Açores & Madeira

We just returned from an adventure to the Azores, an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, with an added hop to the island of Madeira, all governed by Portugal.

The first morning after we arrived on the island of Terceira, one of the nine islands in the Azores archipelago, I greeted a woman in the hallway of our hotel and she enthusiastically replied, “We’re on a small island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean!” And off we went on our separate ways. But, those twelve words became my mantra throughout the trip. Many times I would remind myself, and those around me, by saying out loud, “we’re on an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean!” It was kind of crazy, but very beautiful, and definitely wonderful.

Our adventures started in Terceira (nicknamed the lilac island because of the many lilac-colored hydrangeas there – which only a few were in bloom at this time). After five nights we flew to São Miguel (the green island) our second of the nine islands in the archipelago, and ended up in Madeira, an island between the Azores and Portugal. 

We were traveling with a tour group (Overseas Adventure Travel) for the first time.  There were 16 of us in the group, all from different areas of the US. The tour guide was a local man who lived on the island of São Miguel. He was knowledgeable, very personable, and took good care of us. He spoke great English with a wonderful accent. We were together with these same folks for twelve days. We traveled well together. Our group had some very interesting people, and it was fun to get to know them. Everyone has a story. 

I’m finding the longer one is on tour the more pictures one takes… and then all those photos have to be gone through. It is a time-consuming job, but a fun one.  I will be share more stories and photos in the coming weeks.