Entries about faial

While our group...

Climbed Pico...

And went sailing on Jose Antonio’s boat...

And Daniel’s family saw seals and turtles in Hawaii...


We were saying our goodbyes to Faial and flying on the first leg of the journey from the Azores to Hawaii. Our first stop was Boston.

Our hotel was across the street from Fenway Park, and a game had been played earlier that day. Our hotel was a historic building, and had been the venue for some of the plotting in the 1919 fixing of the World Series. It was a somewhat odd and dated room, but we slept well and were glad to have a chance to rest after our flights.

The first thing we did was drive up to the Caldeira do Faial, the giant volcanic caldera in the center of the island (the island is fairly round, or slightly pentagonal). There is a hike around the entire Caldeira, which most of the group did. Catherine and some others stayed at the vista point and walked a little bit onto the trail.

At first, there was a great deal of fog. It was a very nice hike, but it was impossible to see anything particularly interesting besides the trail. Nonetheless, it was very pretty and the weather was pleasant.

A sign showing the distances to the various places from here.

Then, it cleared up beautifully. We could see all the way down to the Caldeira and all the way to the ocean, including a view of São Jorge.

The hydrangeas are abundant around the Caldeira.

To quote Fr. Michael “if I had to pick one phrase to describe this view, it would be ‘insane in the membrane.’”

A small chapel at the end of the hike.

Faial at its most tropical-looking.

I don’t have many pictures of this, but we went to Varadouro, which is a beautiful swimming spot among volcanic rocks that seems to be pronounced the same as Barad-dûr , Sauron’s evil fortresss in Lord of the Rings. While the dark volcanic rocks and jagged crags do look a bit like Mordor, it was a very pleasant place to swim. There are large coves in the ocean equipped with ladders, diving boards, etc. Most of us jumped into the ocean, first from the ledge and then from the diving board. The waves make it a sort of wave pool, and the water is cold but rather pleasant in the heat. We had a great time swimming there.




After this we went to the home of Jose Antonio, who is Catherine’s third cousin. His mother is Natalia, who’s mother was Maria. Catherine’s grandfather Tony visited Maria in the Azores shortly before Maria died. Maria’s mother was Ana, whose brother Francisco was Catherine’s great grandfather. There are more pictures from this dinner, but they were taken on other people’s cameras so we will post them later. We had a wonderful dinner, and enjoyed visiting with the family. Our lack of Portuguese skills was a bit of a problem, as they spoke limited English and the older generations did not seem to speak it at all (although we learned that videos of cows dancing are the universal language. Which, if we had to describe in one phrase...). Also, we must learn to make arroz doce.

After this, we walked down to the waterfront. While Semana do Mar has not yet officially started, there are already many stands with food, concerts going on, and people out late. It was a lot of fun to walk around and look at everything.

Usually in California, Portuguese festas are held at halls called “I.D.E.S. halls.” This stands for Irmandade do Divino Espírito Santo, or Brotherhood of the Divine Holy Spirit. It was interesting to see that they have the same society here in the Azores.

Today we flew from São Miguel to Terceira, then from Terceira to Faial. We booked our flight along with Katie and Anthony, but when we got there they had a direct flight and we had a separate flight. We got on a plane that was bound for São Jorge, which was stopping in Terceira, and then had to get a different one that was heading to Faial. Katie and Anthony had to get on one bound for Faial, which was stopping in Terceira. They had to get off the plane on Terceira, go upstairs, then get back on the same plane. We all got to Faial nonetheless. It was an emotional experience for Catherine to see Faial, the island where her ancestors lived for hundreds of years.

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Some pictures of Horta and our house.

Michael said that he was going to go to mass at a nearby church. He invited us to come with him to the 6 PM mass, and then set off. We followed and got to the extremely beautiful church.

Michael ended up getting to concelebrate the mass. The priest from the parish, also young and newly ordained, is visiting California soon for a festa, but couldn’t remember where he is going.


Afterwards, we went to the house where Catherine’s Aunt Marie (Sis) and Uncle Bob, and her Uncle John and Aunt Terri are staying. It has a weirdly placed oven, but also a nice pool. We got pizza delivered by a company called California Pizza (not California Pizza Kitchen), which is owned by a man from the Azores who used to live in Fremont. It was a very nice evening.

After dinner we walked down to the waterfront. Horta is a major stopping point for yachts going across the Atlantic, and people often paint murals to celebrate their arrival here.

A castle near the waterfront.

We went to Peter’s Cafe Sport, famous for their Gin and Tonics and for being a popular spot for anyone who visits Faial, especially on ships. It was Don Santos’s birthday, and we had planned to meet him there and celebrate. We toasted a few times “to Donny!” before he arrived. Then, he arrived. When he walked in, we all raised our glasses and yelled “to Donny!” The customers at the other tables joined in (probably thinking that Donny had sailed here). Donny was so happy (his nephew Dominic told us that this had been his best birthday ever). We were sure that being in the land of his people and being toasted and proclaimed in the bar were very memorable experiences.

Us with Anthony and Donny.

The moon over Horta and Pico.