Today we stop in the port of Ponta Delgada, Azores. We did not set a wake up call because we were not planning on heading out that early today. We have a list of things to see in the town, but since we will be here for a full day, from 8:00 AM until 4:30 PM, we did not need to get an early start.
The ship was easing into the small harbor when we woke up at about 7:45 AM. By the time we showered and I went to the International Cafe for two breakfast sandwiches to take back to the cabin, the ship was already letting passengers off to go ashore.
We ate our breakfast while we watched passengers board their buses parked right along the ship on an elevated roadway just below the level of our balcony. The breakfast sandwiches are identical to an Egg McMuffin, and are really good.
We packed up all of our gear into our backpacks and headed out at about 9:15 AM. On the way out of the port terminal, we picked up a more detailed map of the city, which turned out to be a great idea. We started to head up to the Mercado, or market, heading in the direction of the area that was represented as its location on the map shown during the port lecture, which was the less detailed map provided by Princess as part of the overall port guide. The location was several blocks inland from the port, and farther to the east than we had ever been during our previous visits here, which was why we had never been there before. When we arrived at where we though the market was located, there were only buildings. We decided to look at the detailed port map we had picked up and from that, we discovered that the market was nowhere near where the port lecturer had indicated. We quit using his instruction after that, and started using the other detailed port map. We had gone much farther than required.
On the positive side, as we headed to where the market was really located we passed by a church, the Mae de Deus Chapel. It was built on the highest point in the town, and we had always seen it from the ship and port, but it had been farther and higher than we had wanted to walk during the shorter port stops here. There were really nice views form the property, but the church itself was not open.
We walked to the market from there, and it was pretty easy to figure out when we were close, everyone was carrying bags of grocery items. The semi-outside market was mostly covered, and was separated into sections by the types of items being sold. The main and largest area was for fresh fruit and vegetables. In one corner were the vendors selling fish, and on the other side from that was the meat market, where several vendors had fresh meats. In the last corner was one small shop for cheese and breads.
One of the most interesting items were the pineapples. They are quite different from those we normally purchase. They were much smaller, more round than long, and the green top was really small in comparison to our “normal” pineapples. They were also much more of a yellow-orange color. We wished they had samples to eat, but there were not any. They also seemed a little pricey at euro 3.99 per kilogram, but without doing a little bit of calculating we could not really compare to the $2.99 each we can pay at home.
There was also an area for fresh flowers in the market. Since this was Saturday, the market was quite crowded. There were also some nice bathrooms there, so we took the opportunity to utilize those while we had the chance.
After the market, we headed back toward the port and more west to visit some of the shops, and to also visit the San Sebastian Church that we had been to last time we were here in April. The port lectured had also shown a Jesuit Church during the lecture, and it had looked really beautiful inside based on his pictures.
Of course, his map location for the Jesuit Church was nowhere near being accurate either, so we once again, we used the real map we had gotten in the port terminal. The church was really identified on the signage as a museum, so it was a little confusing to figure out if it was the right place. It was the only church located in this part of town, so we went in the small side entrance.
There was a two euro per person entry fee to visit the inside of the church building. We paid our entry fee and went inside. There were some beautiful carved figures inside, and the main altar was all carved out of wood. We saw s0me information about the church and found that it had not been used as an actual Jesuit Church for some time, since way back in the 1700’s.
It had apparently been shut down by one of the former Kings of Portugal, since the Azores are Portuguese islands, and had fallen into ruin over time. It was restored as a museum in recent time. There was some type of mirrored hanging mobile inside, which did not add to the ambiance, and sort of got in the way for nice pictures of the main altar. There were also several other art items inside as part of an modern art exhibit and art student display. They had nice restrooms inside, so we also took advantage of those before we headed out. Public restrooms are just not that available here.
We headed back to the shopping area near the San Sebastian Church and Stephanie bought a really nice painted ceramic bowl and a couple of other small items. We visited a few more shops and decided to head back towards the ship. We also visited a few more shops on the way back. When we got to the port area, we noticed that the small church built in that area, San Piedro, or Saint Peter in English, was open.
We had never been able to get inside the last time we were here, so we headed up the hill to the church to visit. It was really nice inside and we were able to find out that it was still being used as a Catholic church. We had not been able to find a lot of information online about this church on our last visit in April, and that was why we had gone to Mass at San Sebastian, farther away from the port.
We were able to decipher the Portuguese information and found that there was Mass there on Sundays at 11:00 AM, so now we now if we ever visit here on a Sunday again.
We headed back to the ship and unloaded our gear in the cabin before heading to the pool deck for lunch. Stephanie had pizza and I had a cheeseburger. We both had one Dos Equis beer with our lunch. We wanted to head back to the port terminal to look at some of the shops there and to use the free wifi to check messages and Facebook.
We grabbed our phones and tablets and headed back out. It was only 2:00 PM, so we had about 3 hours before the ship sailed. We visited the stores in the terminal area before we went inside the main terminal to use the free wifi. The “free” wifi was not really free unless you purchased something from one of the bar/restaurants in the terminal area. Each one had their own wifi login, and all of them required a password. There were several that had outside tables.
We sat at a table in the shade at a location called the American Bowling Bar, and ordered one of the local beers, which were reasonably priced at two euros each. The waitress gave us the password and we logged on to their wifi. Initially, the signal was really weak, so we moved to another table nearer to the bar inside, where the signal was much stronger. This establishment was a restaurant and bar, but also a small bowling alley with four lanes
After about an hour of catching up on the world, we walked around the terminal area a little more for some pictures, and got back onto the ship. We dropped everything off and headed to Bellini’s for a beverage while we waited for the ship to leave.
The Captain made an announcement that we were waiting on four passengers to get back to the ship, so we would be a little late leaving. At about 5:15 PM, the ship finally started to head out of the harbor, so we went to the pool deck to watch the sail away. The weather had been really nice here today, it was much sunnier than on any previous visit. It was only about 70 degrees, and was pretty windy. As has been the case for most of this cruise, if you could get out of the wind it was comfortable, but cool if you were out in exposed areas. The sail away was nice because the wind was from the stern, and made the relative wind on deck fairly light.
As the sun went down, it got cooler so we headed inside and went to the Vines Wine Bar for some wine and tapas. We ran into the Clemson group there and they were all decked out in Clemson clothing. Clemson was playing NC State, and they were getting scores online. The game was much closer than it should have been, but they left before the end, so we will have to check on the final score later tonight.
In addition to our tapas, we got a couple of plates of cheese, walnuts and dried apricots from the International Cafe that is right across the Atrium from Vines.
We headed up to Bellini’s to visit with Nemo, the bartender there, and Stephanie had a Bellini Drink and I had some Pinot Grigio. We had looked at the dining room menu, and one again, opted to skip that experience. While we were there, the port lecturer, which we had talked with several times here at Bellini’s, came over with some fresh white cheese he had gotten in port today. He cut pieces of it for us and several other person to try. It was more of a crumbly cheese than sliced, and had quite a strong flavor. We liked it, but only in small doses. He told us the cheese was made on one of the other islands in the Azores.
We headed over to Alfredo’s Pizzeria and ate dinner. Stephanie had the antipasto for the appetizer and I had the Minestrone soup. For the main course, I had the Calzone again, and Stephanie had the Hawaiian Pizza.
After dinner, we headed back to Bellini’s and met up with Scott and Deborah, and some of the other “locals” who frequent here in the evenings. After a couple of drinks, we headed back to the cabin for the night. Of course, there were no college football games on the ESPN channel we get, it was all reruns of the old sports programs, and there were not even any scores on the info at the bottom. We had to go online to find out that Clemson had gone to overtime to win against NC State.