Three Days in the Algarve (with a toddler)

Welcome to the first (of several) posts in my Portugal series. To recap, we took off two weeks in mid-June for a European summer holiday. We spent one week on the mainland of Portugal, and one week on the Portuguese island of Sao Miguel in the Azores (roughly 1,000 miles from the Portuguese mainland).  Why Portugal? My parents were born in the Azores and find themselves traveling back to Portugal and the Azores time and time again. It's also a safe and affordable place to travel. I planned this two-week trip abroad with my husband, our 16-month-old son, my parents, and my inlaws. It was our first serious trip with our son and his first time on a plane so we planned our travels when the adult-to-child ratio was in our favor. 

The streets of Ferragudo

This was my second time back to Portugal, but my first time as an adult and my first time with a toddler old in tow. You may be wondering why we chose to drag a toddler on a red-eye flight and all this way when he is too young to ever remember any of it. The truth is I wanted the memories here with him and the confidence to travel with him. I wanted him to learn to be a baby who travels and to be able to adapt to a different culture, different food, and a different way of life. I wanted to raise a child who had been abroad before he had been to Disney and from a young age, could see the world through a lens that wasn't always clouded with our American Exceptionalism. 

It's not that I mean to sound pretentious and if you break it down dollar for dollar, a European vacation is likely cheaper than a week at the parks after you factor in overpriced meals, expensive lodging, and the high cost of park admission. It's that I don't enjoy crowds, the culture at the parks, and Disney World just has little appeal to the way I like to travel. Now more than ever, it's important to expose our children and ourselves to different cultures and experiences. I'll take him once when he's older for his American right of passage but for now, I wanted to experience a family summer vacation the way Europeans do. 

Sao Miguel Overview - Churches, Landscapes, Food and Culture

So you want to visit the Azores?

You are probably wondering why I even know about these islands. Let's state from the beginning.

The Azores are an autonomous region of Portugal (designated in 1976). The island of Madeira is also an autonomous region of Portugal. The Azores were settled by immigrants of mainland Portugal but were also populated by the Flemish, French, Spaniards, Moorish prisoners and African slaves. Between 1921 and 1977, 250,000 Azoreans immigrated to the US cities in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. My parents were two families who did just that. I'm first-generation Portuguese and had the chance to visit back in 2015, seeing where my parents lived and the culture surrounding my family. 

Today is kind of a mash-up of some of the beautiful churches, the landscape, and the food. It's a general overview of culture, information on the island, and not much is needed in the way of words - these pictures are beautiful and I feel they speak for themselves. When I think back of the geography of the island, I think of the most beautiful rollings hills dotted with cattle and hydrangea, set along the cliffy oceanside. I picture beautiful churches, sandy beaches, winding roads, craters, and mountains. It's insanely unique and at times feels so untouched by the masses that tourism brings. It's not a popular destination in the U.S. but when I tell the tales of these islands or show a few photos, everyone is mesmerized. See for yourself in this post today. 

For specifics, you can read about Ilheu Vila Franco Campo, craters, Scuba Diving, Swimming with wild dolphins) - swimming with wild dolphins may still be one of the coolest things I've done abroad. This post is a general overview, an introduction to the culture of the island if you will.

Sao Miguel is the largest island that makes up the archipelago of volcanic islands (9 total spread out over 370 miles). Sao Miguel is the largest - the island is 62.1 km by 15.8 km at its widest point. The islands are 1500 km west of Lisbon (Lisbon is 7,280 km east of the United States). It is known as "The Green Island" and is the most populated island. Expect to see lakes, sandy beaches, rolling hills, high mountains, fields, and blue oceans. The other islands are Faial, Flores, Graciosa, Pico, Sao Jorge, Santa Maria and Terceira. 

There is a lot of beautiful street art on the island - mosaic tiles and signs of tile are also a part of the culture and the landscape. Road signs are far more beautiful in Portugal, that's a fact. 

 

You will find a lot of churches and cathedrals on the island. While not religious, I appreciate the beauty and the architecture behind these places of worship. They are sometimes delicate, built on hillsides and beaches. They are often massive, large detailed structures that offer peace to many.  

           

 

The islands are a celebration of color, from painted trim to stunning bright doors. You will also find a lot of the pretty "Bahamas Pink". 

My father standing where his childhood house once was 

Military folk tend to know of the Azores as the United States maintained a NATO airbase on the island of Terceira (one of the Azorean islands).

There are points of the island that feel so untouched by modern life. Horses and buggy share the roads with cars. A few horses contained by a pallet fence 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.

Webcams dotted around the island to check the weather "Spot Azores" app -as many say, you can experience several seasons in a day. The island is heavily influenced by ocean currents and winds which moderate the island temperature between 14C and 26C (57F in January and 79F in August) throughout the year (rainfall throughout the year but is more abundant in the cool season (1" in July to nearly 5" in November). The best times to visit (temperature-wise) are June to October.

A November 2020 article by Almeida et al states that the Azores archipelago is the most suitable region for dairy production in Portugal and these islands produce 30% of the Portuguese dairy. The Azores have a cattle inventory of 125,000 adult cows (73% are dairy cows) 

Seafood is a staple on every menu. Yellowfin tuna is 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 espresso or small coffee. Azorean cuisine is different than mainland cuisine and has been described as "rich heart peasant-based styles". Popular dishes include stewed octopus, pineapples grown n the island, "cozido das furnas" (one-pot stews cooked underground), and a lot of various seafood. Azorean wine is grown from grapes contained in pens of volcanic rock which helps to protect the grapes. 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 getaway 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. 

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 

Furnas Valley - Vila de Furnas and Terra Nostra Park - Sao Miguel, Azores

Some of the most iconic things to do on the island are located in an unexpected place. This is the hot spot on the island (literally) and it's a little town in a crater about 30 miles (50 km) outside of Ponta Delgada.

When in the Azores, you need to head to the Calderas for a slow-cooked meal, walk around the town, and then head to the garden and relax in the warm springs. Where can you do all of this and in one day? In the volcanic region of Furnas.

The Valley of Furnas is a volcanic crater that has been dormant since 1630. Since then, it has sheltered the Vila de Furnas and Terra Nostra Park. This area is known as Lagoa das Furnas and here, you have the opportunity to enjoy authentic Azorean food cooked in the "furnas" or volcanic holes with boiling mud and steam. 

Lagoa das Sete Cidades - Sao Miguel, Azores

Lagoas das Sete Cidades

Heading to the western part of the Azores, you will come across Sete Cidades, or "Crater Town" as we liked to call it. We headed west to visit family and see the famous sites of the western part of the island. This area holds the largest freshwater lake on the island. This vantage point is known as "belvedere of Vista do Rei" where you can see the gorgeous view of this unique lake. You can also receive a history lesson from your father while enjoying the scenery

Scuba Diving Sao Miguel and Snorkeling with Wild Dolphins - Sao Miguel, Azores

If you are planning a trip to the Azores, you are probably what I call an "adventure traveler". You probably like to go somewhere to experience the cousin and the culture but to also be active and see the sights in a different way. The village of Franca do Campo is a launch-off point for a bunch of fun stuff, the ferry to the island, scuba diving, and swimming with wild dolphins. 

Franco do Campo Marina

If you are a diver heading to a country with a coastline, you are probably looking up dive shops, reading reviews, and planning a dive. I did all of this and landed on the Azores Sub Dive Center, a PADI dive shop. I did some research and found that this spot was highly recommended. I also discovered that the Azores was home to some fantastic diving. 

What is so special, is that every island has its own "flavor" of diving if you will.  While you aren't going to see bright tropical fish (we are still in the Atlantic folks..), you are going to see some amazing fish, eels, octopus and if you are lucky, rays, dolphins and whales.  Because of the location of these islands out in the middle(ish) of the Atlantic, a lot of whales and dolphins pass through the islands on their migration routes. 

Franco do Campo Marina