Sao Miguel - Churches, Landscapes, Food and Culture

We are at the end of my Azores posts.  So sad so sad. 

 But I have so many fun posts lined up for next week. 

Its back to the US of A next week.

Make sure you check out all my other Azores posts if you read this and need more travel porn.  And you will. 

Lagoa Das Sete Cidades - Lake, Crater and Abandoned Hotel- Sao Miguel Azores 
Scuba Diving out of Franco do Campo - Sao Miguel Azores 
Ilheu Vila Franco Campo- Visiting the Island and Nature Reserve- Sao Miguel Azores  
Furnas Valley- Cozido Lunch and Thermal Springs- Terra Nostra Garden- Sao Miguel Azores 

Today is kind of a mash up of some of the beautiful churches, the landscape, and the food.  Not much needed in the way of words, these pictures are beautiful and I feel they speak for themselves.  I really think these pictures capture the beauty of the islands, the unique landscape, as well as some of the culture.  

Road signs in the Azores 

Rock sculptures

      

Beautiful churches in the Azores 

           

 

Beautiful church on the cliff

Colorful houses of the Azores 

My father standing where his childhood house once was 

 Church in Furnas

Various ways of Island transportation

These horses were behind a restaurant.  The story was that a gentleman had a long tab billed over time and decided to pay his bill with these two horses. 

Waterfalls 

There are a lot of cows on this island (a lot, a lot). 

Seafood is a staple on every menu.  Yellowfin tuna featured above.  Do note, the culture cooks everything well, well well well done.  They don't really understand rare, so expect everything to come WELL done. 

Like typical european cultures, coffee comes in the form of an expresso, or small coffee

The bread and cheeses are amazing.  Do not leave without bread, cheese and pastries. 

Ordering alcohol on the island is a little odd. A martini is not what you think it is.  Azorean wine wasn't my favorite.  But you could never go wrong with a beer, or cerveja. 

This wraps up all of my Azores posts.  This island was such a unique and amazing spot. Sustainable tourism, and everything was insanely (really, insanely) cheap.  From meals, to houses, this is an amazing unique get away even for the tightest of budgets.  You can get a direct flight from Boston, out of SATA airlines.  Check out the "List of Azores activities" and I promise there is something for everyone on the list .