AZORES  - DAY SEVEN - Pico Madalena

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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Today we headed to the West side of Pico island to Madalena, one of the larger cities with a busy ferry port. Along the way we saw the famous Dragon Trees the Azores is known for, they sure are funky. Historically used to be a source for dyes due to their red sap, but are mostly ornamental now. And of course being a Catholic country there are many churches all of which look exactly like this!  Every hour and half hour the church bells ring throughout the islands.

Then on to the volcanic vineyards, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. When the early settlers landed here they wanted to plant vines, but the ground was unforgiving volcanic rock. So using pick axes they dug holes in the rock, filled them with soil imported from a neighboring island, Faial, and planted the vines in the soil in the holes of the rock.  Whew - That's a lot of work!    The vines were set at an angle so they would grow along the ground and not upright, due to the very strong winds. That allowed them to build 3-4 foot high volcanic rock walls to protect the vines from the elements, and thus began Pico's world class wine heritage!  The volcanic rock served two purposes.  First to protect during the day from the winds, and second to serve as heat for the delicate vines and grapes during the night.  Clever they were back in the 1500's!

Then to a windmill. There are many of these windmills throughout the Azores. They were first built in the 1600s as a mill to ground cereal, which was the base of their food. They fell into disuse and have been rebuilt as monuments/attractions. The blades are now fixed and don't turn in the wind.

The West end of the island has great views of a neighboring island called Faial only a short way away. We'll be taking a ferry there on Monday.

The city has a fantastic view of Pico Mountain - which is between 300,000 and 750,000 years old depending upon which historical site you read.  We were very lucky today was a relatively rare clear day and had a beautiful view.

We then drove by the port to check out the ferry terminal for Monday and came across their haul out yard where the fishing boats come out for maintenance of the hulls. Must be a pretty big crane somewhere as these are monsters!

There are loads of natural swimming holes as the islands do not have many beaches. Also found an old school hand crank crane for off loading boats, now no longer used.

We then paid to visit the most famous restaurant in Pico right on the water for lunch.  We choose a board of local cheeses with bread, honey and figs. The place is called Cella Bar as it is in the shape of a wine barrel (who would have thought??!!!) Very hoity and a beautiful setting.  Not "our" kind of place, but it's where you HAVE to go if in the area.  OK....

Wendy is used to paying € 1.25- €2 per glass of wine in a local bar.  She misread the menu and her glass was €10!!!  While she said it was a beautiful bouquet, she has just as much satisfaction with the €1.25 glass.  I love my "frugal" wife!  The beer I ordered was Sagres - Wendy loved it!  I thought it tasted like a generic smooth lager.  Wendy, however, said it reminded her of a beer she had in Belgium with hints of clove.  I think I prefer the Bock, the beer of the people!

We finished the day with a visit to the Wine Museum, which was very educational and had a wonderful view.  What did we learn?  Google it.  LOL!  For €2 per person it was a nice serene break and allows you to understand the breadth and hardiness of the original settlers. Wine or DIE!!

And finally...

We kept seeing this sign along side the road and could not figure out what it meant. A monkey wrench? Perhaps there's a plumber up ahead? Then we see a winery after the sign, so it had to be a wine press ahead sign? But then the next one had no winery. Finally I did a Google image search. It means a mechanic car repair place ahead. Bloody Hell!  I should have figured that one out, although a crescent wrench might have been more obvious, I have never used a monkey wrench on a car! But then, what do I know?