Azores

Pico Island, Azores. This photo was taken on Pico, one of the 9 islands that make up the Azores. But it's a fairly typical view of the scenery throughout the island chain. Green - green - and more green!

Sao Miguel, Azores. The Azores are nothing more than volcanoes piled on top (or inside of) other volcanoes. And with great hiking everywhere. How about this trail along the rim of a dormant (you hope!) volcano? And everything you see in the background is a volcano too.

Sao Miguel, Azores. The Azores are an offshoot of Portugal, and it shows. There are so many similarities to the architecture, language, customs etc of mainland Portugal here that it's easy to forget that you're not in Portugal - until you notice how insanely GREEN everything is. This picture-postcard view of a tiny little fishing/farming village is on the main island of Sao Miguel. This is the 'busiest' island, so you can imagine how laid-back the out-islands are!

Angra do Heroismo, Terceira, Azores. This is about as big as a city gets in the Azores. This tiny town was once the capital of all of Portugal, and it's whole historic district is now a UNESCO site. It's a great place to cafe-hop along quaint little cobblestone streets.

Terceira, Azores.. One of the more popular overlooks on the island of Terceira is the Serra do Cume. From up here the stone-walled farm fields stretch all the way from the volcanoes (R) down to the sea (L).

Furnas, Sao Miguel, Azores. What better name for a place where scalding water comes right out of the ground than "Furnas"? And it is too: this town (and the surroundings) have many of these geothermal springs and steam vents scattered around, all heated by the magma not too far below. This is one of the more famous springs, Poca da Dona Beija. It has 7 pools and the water is about a perfect 104 degrees because they kindly let it cool a bit before running it into the pools.

Pico, Azores. The island of Pico gets it's name from the huge volcanic peak/pico that makes up a good portion of the island. It is in fact the highest point in the country and is very much visible from everywhere on the island, and neighboring islands as well. I had booked a permit to climb it, but stormy conditions (common here) kept that from happening. This was my first real view of the peak, just before departure. Pico is locally famous for its wine production, and cute little windmills like this one dot the countryside, designed to pump water into the vineyards.

Sao Miguel, Azores. Every one of the 9 islands that make up the Azores are crisscrossed by hiking trails. This is a nice scenic view along the Cascata Farinha trail, on the north coast of Sao Miguel.

Sao Miguel, Azores. This tea farm seems a little out of place here, but it has been going for a long time and is considered the oldest one in Europe. It was established here because Portuguese sailors brought live tea plants through the Azores on their return trip from Sri Lanka. Ironically, my last trip prior to coming here was ... Sri Lanka! Where among other things, I toured some tea farms. Small world!

Azores. Lest you forget that you're out in the middle of a big ocean on a tiny rock, a quick trip to the coast will remind you!