The next morning we were back doing our own thing and we went out exploring the island.
The Azores has 9 islands, Terceira is one of them. You'd think they are all very similar because they are so small and close to each other, but each island has its own identity, it's own culture, and even its own cuisine and traditions. Each island has something that makes it truly unique and distinctive. Terceira is my dad's favorite and where our family lives. I was excited to see many new things but my dad said that the most unique experience here would be tomorrow... he sure knows how to keep the excitement up!
We started down the road from our family's house, at the first house my dad lived in after he was born!
Next we went to the 'Memoria' (Memory) monument where we could see the whole city of Angra do Heroismo - a UNESCO heritage site.
"If you go to that spiky tower, and you look at where the ocean meets that squiggly mountain up down up it looks like Hawaii"
One reason I was excited about the island was because all the volcanic activity. It's still very active, and 'shakes' very often, but it's not everywhere you can walk inside an actual volcano!
On the way to the volcano my dad told me about this flower he used to eat when he was a kid, that is so sweet that you never want to stop eating it!
And behold, 5 minutes into the island, right there, on the side of the road - there it was, everywhere! So we just grabbed one!
It is called 'Roca de velha'.
Next we made a quick stop at 'Serra do Cume'. From there we could easily see all shades of green and many other islands around Terceira!
I think grandpa missed being here...
It was getting hot, so we decided to go to 'Praia da Vitoria' as well. It was nearby... everything is nearby here.
After a swim I always get hungry, so we went to a local place and ate 'Fish alcatra' - an amazing adaptation of the regional dish (beef) 'alcatra' but with 3 types of local fish instead and an amazing view!
We were then all pretty happy and had an amazing time on the way to the volcano! My dad called our attention to an 'island classic' - hundreds of cows on the road! It was pretty funny driving through them...
We finally got near the volcano and first saw 'Furnas de Enxofre' (Sulfur springs) where the soil was red and felt warm and the air smelled like 'egg' and there was steam everywhere.
"Why does it smell like egg over here?"
Finally we got to 'Algar to Carvao' - a volcano we could go inside!
It's very cold and humid now inside but can you imagine how hot it was when it first erupted?!
So much excitement got us in the mood for another dip in the ocean... and maybe a snack so we drove to 'Biscoitos'. Biscoitos is a small town on the other side of the island whose name translates to 'cookies'.
Most of the beaches in the island don't have sand and are actually old fishing peers that are adapted for people to swim in.
And the food here is amazing too! At the beach, in addition to ice creams, they sell corn, vegetables, fresh fruits and pickled eggs with 'massa malagueta' - a local spicy sauce! Amazing!
It was a very long day, and we saw a lot! We were all very happy by the time we started driving home, it had been a great day!
When we got home my mom said to my dad:
M: "I understand now, why you like islands..." To which he responded: D: "You can take the man out of the island, but you can't take the island of the man"
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