We had a transit day to get from Terceira to Graciosa, the last destination on this trip before we head back home. Our flight wasn’t until 12:20 so we had time for a relaxing breakfast before checking out at 11am. Returning the car was easy too, we just had to find an empty spot in the parking lot (P1 was full so went to P5) and then leave the keys in the car.
It was only a 30 minute flight, once again we chose our seats poorly and the view was on the other side.
Graciosa opened a new terminal building just a few months ago, and it looked very modern, with standard signage in Helvetica font. It’s still a small airport, with just the one conveyor belt.
We met the car rental folks in arrivals, and picked up our last rental of the trip, a Citroën C3. Graciosa is a small island, 10km by 7km. Its population is about 4,000, roughly the same as Flores.
We drove to our bnb, Portas do Ilhéu, and were welcomed by the caretaker, Isabel. She was really nice. We were right on the ocean, with the waves crashing on the rocks just 10m away. Normally we don’t like being so close to sea level, in case of earthquakes and tsunamis. We had booked so long ago I forget our reasoning for picking it.
We rushed out to have a bite for lunch, as it was nearing 2pm and we had dinner reservations at 8pm. We had some cheese sandwiches in a little cafe in the nearby village of Praia.
The weather changed even more frequently here. It went from sunny to pouring rain and then back every five minutes. We had started to walk around Praia but the weather was just too inconsistent. Instead just went to the local market and picked up water and some after dinner drinks.
We sorted ourselves out in the bnb. It had a loft area above the main living area with a big window to watch the waves. There must have been a reef or something in front, cause the waves were huge, maybe 10-15 feet high.
Later we went for dinner at Costa do sol by-the-sea (they have a sister restaurant in the capital). It was a cosy restaurant, overlooking the harbour. We split a bunch of dishes: Azorean cheese with honey, grilled lapas, grilled catch-of-the-day, and finally grilled steak local style (served with a fried egg on top). We had a chocolate brownie and espressos for dessert. It was all excellent.
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