Entries about rainha

Today, Pico was completely clear, and we could see it easily from the street where our house is located.

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There is a large monument commemorating the founding of Peter’s Cafe Sport one hundred years ago.

Some views of Faial.

This monument to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception overlooks Horta from the hillside. It was built to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

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The view from the outlook, and some pictures of us with the view in the background.

This bull, acting like Ferdinand among the flowers. We felt that his Ferdinand would only be temporary if he were provoked in any way.

Our next stop was Cedros, where we could visit Aldina’s Restaurant. Aldina is Catherine’s third cousin, not on the Andrade side but on the Escobar side. Catherine’s great grandmother, Maria Escobar, was from here and was a sister to Aldina’s great grandmother. Aldina owns a grocery store and restaurant in the same town where their great grandmothers grew up.

Catherine trying the lapas at Aldina’s. She says she really likes lapas, but Michael says she really likes garlic and lemon.

A soft, mozzarella-ish cheese with a hot pepper sauce.

Delicious bacalhau (cod fish) com natas. We’ve tried this a few places, but none of them have been as good as this.

Rice and French fries, both of which were good. There was also some pineapple pork, which was also very good but we didn’t get a picture.

Dessert was an ice cream cake.

After lunch, we went towards the house where Catheine’s Great grandmother was born and raised. Anthony remembers her as his “Grandma Andrade” who lived with him when they were little. It was an amazing experience to see the house. Unfortunately, it has recently been sold to a French couple who is seriously renovating it, but for now no one was there and we were able to see it.

Catherine has heard before that her great grandmother was born in “a red windmill.” She had the story slightly wrong: she was born near the red windmill, which can be seen from the house.

Some pictures of the house and the view from the house. Michael keeps asking why his people would have left. Life was hard here, we hear, but it is still hard to imagine leaving. We talked about the song Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears which is about Irish immigrants but seems applicable to the situation of Maria Escobar when she left. Thus, we titled our post for today after the song.

Some pictures of the family around the house. It was an emotional experience for Catherine and her father and his siblings to see the house.

Escobar descendants in front of their grandmother’s house (alternate caption, suggested by Jill Leal: Escoballin’)

Praia do Norte, where the Andrades are actually from. We took some pictures here, which was a nice opportunity.

Next, the Capelinhos lighthouse ruins and eruption site. In 1957, a great deal of land was added to Faial by this volcanic erruption. People died in the earthquakes the caused houses to collapse, and the land was ruined. People had to dig for crops that had been planted above ground. Catherine’s family was in America already by this time, but many more recent immigrant families left when the United States created a relief act to allow Azoreans to immigrate easily to escape the destruction of the volcano. The entire large hill to the west is new, having emerged from the ocean in the erruption.

This picture shows the new land very well.

Daniel attempted to take a picture of the group talking, but Jill started dancing mid-picture. It shows everyone was having fun.

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We stopped to go swimming at Castelo Branco. Interestingly, while Catherine’s Andrade cousins live in Castelo Branco, they actually came from Praia do Norte. Her Furtado relatives came from Castelo Branco. We went swimming in a little pool connected to sea water, and then in a natural lava-rock swimming area.

Faial looking tropical and beachside.

After that we went down to the waterfront to see the festivities. It is amazing how late it goes, and how people of all ages seem to come.
Katie with a SuperBock beer.

Dinner at a little barbecue-oriented place. We ordered chouriço, bread, and some cheese to make sandwiches. We also had the opportunity to have some ginja in edible chocolate cups.

They were selecting the queen (rainha) for the Semana do Mar, which consisted of girls walking down a runway with music playing and people being able to vote by phone or Facebook. Apparently a queen was chosen after we left.

Some beautiful buildings in Horta.