It pleases me to no end that my children are becoming very good photographers. Maya returned from Paris with a treasure trove of images and I have selected a few samples to share here. I am looking forward to sitting down with her to learn all about her Parisian adventure.
While Jeanine and I were in Portugal, Maya was in France touring Paris on a school-organized trip of students studying French. Our preview of being empty-nesters left us very happy to welcome her home this evening as we met the bus carrying the contingent back from the airport. When we arrived back at home Maya presented her mother with the almond croissants she had requested as a birthday present and shared the photographs she took while in the City of Light.
My third flight in as many days, I am ready to stay put for a little while. My interview in Pittsburgh went very well and while the opportunity is extremely exciting, I am going to have to consult with Jeanine about the realities of spending so much time away from home over the coming years. I am still waiting to hear about a local opportunity that is also very compelling and which will factor into the picture. My last official day at iRobot is tomorrow and I suspect next week will be one filled with some big decision making about what comes next.
Less than 8 hours after returning from Portugal, I found myself on a flight to Pittsburgh for a job interview in the area tomorrow. Should I accept the position, it is understood that I would commute from Boston, which while less than ideal, is not that uncommon in the high-tech sector these days. While Pittsburgh once dominated the steel-making industry (mills can still be found in the area as pictured above) the region is in the midst of a high-tech transformation with robotics at its core.
Tall islands in the middle of the ocean tend to make their own weather and are often covered in clouds. Two prior attempts to do justice to a photograph of Lagoa Do Fogo were thwarted by overcast skies. Our perseverance and third visit were rewarded with sunshine and nice clouds. Jeanine photographed me taking photos of the lake and I photographed her as she climbed down for a visit to the beach (you may need to look closely to spot her).
Our last stop on the island was a small ceramics factory where everything is made by hand using techniques passed down for generations. Here we purchased a nice plate to add to our collection from distant lands as well as a few presents for friends back home. We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare for our afternoon return to Boston.
I was up before the sun to photograph some of the more prominent architecture in downtown Ponta Delgada. The lighting is interesting but more importantly there are fewer cars and people to meander into the scene. It is also a quiet and serene time which makes appreciating what you are seeing that much easier.
Driving in the Azores requires constant vigilance. Around any given curve you might find a bicyclist, an old man riding a horse carrying huge milk containers, a massive tour bus speeding towards you, a parked truck whose owner is having a chat on the side of the road with his friend the farmer, a massive tractor pulling a wagon laden with bails of hay, or a herd of cows making their way to their milking station.
We started the day with a visit to the Jose Do Canto botanical gardens located within walking distance of our hotel. Not as opulent or large as the Terra Nostra gardens they were still quite impressive with several really massive trees including the rubber tree shown below.
Later in the afternoon we went hiking in search of a vantage point from which to observe Lagoa Pau Pique, a small lake within a perfectly circular crater, the perfect reminder of the archipelago’s volcanic origins.
Jeanine indulged me as I made a second visit to the natural pools of Mosteiros to make a long exposure of the waves breaking against the rocks. My attempt earlier in the week produced an OK image but I was much happier with the one I made this evening. I was also much more careful with the cadence of the waves (every tenth or so is much larger than the rest) and managed to avoid being drenched as was the outcome on my first visit.
Nordeste, the eastern most town on Sao Miguel was our destination this morning. Jeanine got wind of a Sunday brunch at a highly recommended restaurant which turned out to be phenomenal and well worth the one hour excursion. We slowly worked our way up and down the coastline in our trusty if diminutive car. Operating a manual transmission in such a mountainous region (10% grades are quite common) is not for the faint of heart and I was pleased that the skills I developed as a teenager came back so quickly. Pictured above is the Ponta do Arnel lighthouse and public boat launch.
After brunch we made our way up to the Reserva Natural do Pico da Vara where we did a bit of hiking among the great trees which cover most of the island.
Later we visited a salt water swimming pool in Lomba da Fozenda. During the summer months, sea water is captured in the pool where locals enjoy swimming without the risk of the dangerous rip tides and treacherous shorelines. Jeanine did not like the grade or condition of the road which took us to the base and elected to hike back up rather than drive with me. Dotting the coastline are a series of miradores (scenic overlooks) which we visited without exception over the course of our week long stay. Jeanine is pictured below at one which included a small cylindrical building used by whale spotters to survey the ocean.
Our final destination for the day was Lagoa do Fogo, the highest point on the island. Overcast skies made for poor photography so we descended to the Caldeiro Veldha where geothermal springs feed a waterfall and man made pools where visitors indulge in the warm baths.
Established in 1883, Chá Gorreana is Europe’s oldest tea producing company and one of only two remaining in the Azores. Gorreana teas are grown without the use of herbicides, pesticides or fungicides, possible only in the Azores which are free from insects and pests. The factory is heavily guarded by two ferocious attack dogs but we were not deterred from our desire to tour the facility and sample the delicious teas.
Later in the day we did another hike, this time to the Salto Cabritos waterfalls, where Jeanine captured a nice image of a resident frog while I used my tripod to capture a non-resident frog.
Our final destination for the day was Ribeira Grande where we lucked into a private tour of the Town Hall and its pigeon infested tower which offered an exceptional view of the Igreja Matriz.
We started our day with a drive to Faial da Terra on the eastern end of the island where we did a 4 kilometer hike to the Salto do Prego waterfall. The trail brochure described it as easy and hard. Only after completing the 2 hour round trip do I fully appreciate the meaning and accuracy of that description. Having developed quite an appetite, we made a beeline for Furnas where we had lunch reservations at the Terra Nostra Garden Hotel. Knowing we would be ordering the Codiza, a traditional dish cooked underground in volcanic steam vents, we stopped en route at the caldera where our lunch was being cooked to watch as men removed pots containing the ingredients for our meal from the ground.
After lunch we strolled through Terra Nostra Park, a 200 year old botanical garden that is among the best I have ever experienced. Pictures do not do justice to the beauty, design and magnitude of these gardens, only a fraction of which we could enjoy during our three hour visit.
Perhaps the most interesting feature of the park is a massive mineral water thermal pool where we treated our hiking weary muscles to the soothing 95F waters. The unusual color of the water is due to the high iron content which is believed to be of some curative value. True or not, I did not care as I positioned my shoulders and back under one of the the 2 foot high main spigots which feed the pool (think hot shower with 100s of gallons of water per minute pounding down on your back). It was the best massage I have ever experienced in my life and reason enough to return to the Azores again.
Sete Cidades, population 793, is located in the center of a massive volcanic crater three miles across containing appropriately named, Lagoa Azul and Lagoa Verde. To enter the town one must pass over the crater rim which offers amazing panoramic views of both the lakes and the ocean in three directions. Located within the parish is the Igreja de S. Nicolau, constructed in 1857 and surrounded by beautiful gardens.
With water in such great abundance, as evidenced by the lush vegetation, I was left to wonder why so many ancient aqueducts could be found on the island.
Located on a migration path for whales and dolphins, the Azores are one of the best places to see these magnificent creatures in their element. Pictured are a pair of striped dolphins, one of three species we encountered during an afternoon outing on the water. Swimming next to our catamaran in the following image is a bottlenose dolphin.
While returning to port we paused to circumnavigate the offshore islet of Ilhéu de Vila Franca which features an ancient caldera that now provides an idylic salt water swimming pool. Visitors are limited to a maximum of 400 per day so as not to degrade this truly unique setting or to disturb seabirds nesting in the cliff rocks which wrap the islet.
Mosteiros, the westernmost town on the island, is arguably the best location from which to enjoy the setting sun. Our final destination for the day, we relaxed while golden light illuminated the rugged coast.
With the four hour time shift, our flight into Sao Miguel, the largest and most populated of the nine Azores islands, arrived at 7am. After collecting our rental car our first priority was locating a cafe for breakfast. We did so in historic downtown Ponta Delgada where the gates of the City Gates (Portas da Cidade) welcome visitors to the administrative hub of the islands. These three arches, dating from 1783, stand at the edge of the square of Praça Gonçalo Velho, across from the seafront.
For those in search of white sand beaches, a vibrant night life, and plenty of shopping there is little to recommend the Azores. If quaint old European hamlets set in lush and rugged terrain with natural beauty at every turn is more your speed then here you will find much to enjoy.
The greatest tragedy to befall the Azores occurred on October 20, 1522, when a violent earthquake hit the area of Vila Franca do Campo, then capital of the archipelago and most important Azorean settlement. During the earthquake and subsequent landslide, 5000 people were killed. Our Lady of Peace Chapel (Ermida de Nossa Senhora da Paz) dating back to 1764, overlooks the town today.
Jeanine and I leave for the Azores Islands this evening. A four-hour, overnight flight will have us in Ponta Delgado on Sao Miguel by early morning. Maya will be staying with friends for two days before she heads to Paris for a little longer than a week. Clothes for 7 days, two of three cameras, an iPad, and a tripod made a tight squeeze into/onto my 28L backpack. Even though we will be staying in a hotel, I have grown accustomed to traveling with a backpack. We plan to do a lot of hiking so it will come in handy for that as well. Even as I write this entry I am struggling with a deep desire to bring along a forth camera. Sometimes I envy those who just pull out their smartphones for a perfectly fine photo. That said, it occurs to me that I will have my iPhone with me as well, thereby incrementing all prior camera totals by one. In all likelihood, I will not be updating the blog until Wednesday of next week when we return.
Jeanine has finally persuaded me to start biking. It is an activity we can do together and I am thinking it will be my next sport after soccer has used up my knees (not that I see that day on the horizon yet). Looking for any excuse to avoid completing my tax filings, I decided I would buy a new bicycle today. I spent the morning doing some research and determined that I would be best served by a hybrid design (good for on and off-road use, ideally suited for neither). After test-driving three different models at two different stores, I decided to buy a bike helmet instead and call it a day. The engineer in me needs to study the options a little more thoroughly before I make a decision and I will need the helmet in any case. Maya was kind enough to photograph me while I was modeling it for the family.
It is hard to imagine but Jeanine celebrated her 52nd birthday today. She claims it has never rained on her birthday and today was no exception. She spent the better part of the afternoon on a mother-daughter shopping outing ensuring the latter would be well dressed for her trip to Paris next week. The three of us dined at Bullfinchs in Sudbury before returning home for a strawberry cheesecake that I prepared. Such preparations included the slicing of strawberries and careful placement on a store bought cheesecake, not the from scratch fabrication that would have been employed by any other member of the family.
My soccer season opened this morning and I got off on the right foot scoring both the first and last goal of the game. Ten minutes into the match I was on the receiving end of a long cross from the wing and managed to knock it in with my knee as the keeper came out to clear it. The second was off a very nice give and go with a strong finish from 25 yards to the lower right corner.