Marv got out of bed when he heard Kris talking to Norberto. It turns out that there is someone staying in one of the places across the courtyard from us. She had called him to say that the power was out and Kris saw them outside talking. Norberto threw a switch outside and all was restored. He gave Kris the keys to the box in case it happens again. The day was cloudy and it would occasionally spit rain. After a breakfast of tangerines, eggs, and bread we headed a little ways east and then up across the island. And I do mean UP. We find ourselves climbing to 2500 ft. in a short way with switch backs with hairpin turns that can be a bit harrowing. We have seen signs here warning of 30% grade and anything less than 10% doesn’t warrant a sign. We also see cows walking in the road several times a day so you have to get used to watching for them and just plan on taking a break and slowing down for a while. Our first stop was at Maradoura Lagoa do Fogo (Fire Lake). The lake is in a crater of an extinct volcano whose caldera was formed during an eruption in 1593. The 2km long/1km wide blue lake is surrounded by high mountains. At 2500 feet we were far above the lake looking down into the wide caldera. We were lucky to have a pretty clear view and took plenty of pictures before the clouds rolled in, obscuring the view. We dropped down to Maradoura Barrosa for another wonderful view. From there an extremely steep path goes down to the lake and we could see people on the shoreline far below. But we felt the climb out was too much for the likes of us and so continued on our way to Caldiera Velha. Here there are volcanic hot springs with natural mineral water. One can bathe in the pool farthest up the trail but that water felt lukewarm at best and the waterfall that feeds it has left heavy deposits on the rocks so it wasn’t enticing. The first pool along the trail was boiling hot, steamy, and smelled strongly of sulfur so there was no question of entering it. There was some light rain falling at that site but luckily that was it for the day. The road descends on the other side of the island and we came to Ribiera Grande, the second largest city on the island. We parked at the city center and wandered for over an hour around the town square, looked at the gorge that the town is named after, walked up to the large main church and had coffee at a cafe across the street from it. When we had seen our fill we drove just outside of town and had our wine, cheese, bread, and apples picnic at a small roadside park. We realized that the factory I had seen on the way out was the ceramics factory we wanted to visit so we drove a short ways back and both couples bought a couple of things from there. We continued east, avoiding the short amount of the freeway that is finished on that side of the island. We much prefer the lovely and exciting older road with its curves and flowers and cow herders. We stopped at several spots to take pictures of the ocean and the long vistas and made a stop at Cha Gorreana, the largest tea factory in Europe, where we tasted three kinds of their tea, walked outside among the tea fields and bought some tea as presents. Marv continued driving us through Maia (in honor of Kris & Heidi’s daughter) and then cut back across the island by way of a road that passed high above Furnas, our destination for tomorrow. We looked down on it from far, far above and took pictures before taking a different road around it and over the mountains back to the west coast. We tried to find a restaurant in Vila Franco do Campo, which was the first capital of the Azores until it was completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1522. We walked along the waterfront where there were colorful fishing boats moored and up to one of three nice churches in the village. But we never did come across an open restaurant so we headed back to Ponta Delgadas. After parking at the Sacred Art museum we walked a short ways to Jordao’s for dinner. Marv & I had grilled fish, Kris had the chicken kabob and Heidi had their house special steak. It was quite large and was served with a fried egg on top so she had quite a meal! While we waited for the food we called my mom to wish her happy birthday. It was a nice evening with the moon peaking through scattered clouds as we walked back o the car and headed home to the villa, with a stop at Sol Mar for some groceries.
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