Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Islandscape on Camera: Pico, Portugal

After spending a few days with Jonathan's dad's family on the Azorean island of Terceira, we hopped over to Pico to see his mom's island. One of the neatest parts of visiting this island was getting to stay in his grandparents' old house. It has electricity and running water and everything (although the hot water was veeeeery limited), but there were some quaint aspects of the house, like the chickens a neighbor still raises at the house and the well outside where we washed our beach towels from Greece. :)


Like Terceira, Pico is a fairly small island. It's not too hard to drive around the entire island, so we did, stopping to admire the views of the ocean along the way.


We also went swimming in the Atlantic ...

Jonathan calls me "baby kid fish" because once I get in the water, I don't want to get out.
This is the "small picnic" Jonathan's cousin packed. They certainly like to eat in the Azores!

... took a geological tour of the Gruta das Torres, a lava cave in Pico ...

I thought the "no smokers" signs were pretty funny. No smokers allowed!
These cows were hanging out across from the lava cave's visitors' center. I couldn't resist a photo.

... and we took a ferry over to the island of Faial, where another of Jonathan's cousins lives.

Good thing I had my boat shoes. ;)

On our flight back to Lisbon after our week in the islands, I spotted Jesus Christ on our descent. Remember our failed attempt to get a picture of his face? Well, this was as close as we could get. :)


Also, our flight landed in Lisbon around midnight and we didn't fly to Switzerland until around 8 a.m., so instead of spending money on a hostel we hunkered down in a children's playpen in the deserted terminal. Life of a backpacker, huh?


Next week's topic: How do you afford to travel? I'll be sharing my reasons why I think anyone can travel ... if they make it a priority. :) The next week, I'll be posting the final installment of my European Extravaganza recap series: Evian, France!

Link up with your travel stories and/or tips below! Feel free to grab the button, too.




7 comments:

Mandi Noel said...

Those pictures of the ocean are so beautiful! I love to watch waves crash over rocks. And the sound is glorious! I'm also loving your photos of the chickens. They are such cuties!

Fran said...

I love these photos! I miss the ocean so much, I use to go swimming all the time!

Anonymous said...

How fabulous. Your life is idyllic. How do you and your partner fair while traveling? You both look very happy.

Sarah Pete said...

Oh, I do miss swimming in the Atlantic . . . Your pictures are AMAZING!!! I think the island life is just so quaint and idyllic . . . Thank you for letting us tag along on your trip by sharing your pics! Love them!

Susannah said...

Wow, looks like an amazing trip! How fun that you got to stay at the grandparent's former home!!!!

Rach said...

Wow! What a beautiful place!! I love old homes like that! So charming!!

Kate @ Daffodils said...

Such an amazing trip! What are you going to do for your honeymoon to top this??