Ok, technically we are now in Flores (marked left) which is some 600 km further westwards than  Sao Miguel (marked right), but this blog is about Sao Miguel… We are now actually at the farthest westward point of Europe (everybody claims that but here it’s real… – some 2000 km west of Portugal). Only France could with their department of Guadeloupe conquer with it

For some relation… 1/3 of the way to the States is done

Next to our hotel in Sao Miguel (gosh – so many Germans…) we found a nice fish restaurant tucked away directly next to the harbour in a sheltered bay

The views are splendid

But can be still improved

It’s getting better… Ok, I admit, usually we had just “fish” (which is still succulent), but here we were craving for lobster and the local is delicious…

Isn’t it a beauty

The humble remains…

Flight time

The next day we were heading to the central volcano, but the clouds were somehow against us. As charming as the old aqueduct might look in moist clouds, as awful it is to walk there…

There must be a reason for the moss…

After watching fellow hikers descending in full weather gear we opted for the solitude of the car…

Brrr….

In the middle is a small village and the church fiesta was in full swing…

whoever creates such lavish garden ornaments has either a lot of spare time or a rather competitive social life…

A speciality of Portugal – lupine seeds in spicy sauce

Finally we found a spot were we could stretch our legs for a moderate walk but had to pet a dog bound to the car first. Heart breaking

As a result of the poor economy many people left the islands to find their luck in a (hopefully) better place – the left houses the only sign of the heritage

Our walk started as a nice descend through fields and laurel forest

I will never be able to pay for laurel again…

Splendid views

And fresh young laurel

Beautiful viewpoints

as the whole area is (…used to be…) volcanic you can see lava, basalt and all other by-products of seismic activity everywhere

These layers can get really thick…

Ash and sediment are cut out by permanent rainfall

I always love the black crumbly lava

especially when wet it’s nice to walk on as it is not slushy

There must have been some activity going on some past time…

Gorgeous views again

I thought it must have been a practical joke, but the street was steep and I never ever have seen such a number before…

Tropical splendour

Yellow daisies

Ginger flower

A bit more close up

And just before the bloom

The same night we were happy to catch a free fado concert (fado = Portuguese folk music, usually sad and lonely, can be humpty dumpty as well… ) in the old monastery.

The guitar players were excellent

She only sang one song (unfortunately) as she was perhaps the best singer (yet not very fitting – pure gothic )…