With me getting used to getting up early, I went down to our hotel lobby and captured a few pictures of their unique art decorations before our group gathered and headed out to where the bus could park. Outside my bus window, I noticed the bull monuments and the arena as our local guide, Diogo, briefly explained the Azore's bullfighting practices. As our road narrowed, I saw that we were going up what looked to be a private road with a playground with picnic tables and swings for kids. Getting off the bus, I saw the window viewpoint that gave a super view of our surrounding area as cameras started clicking. Hugging the coastal highway for a while, we were told about the two little islands off the coast, called Goat Island, in English and history. As we entered each little town, someone asked about these well-decorated buildings and found them to be little Chapels dedicated to the Holy Ghost with membership by the local Brotherhood. We later pulled off for a viewpoint of the Bay of Salga, where an important battle involved the woman releasing their cattle toward the Spanish brigade, driving them back to their ships, and retreating. Going north and the roads much narrower with vegetation creeping into the road, I noticed many more cows in the pattern rock walls separating grazing fields. Our guide told us that these animals are milked in the fields, and we came across milking machines and small tanker trucks to haul their milk away. As the road leveled off, we were at the viewpoint of the Serra do Cume mountain range.
The grandeur of the view gave an appreciative sense of the intense fertility of the land and man's exploitation of windmills using nature. We next headed down to a historical coastal city called Victoria Beach, adding a few monuments and churches to my recipe of interest. The first monument you saw coming into town was the Immaculate Heart of Mary on a small hill overlooking the town. Next, by walking in the city's center, was the Monument of the Statue of Liberty of Victoria Beach. The Monument of the Men of the Sea and Immigrants was on the beach. I also went to Santa Cruz Mother Church, which has a long history(1456), with Victoria Beach as a place of worship—finding our way north to Biscoitos, a balcony to the Atlantic where the hillsides are patterns with parcels of vineyards and lava rocks perturbed along the coastline exposing hidden pools of crystal clear waters. I didn't bring my swim trunks and maybe wish I did as the water was crystal clear and warm, as my big toe suggested. We next drove inland and stopped at The Terceira Island Golf Club, which provided delicious food. I had a little time to explore the grounds and loved how they planted trees to create a tunnel. Loaded back onto the bus, we went to Algar do Carvao – Cavern of Coal, named for the dark lava stone. I was highly anticipating this exploration as it was one of the only things I read about the Azores before my trip. I was swallowed up by the experience but hoped my camera survived the moisture and water that was occasionally dipping on me. It was now late afternoon, so we went through diverse countryside roads that showed off all the bright red New Zealand pine trees planted before entering the 14-E1 coastal highway back to Angra to our dropoff point and returning to our hotel with some cleanup time before our group walked to the restaurant for dinner.