AZORES  - DAY FOUR - Terceira West

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

Click on pictures for larger version

Now we're headed to the West side of the island. Today is less about seeing stuff and more about eating stuff, but more on that later! That didn't mean we didn't see amazing stuff along the way.

The GPS on my phone was acting up and losing signal so we made a few wrong turns adding to Wendy's driving stress.  Finally we got to our first destination without dying or her killing me....or worse. You have to understand it's not just the narrow roads and steep hills, the drivers are crazy!!  They drive like some shoved a stick of dynamite up their butt and I don't think their cars have turn signals installed because I haven't seen one yet!  Not to mention the incessant tailgating!

First stop was Queijo Vaquinha, a famous cheese factory that exports 50% of Portugal's mainland's cheese supply. You get 4 portions of 4 types of cheese free while you sit and drink a beverage of choice in the tasting room or out on the patio.  (Sorry, we only thought about taking a photo after we'd eaten half of it!) They were delicious.  The 2 month aged cheese was the best and is very creamy!  Not like a Brie or Camembert - and very mild.  You could definitely taste the differences between them. 

Interestingly, the lady at the cheese bar was the first person we met that was...not rude.  Just stand offish.  We probably would have bought some cheese, but we didn't like her attitude.

Next we went in search of "Alcatra" a most famous dish served in the Azores, but most well known on this island.  It would be a tragedy to come to Terceira and NOT have Alcatra. It is essentially a beef stew that has been slow cooked in an clay pot. On the largest island, São Miguel, restaurants actually cook their Alcatra by lowering the pot into a freakin' volcano fizzure!

Several locals recommended this to be the top restaurant in Terceira.  It was called Ti Choa on the West coast. So being a foody day it was time to eat the best.

First we were served with a generous helping of bread, pineapple jam and cheese (on left), then came the appetizer which contained a variety of Azorean favorites. Slow roasted pork, pork rib, pork liver, lingüiça sausage, blood pudding, sweet potatoes and deep fried bread. WOW! That sampler was big enough to be the main meal!  If you know Wendy well, she ate the deep fried bread!  However, the sweet potatoes were amazing according to her and nothing like American sweet potatoes.  I wanted to have plenty of space for the MEAT and couldn't be bothered with something so lowly like a sweet potato!

Next was the Alcatra. Served in a clay pot, just the beef and au jus, jam packed to the top. This was accompanied by boiled potato and rice. Oh, my Lord! Enough to feed at least 6 people! Or 15 of Wendy.  LOL

They weren't done yet, for dessert they brought Alfenim.  The recipe is centuries old and was brought to the island of Terceira when the first Portuguese settlers arrived in the early 15th century.  When we asked what's in it, the waiter sidestepped that question by saying it's very good!  It's also known as "vinegar pudding". What?  Yip made from almost burned milk, curdled by vinegar, sugar and eggs added then  topped with cinnamon it was absolutely delicious!  With an interesting texture caused by the curdling, it's almost like rice or tapioca pudding. Who knew?

After lunch, we hit some more back roads to see the beautiful scenery (and many more cows) in Terceira! Cattle is the islands biggest industry, not so much on the other islands, where each one is different. We only have one more day here before moving on to Pico island.

And finally...

So we finally found another one of the only 8 public rest rooms on the island. Guess what? It was actually NOT LOCKED! However, no toilet paper, so if you're doing number 2, good luck with that!  Ladies, y'all need to drip dry here.