there aren't many shops/restaurants open at all.  Don't worry, though.  I was able to get a magnet for the refrigerator.  So it's all good.  

We ended our tour with a brief stop at a lighthouse.  Which apparently also operates as a house-house.  Who knew?

Whale watching tomorrow!  So excited!!!