The Azores

The Azores (Portuguese os Açores ) archipelago is a paradise for nature lovers. Beautifully formed lakes decorated with all kinds of plants and flowers. Great mountain top views over land, sea and sometimes two coasts at once. Deep green craters, faded volcanoes, landscapes and skies that have retained their purity. A land to be discovered embraced by melodies of silence and natural violence.

The beaches of the largest island, São Miguel, are diverse yet incredibly picturesque, surrounded by cliffs that plunge into the deep blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

São Miguel

Gone are the days when São Miguel was the port of call for fully loaded ships from different continents. The scars of the centuries-old buildings from that time remain. Fortifications, churches and other monuments are proud to relive that time. Colorful processions and old traditions make holiday memories, which will be remembered later, during the winter evenings, by the warm fireplace.

Contrasterende landschappen

Silhouettes of elegant Japanese cedars (cryptomerias) lie over high plateaus and along high water levels like a refreshing sheet, tuning with tones of green contrasting against blue skies, adorned here and there with some lost white clouds. Most houses are limed white, show a modest architecture, decorated with outlines of modified or tailored gray basalt, red roofs and small windows. Here and there a majestic building with Baroque portals reflects a powerful past.

Culturele kenmerken

Crafts of all kinds, show the nature of the Portuguese patience. Examples are hand-woven bedspreads with old patterns and the delicate beauty of flowers made of fish scale. Here encounters the visitor the nature of another culture. Besides the crafts there are modest folk music and dancing performed by people dressed in pastel colored clothing.

The art of cooking lays mostly on a amazing simple preparation, shows the traditional alliance to the optimal use of natural flavors and ingredients from the Portuguese cuisine. Here and there showing its own local character, like the combination of pineapple and grilled black pudding. The desserts sprout on the roots of grandmother's kitchen, such as pudding made from beans, and tea cakes. As good Europeans, the Azoreans add a delicious variety of Portuguese national and regional cheeses to the menu.