As requested by Bob Grey, here is a review of the above holiday!
Ponta Delgada is on the island of Sao Miguel, which is the largest of the Azores archipelago of 9 islands. It's quite long and narrow, being about 62km long but only a maximum width of about 15km. Our hotel, the Marina Atlantica, was a typical four star hotel with nice bedrooms, plenty of storage space, double bed, bath with shower over, mini bar, free wifi, flat screen TV etc etc. I paid extra for a room with balcony and sea view, which included a view of the esplanade and marina. I thought it was worth the extra, but I think that only four of us had paid for sea views, and everyone seemed happy with their rooms. The hotel also has a very nice indoor pool with spa, sauna, hair & beauty salon etc. There is an indoor bar and restaurant, and souvenir shop. The only outside space is a terrace with a few tables, at the front of the hotel. The hotel is across a main road from the marina. There is no beach within easy walking distance, but there is an excellent outdoor swimming area in a coned-off part of the marina area. There is also an outdoor pool immediately opposite the hotel, but this was closed during our stay.
Breakfast and dinner are both buffet style. Breakfast was the same every day, and included fresh fruit, yogurts, cereals, cold meats, cheeses, bread rolls, jams, fried eggs, scrambled egg, sausages, bacon and baked beans. We had a different choice at dinner every day. We started with soup, which was served to the table. The buffet consisted of a fish dish and a meat dish (usually both served in a sauce), a pasta dish, rice, potatoes/chips, and a vegetable such as carrots or green beans. Also cold meats, cheeses and salads. There was a choice of several desserts such as a passion fruit mousse which was a favourite with our group, a tart, a gateau, creme caramel, and fresh fruit salad which was served every day.
The island is beautiful, and very green. During our stay, there were lots of azaleas in bloom, and blue and white agapanthus. The island is covered with hydrangeas, and these were just beginning to come out. The people are very friendly, and the crime rate is low. On our last evening, there was a festival with a brass band in the main square, and the band members had just left their instruments lying around on the ground near their seats. One of the local men was standing at the front, and he beckoned to me and another member of our group, who were behind him, to take his place at the front. When you are waiting to cross the road, cars will often stop to let you cross. Tourism seems to be in fairly early stages, so I don't know how long this happy state of affairs will last. There only appeared to be three main hotels in Ponta Delgada. The local market is very interesting, and our local tour guide, Emmanuella, shiwed us round it, telling us about all the local fruit and veg. We also witnessed a very large fish, similar to tuna, bring gutted and filleted.
Our excursions were as described in the brochure, but not always in the same order. The trip to Furnas, with its hot springs, was very interesting. The brochure omits the fact that you can go in a large and two smaller lakes with hot springs. It's advisable to take old swimwear for this, as the water can stain it. It was a shame that the brochure didn't mention this, as none of us had old swimwear with us, and only 3 of our group went in. The rest of us went round the botanical gardens with Emmanuella, who was very informative. The brochure also doesn't mention that lunch is meat and veg cooked in a pot for 6 hours in a hole in the ground in the hot springs! Absolutely delicious. The local traditional starter is bread and a fairly bland soft cheese, served with a hot pepper sauce. We had some lovely meals, and most of us ate and drank far too much! Another local speciality is a wonderful flaky pastry custard tart, which isn't the kind of thing I'd normally eat, but we had frequent coffee stops, which for many of us always included these tarts!
On one of our free days, some of us got the local bus to a nearby town, Villa Franca do Campo. The scenery on the hour's bus trip was beautiful. We had a walk round the town and seafront, and had lunch in a cafe overlooking the sea.
I won't comment on the other excursions, since they are as described in the brochure. Unfortunately we were unable to see the views at Pico do Ferro as it was covered in mist, but the twin lakes of Sete Cidades were beautiful. The waterfalls and water mill on our last day's outing to the far east of the island were also well worth seeing. However, that day included many stops at viewpoints. Although these were lovely views of the coastline and Atlantic, by the end of the day we all felt that we were all view-pointed-out.
The weather was quite similar to England, though a bit warmer. We had rain on the first day, and once or twice during the night. Sometimes there were strong winds. We had some lovely sunny weather. The daytime temperature was usually around 19 degrees. As far as packing goes, take layers! I wore everything from a T shirt and cotton skirt, to trousers, fleece and waterproof jacket.
This was a very nice holiday, and our Tour Manager, Laura, looked after us very well. It would be interesting to see some of the other islands, as apparently they are quite different.
Bob - I hope you have read this far!
If anyone would like to know more, please feel free to ask me.
Marion.
