AZORES  - DAY NINETEEN - São Miguel ABF

Blogs: Day 1 - Getting There | Day 2 - Central | Day 3 East | Day 4 West | Day 5 Last Day | Day 6 To Pico | Day 7 Madalena | Day 8 Pico Mountain | Day 9 Pico to Faial | Day 10 Pico East | Day 11 Pico North | Day 12 To São Miguel | Day 13 São Miguel North East | Day 14 São Miguel North West | Day 15 São Miguel Furnas | Day 16 São Miguel Pineapples | Day 17 São Miguel Baths | Day 18 São Miguel Filling the Gaps | Day 19 São Miguel ABF

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We are finally home safe and sound. So this will be the ABF (Absolute Bloody Final) Azores travel blog!

As we were only flying out in the early evening we had some time to kill before going to the airport, so we decided to visit Ponta Delgada downtown, a historical city.

First the port is dominated by an old fort built in the 1500s now a military museum.

The port is a fair size.

The downtown area is very historical with interesting architechture. The three arches are the gateway to the city. There's a big town square complete with an outdoor cafe. And the statue of the family represents all the immigrants that settled the islands.

Then it was time to fly home to JFK, New York. We saved a lot of money by only eating out 4 times in 3 weeks so we decided to upgrade to Business Class as they had a deal. The plane was virtually empty, and we had the ENTIRE business class section to ourselves, what a great flight!

Our flight to Tampa was only the next day, so for a second treat we had booked a runway room in the Brand new TWA Hotel at JFK built out of the old TWA terminal overlooking the runway. Not sure why the decided to honor TWA (which finally got bought out by American airlines in 2001, because TWA had a history of being one of the most unsuccessful airlines in history. Originally owned by Howard Hughes for 22 years, his idiosyncrasies cost him the airline. He basically ran it into the ground and the airline was repossessed by the banks when he didn't pay for the aircraft he ordered. Even though the airline lasted for many more years, they filed for bankruptcy several times as the new owners were no better! So the "Marilyn Monroe" of airlines never made a dime!

Our room directly overlooked terminal 7 and had floor to ceiling sound proof windows! We watched the planes take off and land all night long!

The hotel is a celebration of the 1950s and 1960s, with the decor. Music from the era is piped into every public area and there are old cars from the 1950's on display. Even a twister room!

There is a heated pool on the roof together with a bar overlooking the runway. And this is the weird sloping tunnel that leads to the rooms.

Right outside the hotel is an old TWA plane, 1958 Lockheed Constellation, that has been converted into a bar!

The original cockpit is still there but the back cargo area is now the bar!

And finally...

While we were happy to be back in the good 'ole US of A we did suffer from some sticker shock as in one day we went from paying $1.50 for a beer or glass of wine (in a restaurant or airport), to $15 at JFK!!

Thanks for traveling with us and now that things are more back to normal, we hope to travel again soon!!