Terceira Island, Azores

Terceira Island: Journey through a Unique Archipelago of the Azores


Facade Expressions
Facade decorated with faces, at the entrance to the Marina of Angra do Heroismo.
endless minifundio
Terceira's impressive minifundio seen from a viewpoint in Serra do Cume
Angra do Heroísmo House
Casario de Angra do Heroismo, seen from a slope of Monte Brasil.
Unusual bullfight
Pseudo bullfighters provoke a bull during the bullfight on the Biscoitos rope, on the north coast of Terceira.
Rope Bullfighting Assistance
A small crowd watches the rope bullfight in Biscoitos.
outdoor corral
A cow in its stone corral, in the green foothills of Serra do Cume.
Ti Manel of the Farm
The picturesque dining room at "Venda do Ti Manel da Quinta"
Band II
Band animates one of the religious ceremonies of the Divino do Espírito Santo, in front of the Empire of Charity of Praia da Vitória.
modern font
Background of an architectural fountain between the Igreja da Misericórdia and the marina in Angra de Heroísmo.
About.
Passersby walk along two of the walks that skirt the Angra do Heroísmo marina.
Minifundio with cattle
One of the cornered patches that can be seen from the top of Serra do Cume to the horizon.
Blessed Angra do Heroismo
Angra do Heroísmo house with two of its largest churches highlighted.
Quinta do Martelo store
Emanuel Almeida, employee of Quinta do Martelo at the counter of the old store on the ground floor of the restaurant "A Venda do Ti Manel da Quinta"
Biscuits Bullfight
Taurus confronts a crowd of participants in the Biscoitos rope bullfight.
The band
The band's musicians animate the ceremony of the Divine Holy Spirit.
House in the last sun
Houses on the north coast of Terceira island.
Mountain View
The impressive minifundio da Terceira, as seen from the top of Serra do Cume.
In Marina
The marina of Angra de Heroísmo, with the blue Misericórdia Cathedral in the background.
under the pine
Angra do Heroísmo esplanade embellished by the city's artistic sidewalk.
Creek Lines
Steep street of Angra do Heroísmo.
It was called the Island of Jesus Christ and has radiated, for a long time, the cult of the Holy Spirit. It houses Angra do Heroísmo, the oldest and most splendid city in the archipelago. These are just two examples. The attributes that make Terceira island unique are endless.

The picturesque Quinta dos Figos is only fifteen minutes away from the world famous Lajes, home to the Terceira Island airport where we had just landed and the famous North American base.

Even so, we installed ourselves in the room in play-and-run mode. We left in a hurry to take a look at the streets of Praia da Vitória and came face to face with one of the many colorful empires that bless and decorate Terceira island.

The exuberant cube stands out from the white houses with the predominant brick-colored tiles.

As a kind of architectural diva, it displays its facades full of Christian arabesques, arches, ogives, columns, steps, a rounded pediment that identifies it. A veritable festival of colors invades the set: blue, yellow, green, red and white.

An Azorean Expression of the Divine

By itself, the structure would leave any admirer stunned, but, to top it off, that Empire of Charity concentrated serious festivities.

The band, Terceira Island, Unique Azores

Band animates one of the religious ceremonies of the Divino do Espírito Santo, in front of the Empire of Charity of Praia da Vitória.

Next door, a local philharmonic band plays pompous fanfare themes. A firefighter dispatches his projectiles one after the other closer to God.

With successive arrhythmic explosions, it deafens us and the believers of the earth, all dressed in the best Sunday clothes.

Some enter and leave the Empire with trays of blessed food, others, hold spears and standards of the Divine.

We play innocent tourists and listen to the heart of the ceremony. Inside, on a white altar raised in terraces and decorated with matching wreaths, rest several gleaming lacy wreaths.

For a short time. With the band already off the cement stand and walking along the road ahead, several participants in the ritual make their way to the staircase wearing these same wreaths before on the trays. Others carry spears. We pursued them determined to register the moment. The band follows us all.

We had already followed another Feast of the Divine Holy Spirit. The first and so far only time in Pirenópolis, in the Brazilian countryside of Goiás. There, Manuel Amâncio da Luz, a hypermotivated Portuguese priest, transformed belief into an incredible cultural expression that the people's faith and enthusiasm still preserve today.

In Praia da Vitória, we saw how everything was happening in the main Portuguese stronghold of Divino Espírito Santo. Until the Emperor and his "subjects" disappeared to the sound of the charanga and left us to our destiny. A photographer from the local press sees us undecided and approaches us.

After a few minutes of technical conversation, the colleague highlights our luck. “It's just that you are not seeing well. Not only did they catch the Divine here today, but in a little while, they'll be able to watch the rope bullfight. More Terceira Island than this is difficult.”

Even if they represented a journey from the sacred to the profane, they were coordinates we were not willing to ignore. From Praia da Vitória, we continue along the north coast of the island, stopping here and there to see marine pools and other particularities of the rugged coastline.

Biscuits: Start of Bulls in the style of Terceira Island

In the middle of the afternoon, around Biscuits, we find the mob installed. Hundreds of cars are parked in a field of overgrown lava that separates the road and the waterfront. We find a still distant corner for our car from where we descend towards the village.

Public in Biscuits, Unique Azores

A small crowd watches the rope bullfight in Biscoitos.

Halfway through, we found the first revelers, who served food and drinks, sometimes picnickers, sometimes at the counter of mobile homes and similar vans, powered by generators and serving enthusiastic customers of everything, from Azorean specialties to the most obvious nails, steaks, snacks and churros.

The further down the road, the more its verges were crowded with people and the places with the best views were disputed. We managed to slip into a newly abandoned space and finally enjoyed the fulcrum of all the attention.

Around a small cove surrounded by lava cliffs, in a grassland above and in the street that separated it from the houses, a bull hesitated between contemplating the madness around it or charging at the pseudo bullfighters who incited it among the crowd.

Biscuits, Terceira Island, Unique Azores

Taurus confronts a crowd of participants in the Biscoitos rope bullfight.

Little by little, we were able to estimate the areas safe from possible lashes, which happen in abundance, such as the wounded and, from time to time, even dead, despite the bull's movements limited by the action of the "shepherds" ” which give you more or less slack depending on the imminence of certain damage.

A rocket announces the removal of the bull and another break in hostilities. We moved from an area still high on the slope to the top of a terrace with a privileged panoramic view over the street where most of the bullfight takes place.

The terrace is shared by families, with a predominance of women and children.

Biscuits, Terceira Island, Unique Azores

Pseudo bullfighters provoke a bull during the bullfight on the Biscoitos rope, on the north coast of Terceira.

Some families are migrants in the USA and in Canada. Even with an eye on our cameras, we have fun listening to how the wonders of their lives on the other side of the Atlantic insinuate to others that were at the origin. “Ah!! But our house over there has nothing to do with the ones over here.

It's much bigger. I would go there! More is earned and, therefore, we can build without worries.” This same Canadian Azorean, who could not contain herself with so much pride in the return her life took, wasted no time in asking us: “are you portraitists?

I really wanted to take some pictures here, with my family. If you want to spend a few days in Cambridge, Ontario, you can also do some good portraits. Everything is very beautiful there.” Rockets and bulls followed one another in that strange bullfighting afternoon. Until the afternoon and the revelry came to a gentle end.

The incredible walled minifundio of Terceira Island

Shortly after dawn, we went up to the Facho viewpoint and admired the houses of Praia da Vitória, the birthplace of Vitorino Nemésio.

From there, we took the old cobbled road that leads to the top of the 545 meters of Serra do Cume, a verdant ridge that rises to the east of the island, windy as windy it could be and revealing a unique scenery.

View of Serra do Cume, Terceira Island, Unique Azores

Terceira's impressive minifundio seen from a viewpoint in Serra do Cume

Below, the vastness to the south and west reveals itself in an incredible yellow-green geometric pattern of fertility and labor. Countless smallholdings demarcated by basalt walls stretch as far as the eye can see, dotted with small agricultural warehouses, corrals and loose cows.

With the exception of the gale from the heights, the day remained at eye level, with an almost clear sky and sunny to match. Aware of the unpredictability of the Azorean meteorology and the abundance and historical and architectural exuberance of Angra do Heroismo, we decided to aim as soon as possible at your stops.

View of Serra do Cume, Terceira Island, Unique Azores

One of the cornered patches that can be seen from the top of Serra do Cume to the horizon.

Angra do Heroísmo: the First City of the Azores

Angra was the first of the Azorean towns to be promoted to a city, in 1534. Shortly thereafter, Pope Paul III chose it as the seat of the diocese of Angra, with authority over the entire archipelago.

At that time, its port already had a decisive role in trade with the East, which is why the transit and anchoring of caravels and gallons was intensified, contributing to the city's prosperity, with emphasis on the ostentatious construction of churches, convents and fortifications military that made it unique.

We admire them and the impressive panorama of the houses from Angrense from the base of the yellow obelisk that projects from Alto da Memória, dedicated to Pedro IV, the triumphant king of the Portuguese Liberal Wars.

House of Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira Island, Unique Azores

House of Angra do Heroismo, seen from a slope of Monte Brasil.

As we feared, dark clouds were approaching from the north so we accelerated into the city, down Ladeira de São Francisco until we came across the respectful Praça Velha, the centuries-old heart and soul of the city.

Over time, Angra has had the ability to welcome the afflicted, refugees or exiles of upheavals and the like to take place on the continent.

After being defeated by the Spanish Habsburg army at the Battle of Alcântara, António Prior do Crato decided to prolong his self-proclaimed oppositional reign to that of Philip I of Spain, from Terceira onwards.

Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira Island, Unique Azores

Steep street of Angra do Heroísmo.

The History and Stories of Angra do Heroísmo

Not only did it do so from 1580 to 1583, it also gathered around it strong popular resistance and other European adventurers averse to the increasingly stifling Hispanic expansion. The Spaniards were forced to fight him and thus the War of Succession to the Azores spread.

In 1667, at the end of the Restoration War, Afonso VI was exiled to Angra do Heroísmo by Pedro II, his younger brother, who declared him unfit to govern. In 1809, Almeida Garrett and his family took refuge in Angra from the second French invasion.

Garrett only returned to the mainland in 1818. During the Liberal Wars, Pedro, Emperor of the Brazil and the daughter to whom he abdicated the Portuguese throne established the headquarters of the Liberal forces on Terceira and repressed an attack by Pedro's youngest son Miguel and his Miguelista forces at the battle of Praia da Vitória.

It was, in fact, the resistance of the Liberals and this triumph that inspired the nickname “do Heroísmo” in Angra.

After capturing Mouzinho de Albuquerque, Gungunhanha, the “Gaza lion”, died in Angra eleven years after being exiled there.

These are just a few examples, many more to list.

Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira Island, Unique Azores

The marina of Angra de Heroísmo, the capital of the island of Terceira, with the blue Misericórdia Cathedral in the background.

The political, religious and military relevance enters our eyes when we admire the Church of Nossa Senhora do Carmo.

Furthermore, the azulona da Misericórdia and, on the opposite side of the bay, the imposing walls of the Fort of Monte Brasil, built during the reign of Filipe I of Spain, from then onwards the scene of successive crucial events in Portuguese history. Today, headquarters of the 1st Garrison Regiment.

We walk along the wall that keeps the marina safe from the fury of the Atlantic and return to the blessing of the church.

Soon, we took a peek at Prainha where some trucks they delight in the calm water while a fifty-year-old gymnast determined to maintain his impressive form.

Electoral Missions and the Picturesque Quinta do Martelo

But it doesn't take long before we come across new matches. We lived in a time of elections.

We were tasting some typical cakes from the island when João Pinho de Almeida and other dolled dignitaries from the CDS invade the Athanásio pastry shop and foist us and other customers on leaflets and almost empty party pens.

However, we left Angra to take a look at the Quinta do Martelo, an old property full of rural buildings and work tools that immaculately illustrate its old times and the different production cycles it has gone through: orange, wine and loquat.

We knock on the restaurant's door “The Sale of Ti Manel da Quinta”, for some time in vain. Finally, Emanuel appears. The slender and affable employee of the farm reveals the old grocery store on the ground floor. He installed us in the superior's room, which now serves as a restaurant.

Quinta do Martelo, Terceira Island, Unique Azores

The picturesque dining room at “Venda do Ti Manel da Quinta”

At the table, but with an eye on detail, we see how the mentor Gilberto Vieira preserved and recovered everything, from the door handles to the crockery, according to the times when the farm was operating.

The atmosphere of the place, the most picturesque that we have seen in many trips and the traditional meal served by the no less genuine Emanuel, leave us in awe of Quinta do Martelo.

Quinta do Martelo, Terceira Island, Unique Azores

Emanuel Almeida, employee of Quinta do Martelo at the counter of the old store on the ground floor of the restaurant “A Venda do Ti Manel da Quinta”

A little more with the peculiar Terceira island.

Azores Airlines

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Sistelo, Peneda-Gerês, Portugal

From the "Little Portuguese Tibet" to the Corn Presidia

We leave the cliffs of Srª da Peneda, heading for Arcos de ValdeVez and the villages that an erroneous imaginary dubbed Little Portuguese Tibet. From these terraced villages, we pass by others famous for guarding, as golden and sacred treasures, the ears they harvest. Whimsical, the route reveals the resplendent nature and green fertility of these lands in Peneda-Gerês.
Castro Laboreiro, Portugal  

From Castro de Laboreiro to Raia da Serra Peneda - Gerês

We arrived at (i) the eminence of Galicia, at an altitude of 1000m and even more. Castro Laboreiro and the surrounding villages stand out against the granite monumentality of the mountains and the Planalto da Peneda and Laboreiro. As do its resilient people who, sometimes handed over to Brandas and sometimes to Inverneiras, still call these stunning places home.
Flores Island, Azores

The Atlantic ends of the Azores and Portugal

Where, to the west, even on the map the Americas appear remote, the Ilha das Flores is home to the ultimate Azorean idyllic-dramatic domain and almost four thousand Florians surrendered to the dazzling end-of-the-world that welcomed them.
São Miguel (Azores), Azores

São Miguel Island: Stunning Azores, By Nature

An immaculate biosphere that the Earth's entrails mold and soften is displayed, in São Miguel, in a panoramic format. São Miguel is the largest of the Portuguese islands. And it is a work of art of Nature and Man in the middle of the North Atlantic planted.
Pico Island, Azores

Pico Island: the Azores Volcano with the Atlantic at its Feet

By a mere volcanic whim, the youngest Azorean patch projects itself into the rock and lava apogee of Portuguese territory. The island of Pico is home to its highest and sharpest mountain. But not only. It is a testament to the resilience and ingenuity of the Azoreans who tamed this stunning island and surrounding ocean.
Santa Maria, Azores

Santa Maria: the Azores Mother Island

It was the first in the archipelago to emerge from the bottom of the sea, the first to be discovered, the first and only to receive Cristovão Colombo and a Concorde. These are some of the attributes that make Santa Maria special. When we visit it, we find many more.
Amboseli National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro, Normatior Hill
Safari
Amboseli National Park, Kenya

A Gift from the Kilimanjaro

The first European to venture into these Masai haunts was stunned by what he found. And even today, large herds of elephants and other herbivores roam the pastures irrigated by the snow of Africa's biggest mountain.
Herd in Manang, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 8th Manang, Nepal

Manang: the Last Acclimatization in Civilization

Six days after leaving Besisahar we finally arrived in Manang (3519m). Located at the foot of the Annapurna III and Gangapurna Mountains, Manang is the civilization that pampers and prepares hikers for the ever-dreaded crossing of Thorong La Gorge (5416 m).
Traditional houses, Bergen, Norway.
Architecture & Design
Bergen, Norway

The Great Hanseatic Port of Norway

Already populated in the early 1830th century, Bergen became the capital, monopolized northern Norwegian commerce and, until XNUMX, remained one of the largest cities in Scandinavia. Today, Oslo leads the nation. Bergen continues to stand out for its architectural, urban and historical exuberance.
The small lighthouse at Kallur, highlighted in the capricious northern relief of the island of Kalsoy.
Adventure
Kalsoy, Faroe Islands

A Lighthouse at the End of the Faroese World

Kalsoy is one of the most isolated islands in the Faroe archipelago. Also known as “the flute” due to its long shape and the many tunnels that serve it, a mere 75 inhabitants inhabit it. Much less than the outsiders who visit it every year, attracted by the boreal wonder of its Kallur lighthouse.
Balinese Hinduism, Lombok, Indonesia, Batu Bolong temple, Agung volcano in background
Ceremonies and Festivities
Lombok, Indonesia

Lombok: Balinese Hinduism on an Island of Islam

The foundation of Indonesia was based on the belief in one God. This ambiguous principle has always generated controversy between nationalists and Islamists, but in Lombok, the Balinese take freedom of worship to heart
The Crucifixion in Helsinki
Cities
Helsinki, Finland

A Frigid-Scholarly Via Crucis

When Holy Week arrives, Helsinki shows its belief. Despite the freezing cold, little dressed actors star in a sophisticated re-enactment of Via Crucis through streets full of spectators.
Singapore Asian Capital Food, Basmati Bismi
Meal
Singapore

The Asian Food Capital

There were 4 ethnic groups in Singapore, each with its own culinary tradition. Added to this was the influence of thousands of immigrants and expatriates on an island with half the area of ​​London. It was the nation with the greatest gastronomic diversity in the Orient.
Islamic silhouettes
Culture

Istanbul, Turkey

Where East meets West, Turkey Seeks its Way

An emblematic and grandiose metropolis, Istanbul lives at a crossroads. As Turkey in general, divided between secularism and Islam, tradition and modernity, it still doesn't know which way to go

Spectator, Melbourne Cricket Ground-Rules footbal, Melbourne, Australia
Sport
Melbourne, Australia

The Football the Australians Rule

Although played since 1841, Australian Football has only conquered part of the big island. Internationalization has never gone beyond paper, held back by competition from rugby and classical football.
Train Fianarantsoa to Manakara, Malagasy TGV, locomotive
Traveling
Fianarantsoa-Manakara, Madagascar

On board the Malagasy TGV

We depart Fianarantsoa at 7a.m. It wasn't until 3am the following morning that we completed the 170km to Manakara. The natives call this almost secular train Train Great Vibrations. During the long journey, we felt, very strongly, those of the heart of Madagascar.
San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Zapatismo, Mexico, San Nicolau Cathedral
Ethnic
San Cristobal de Las Casas, Mexico

The Home Sweet Home of Mexican Social Conscience

Mayan, mestizo and Hispanic, Zapatista and tourist, country and cosmopolitan, San Cristobal has no hands to measure. In it, Mexican and expatriate backpacker visitors and political activists share a common ideological demand.
ice tunnel, black gold route, Valdez, Alaska, USA
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

Sensations vs Impressions

New Orleans Louisiana, First Line
History
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

The Muse of the Great American South

New Orleans stands out from conservative US backgrounds as the defender of all rights, talents and irreverence. Once French, forever Frenchified, the city of jazz inspires new contagious rhythms, the fusion of ethnicities, cultures, styles and flavors.
Roça Bombaim, Roça Monte Café, São Tomé island, flag
Islands
Center São Tomé, São Tomé and Principe

From Roça to Roça, Towards the Tropical Heart of São Tomé

On the way between Trindade and Santa Clara, we come across the terrifying colonial past of Batepá. Passing through the Bombaim and Monte Café roças, the island's history seems to have been diluted in time and in the chlorophyll atmosphere of the Santomean jungle.
Northern Lights, Laponia, Rovaniemi, Finland, Fire Fox
Winter White
Lapland, Finland

In Search of the Fire Fox

Unique to the heights of the Earth are the northern or southern auroras, light phenomena generated by solar explosions. You Sami natives from Lapland they believed it to be a fiery fox that spread sparkles in the sky. Whatever they are, not even the nearly 30 degrees below zero that were felt in the far north of Finland could deter us from admiring them.
shadow vs light
Literature
Kyoto, Japan

The Kyoto Temple Reborn from the Ashes

The Golden Pavilion has been spared destruction several times throughout history, including that of US-dropped bombs, but it did not withstand the mental disturbance of Hayashi Yoken. When we admired him, he looked like never before.
capillary helmet
Nature
Viti levu, Fiji

Cannibalism and Hair, Fiji Islands' Old Pastimes

For 2500 years, anthropophagy has been part of everyday life in Fiji. In more recent centuries, the practice has been adorned by a fascinating hair cult. Luckily, only vestiges of the latest fashion remain.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
Namibe, Angola, Cave, Iona Park
Natural Parks
Namibe, Angola

Incursion to the Angolan Namibe

Discovering the south of Angola, we leave Moçâmedes for the interior of the desert province. Over thousands of kilometers over land and sand, the harshness of the scenery only reinforces the astonishment of its vastness.
Campeche, Mexico, Yucatan Peninsula, Can Pech, Pastéis in the air
UNESCO World Heritage
Campeche, Mexico

Campeche Upon Can Pech

As was the case throughout Mexico, the conquerors arrived, saw and won. Can Pech, the Mayan village, had almost 40 inhabitants, palaces, pyramids and an exuberant urban architecture, but in 1540 there were less than 6 natives. Over the ruins, the Spaniards built Campeche, one of the most imposing colonial cities in the Americas.
Visitors to Ernest Hemingway's Home, Key West, Florida, United States
Characters
Key West, United States

Hemingway's Caribbean Playground

Effusive as ever, Ernest Hemingway called Key West "the best place I've ever been...". In the tropical depths of the contiguous US, he found evasion and crazy, drunken fun. And the inspiration to write with intensity to match.
Santa Marta, Tayrona, Simón Bolivar, Ecohabs of Tayrona National Park
Beaches
Santa Marta and PN Tayrona, Colombia

The Paradise from which Simon Bolivar departed

At the gates of PN Tayrona, Santa Marta is the oldest continuously inhabited Hispanic city in Colombia. In it, Simón Bolívar began to become the only figure on the continent almost as revered as Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary.
Kirkjubour, Streymoy, Faroe Islands
Religion
Kirkjubour, streymoy, Faroe Islands

Where the Faroese Christianity Washed Ashore

A mere year into the first millennium, a Viking missionary named Sigmundur Brestisson brought the Christian faith to the Faroe Islands. Kirkjubour became the shelter and episcopal seat of the new religion.
Train Kuranda train, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
On Rails
Cairns-Kuranda, Australia

Train to the Middle of the Jungle

Built out of Cairns to save miners isolated in the rainforest from starvation by flooding, the Kuranda Railway eventually became the livelihood of hundreds of alternative Aussies.
Vegetables, Little India, Sari Singapore, Singapore
Society
Little India, Singapore

The Sari Singapore of Little India

There are thousands of inhabitants instead of the 1.3 billion of the mother country, but Little India, a neighborhood in tiny Singapore, does not lack soul. No soul, no smell of Bollywood curry and music.
Casario, uptown, Fianarantsoa, ​​Madagascar
Daily life
Fianarantsoa, Madagascar

The Malagasy City of Good Education

Fianarantsoa was founded in 1831 by Ranavalona Iª, a queen of the then predominant Merina ethnic group. Ranavalona Iª was seen by European contemporaries as isolationist, tyrant and cruel. The monarch's reputation aside, when we enter it, its old southern capital remains as the academic, intellectual and religious center of Madagascar.
Newborn turtle, PN Tortuguero, Costa Rica
Wildlife
PN Tortuguero, Costa Rica

A Night at the Nursery of Tortuguero

The name of the Tortuguero region has an obvious and ancient reason. Turtles from the Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea have long flocked to the black sand beaches of its narrow coastline to spawn. On one of the nights we spent in Tortuguero we watched their frenzied births.
Passengers, scenic flights-Southern Alps, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand

The Aeronautical Conquest of the Southern Alps

In 1955, pilot Harry Wigley created a system for taking off and landing on asphalt or snow. Since then, his company has unveiled, from the air, some of the greatest scenery in Oceania.