Flores Island, Azores

It was another windy day, with bigger waves than yesterday out on the Atlantic. We had a relaxing breakfast in our bnb. I made up some scrambled eggs, along with local cheeses, bread and pineapple jam. Mmm good.

Just like yesterday, it was mostly sunny, just really windy, which was fine for sightseeing and pics.

Today’s road trip started at Farol de Albarnaz, a lighthouse just past Ponta Delgada on the north end of Flores. From there you can see Monchique Islet, supposedly the westernmost point in Europe. It sits on the North American tectonic plate, so it’s more of a marketing claim than anything.

We had lunch at Flor de Lótus, a permanent food truck just outside Ponta Delgada. It was just what we were looking for. Heather had a hotdog which is what I should have ordered too, as I didn’t care for my bifana. We also had onion rings and fries, which were pretty good. Heather couldn’t remember the last time she had a hot dog, lol. Probably at a Jays game.

It was still early in the afternoon, so we decided to try our luck at the Seven Lakes in the interior district of Lajes. It seems like it’s permanently cloudy there, with humid air rising up 700m inland.

First we saw Caldeira Branca. The lake was just beneath the cloud cover, enough that we had a full view. It was really windy though, not as bad as Iceland windy, but still pretty strong.

Next up was Caldeira Seca, which as the name suggests is a dry lake. This was less photogenic. Caldeiras Negra and Comprida were a combined miradouro, and the windiest of the bunch.

The next caldeiras were down the road a few minutes. We saw the same tourists at each of them, doing the same route. Caldeiras Funda and Rasa were also a joint miradouro.

Along the way to Caldeira da Lomba, we passed by another miradouro for Caldeiras Funda and Rasa, this time from a distance. The difference in elevation (Rasa 530m, Funda 360m) is striking, which we didn’t notice at the previous miradouro which sits between them.

Caldeira da Lomba was a bit of a dud, there’s not even signage like the other caldeiras. Oh well. The other six were cool to see, although they look better in person than in pics.

Almost all the restaurants in Flores are closed on Sundays. The only options were burger places and a Chinese restaurant, Restaurante Macau. After the hotdog and onion rings lunch, we didn’t feel like a burger, so opted for Restaurante Macau.

The reviews on Google said there was a long wait for food on Sundays (cause everyone in town is eating there), so we decided to head there at 6pm to get takeout, and then reheat it later in the evening at our bnb.

The kitchen didn’t open until 6:30pm, so we chatted with the person (the son of the family-run restaurant) and placed a takeout order for 7pm. They use locally sourced ingredients so we weren’t expecting authentic Cantonese. We did go off-menu and order a vegetable stir fry.

We had an hour to wait, and rather than drive back to the bnb and then back to the restaurant, we just walked around Santa Cruz. We hadn’t done much walking today, so it was good to get in our steps.

We drove to the south end of town and parked in the lot. We’ve realized that each of the towns has a designated parking area for tourists from which you can then explore on foot. It’s a great idea, although the car rental companies should mention it!

We took a bunch of pics of the Church of Santa Cruz das Flores which towers over the town. We then walked over to Parque Boavista. There’s cool views of the town over the harbour from the park. It also has a skateboard park (so did Corvo, a brand new one!).

It was getting close to 7pm so we got back to the car. We stopped a few times to get pics of street art of birds on various walls and buildings. Later I googled and most of the street art is by Morgan Bricca.

Restaurante Macau was bustling when we returned. Heather went in to get our take-out, while I waited in the car, illegally parked as the lot was full.

The food was pretty good, and went well with Sagres (the local beer). It was a decent option for a Sunday, plus we got to watch the sunset. There’s not much colour cause we’re on the east side of the island, but it was still nice to see night approach from up on our hill.