On the Road Again

 After close to 3 years of relative dormancy Covid has abated enough that I'm feeling OK crawling into a narrow metal, possibly disease infested, narrow aluminum tube again, as it streaks across the sky to new destinations.

At almost 70, I am closer to the end of my global travels than I am to the beginning. And while that is something I would rather not consider, I do find myself looking forward to the immediate future with a degree of excitement. My last trip of any significance was my visit to Sicily in 2019. And while I have scheduled a return visit for September, along with Tuscany, my first trip is somewhat closer and shorter.

 An impulsive response to an email that I would normally ignore and delete finds me packing for a trip to the Azores in a few days time.

 The reaction of several of my friends was: Where??? And like many Americans when asked to point to Canada on a map! the average person would be hard pressed to point them out on a world globe.

 Some 1500 km west of Portugal they are comprised of 9 islands scattered across the eastern Atlantic that would not appear on the bucket lists of most travellers

  Terceira is a hunk of volcanic real estate with a population of under 55,000 people scattered over approx. 400 sq km. The main city, Angra do Heroismo, which is where we'll be staying, has a population of 13,000, a number that wouldn't grant it city status in most Canadian Provinces.

 With temperatures in June ranging from a low around 16C at night, to a high of 24 during the day, I'll be foregoing the sunscreen and using that space in my luggage for an umbrella. 

 The islands were occupied by the Portuguese in or around 1420, but evidence does point to discovery by the Vikings some 700 years earlier. Evidence of any permanent occupation prior to that does not seem to exist. 

With a total population of less than a quarter million, the entire archipelago is roughly twice the size of New York city in total area.

  With a flight that barely takes 5 hours, we'll be spending more time shuffling through airport security than actually flying. I hate Pearson airport at the best of times and consider it to be one of the worst airports on the planet for amenities, service levels and general flow. Current backups at security are apparently dragging out to 2 hours and beyond making the typical " arrive 3 hours before your flight" suggestion an absolute minimum if you want any chance of making it to your gate in time to waive goodbye to your flight as it lifts off without you., 

 In preparation for the trip, I did my usual deep dive into all things pertinent. With few decent and up to date guidebooks on the island, I found myself using TripAdvisor for much of the information. Between that, Google Maps and my City2Go app, I've been able to determine where my hotel is as well as how it rates in terms of quality- actually pretty decent reviews, if one ignores the multiple rants over several years of one highly disgruntled customer ( or possibly a competing business looking to eliminate competition) [It turns out that there are actually 2 hotels bearing the same name, one being Hotel Zenite and ours being Hotel Zenite Boutique. Clearly many reviewers on TA didn’t check the address before posting their comments!]

 After poring over a hundred restaurant reviews, I've come up with a list of a dozen or so places to explore,  asuming they have managed to survive covid. Most restaurants seem to have little web presence other than a post on Facebook, so access to menus in advance was largely impossible for most establishments. It is, however, quite apparent that most places will feature an abundance of seafood along with several cuts of beef. Top on my list of things to try is grilled octopus, although a number of my friends have "guilt tripped" me over my choice of protein, owing to the fact that the humble octopus appears to be far more intelligent than expected. Prominently featured in many photos of food choices are limpets, which might be considered to be a one shelled mussel, as, like barnacles, they adhere to any hospitable surface. Described as the Poor Man's Abalone, I'm looking forward to at least one meal of them as it is certainly not something that I'd ever see in any restaurant in Canada.

 Bacalao ( salt cod) also seems to be a feature of most Portuguese restaurants although the cod is not a native species, the primary source being the waters around Norway.

I am more than happy to report a lack of Tim Hortons, Starbucks, Taco Bell etc.

 Strangely enough though, the second highest rated place selling food or a rough facsimile thereof is….

  Drumroll!

    Would you believe “Subway” - I shit the not but you may not be able to say the same after you’ve eaten there. Someone’s idea of a joke or has Trip Advisor truly sold it’s soul. Stay tuned to find out!