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foooood in azores

pico bread

i was kind of planning on continuing eating well while we were in azores… but i mean… i’m only human. what does a person do when presented with a delicious assortment of cooked gluten, the likes of which seem to not exist in the mainland? we eat and enjoy it, that’s what we do! :D

our first introduction to pico’s delicious bread was the “pão de milho” that our hosts left for us on the house. i mean…

the photos don’t even do it justice, it’s just so fluffy and unexpectedly moist! we kept buying more from the bakery in the village, and everyday we happily gobbled up pieces of it, loaded with butter, sighing and closing our eyes in contentment.

then, on a random supermarket stroll, we found out about “bolo de milho”. it was still warm and “sweating” inside of the bag when i first spotted it, which instantly made me interested. this one has a slightly sweeter, non-fermented dough that felt barely cooked…

… but was a-ma-zing! we didn’t buy more of this one because it was so good, way too dangerous to have around the house tempting us to eat just a bit more of it. :P

and last, but not least, rosquilhas:

they make these around the time of the holy spirit holiday, which is a big thing in the azores and happened to take place while we were there. they’re more of a dessert bread, sweeter and lemony, but oh-so-good! they have to be eaten a bit faster though, as they dry quickly once cut, but they’re lovely with some local jam.

and i think that’s it for our gluten explorations in the islands — next up, cheese! :D

Categories
in azores

climbing pico!

with many things in life, i’m a fan of jumping off into the deep end of the pool and then somehow finding a way out. this was sort of our approach to climbing pico, a “let’s go and see what happens — hopefully we’ll make it!” kind of attitude. so, when a rare sunny day popped up on the meteorology report, we signed up for the climb, checked in to get our gps trackers and off we went!

the tallest mountain in portugal might not be very tall by other countries’ standards, but it was plenty tall for us – and a volcano on top of that! the path there is all volcanic rock, sometimes lava flows that turned into solid rock, and sometimes just loose spiky rocks that slip like sand underneath your feet, making the hike hard. the path is not really a path — more like a collection of numbered wooden posts that hint the general direction you should be heading in, but it’s enough to guide.

the views are spectacular though, and distract you from the pain. on the way up we could see faial in the distance, then we went through some misty clouds for a bit, then popped up above them again as we reached the summit. the last 70m of piquinho’s ascent are extra tough, but worth it for the view from up there and the feeling of accomplishing something hard!

i was surprised to see that the volcano is still showing signs of some activity, with fumaroles evaporating steam up there at the very top of it — the last eruption was in 1718 already! we snapped some pictures at the top, grabbed some lunch in the crater and then started to make our way down, which was extra rough and painful on the feet and knees. i landed on my butt three times, but luckily only scraped my hand and leg a bit (those rocks are sharp!).

after that, we showered, went to bed and proceeded to enjoy the accomplishment and not move much for the following few days… everything hurt! :S

Categories
in azores

lava!

i’ve mentioned before that i’m kind of obsessed with lava and molten rocks, and there’s lots and lots of it in the azores! we’ve visited the excellent museum at capelinhos, walked over the ashes that covered the whole island of faial after the 1957 eruption, and then kept seeing it everywhere, to my heart’s delight.


this time, we’ve also seen lots of lava tunnels — some tiny and more like pipes, and others tall and several hundred meters long. it was brilliant!

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in azores

hiking prainha do norte

will we ever get tired of hiking these canadas, the narrow paths bordered by wonky stone walls that skirt the fields in pico? not likely! :D here are some photos from PRC9PIC, just so that i can remember it later:





the last part of the trail is all near the coast, through rocky beaches and lava flows, the spray of the sea in our faces. we were so busy enjoying it that we somehow missed the casa do fio, the place where once the underground communication cables resurface. oh well!

Categories
in azores

cagarros in the night

we haven’t seen a cagarro (aka cory’s shearwater) yet, but we have heard plenty of them in the middle of the night, cackling somewhere in the backyard of house we’re staying at in pico. they spend all their time in the sea, and come back to land during the night to check on their nests, so there must be one somewhere behind the house. :| the sound is loud and super creepy… gave us a proper fright the first night!