Off to the Azores

I won a trip to the Azores for 6 nights from Conde Nast Traveler.  I answered the January "Where Are You?" question correctly and was picked as the winner from all the correct answers.  We only vaguely knew where the Azores were.  After doing a bit of research, we found that they are 750 miles off the coast of Portugal.  So, we decided to see if we could extend the trip (at our expense) to mainland Portugal.  Although it was a very long, drawn out process arranging our prize and the rest of our trip, we did end up spending 6 days in the Azores and 12 days in Portugal.

We flew to Boston on June 12 and found that our flight from Boston to Ponta Delgada was delayed for 12 hours.  That meant we spent the night in Boston at SATA's expense.  (SATA is the airline of the Azores.)

When we finally arrived at our hotel in Ponta Delgada, this was our lovely view of the harbor.

Below are photos taken when we walked around Ponta Delgada.

 

 Pineapples are one of the main crops grown on San Miguel island - in greenhouses. 

These were on sale in the public market.

 San Sebastian church with its gilt interior

 the Town Hall

 our hotel overlooking the harbor

 Gardens on the grounds of the Governor's Palace

the 16th century fort on the harbor

Igreja de Sao Jose

 Convento de Nossa Senhora da Esperanca with its gilt and tile interior

 We happened upon the preparation for a festival.  Normally this was a street with cars heading toward the harbor.  They had closed it off and were setting up for a feast which you'll see as you scroll down the page.  You'll also see photos of the procession which started at San Sebastian church.

 another church which is now a museum of Azorean art