Europe Slideshows

I've posted the Europe Slideshows condensed from the nearly 1,500 pictures we took in Europe.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzdACppIkux0symWDGDyu5pQBI5YQ3x9q

Azores Slideshows

Here's a playlist for the Azores Slideshow that I worked up from all the 1,500 pictures that were taken by everyone in the Azores.

Azores Playlist

Leaving Europe

Friday - 26 Sep

Another early day saw us up around 3 am and leaving for the airport by 4. The rental car place was not open, so I found where to deposit the keys and we all checked in for our flight to Lisbon. The flight was uneventful. We had a 4+ hour layover in Lisbon but because of our earlier experience and the fact that no one had the energy, we just stayed in the airport and caught our flight to Boston, with a brief stopover in Ponta Delgada. Unfortunately, they didn’t print boarding passes to take us to Boston, so we had to go out through passport control, to the ticket counter and back through security. It was a real hassle. 

But at least the flight from the Azores arrived almost on time. So Jenny could catch her flight to Medford, by way of Seattle. Other than the flight being really “animado” or excited with lots of Portuguese chatter and banter, we had a good flight.

Driving from Paris to Heidelberg

Thursday - 25 Sep

We left around 7:00 am for the return trip back to Frankfurt by way of Heidelberg. We got ahead of most of the traffic and our apartment was on the edge of Paris, so we had an easy commute out of the city. But we encountered intermittent heavy fog for a couple of hours. It made Spencer’s driving job stressful.

We had a brief stop over in KaiserLauten near Spencer’s to grab a bite to each and to look at coo coo clocks. Both the Cooks and Gayle got one. This was a real highlight of the trip.

We arrived in Heidelberg and dropped Spencer at the train station so he could go and pick up his vehicle at the airport. The rest went to the  Church of the Holy Spirit, where Theron’s grandfather had been baptized. Its a marvelous structure, in and out. But they have vendor kiosks all around the perimeter of the building.

There enjoyed being in such an important place in his family history. He and I walked up to the tower, which turned out not to be to the top of the tower. 

We divided into couples, with Jenny and Camille going together. Each couple explored on their own the interesting street that starts in the square by the church and goes about a mile. There are many interesting shops and eateries that are the unique spirit of Heidelberg. 

Spence's M-Wagon

We got back into the van and started to find our way our of the city. For some reason, I ignored the navigation system and just went in the direction that I thought best, which ended up back at the train station. There we found Spencer, who had forgotten his car keys, so had to come back to Heidelberg after going all the way to Frankfurt. It was a miracle that we stumbled upon him at the exact moment he was there and Jenny checked her data to see his text messages from him.

We realized that if we took Spencer back to Frankfurt, that we wouldn’t get back to his area until 10 pm or so. And we would have to leave to go back to Frankfurt at around 2 pm. So we decided to just stay in Frankfurt. Jenny got on the Internet and found us a reasonable place to stay for the night and we were at the hotel around 9:30 pm.

Arch de Triompe and the Orsay Museum

  Wednesday - 24 Sep

Our day started out slow. Though most were up early, we didn’t get things going until 9:30 am. We divided into two groups again. This time Spencer, Jenny, Camille and Gayle set out before Theron, Cindy and I. We were going to the Arch de Triompe and the Champs de Eleysees strew. The first group spent quite a bit of time at the Arch while the latter took photos and moved on down the street. It’s lined with  expensive shops and souvenir kiosks. It didn't take long for us to have our fill of that. 

We met up at 1 pm and changed our groups. Gayle, Camille, Jenny and I went into the Orsay Museum and Spencer, Cindy and Theron went for a walk. The museum was a much different experience from the Lourve. It was not overwhelming. They had the collections organized into groups of the style of art. I spent most of my time in the Impressionist and Post-impressionist periods. Many of us really liked some of the art of Van Gogh, Monet and Renior. There was a particular painting that impressed me of Monet called the Tempest of the Beautiful Isle because it reminded me of the Azores. The art had a real calming affect on me. 

We had lunch about 3 pm at a crepes restaurant. We had crepes as sandwiches with ham, egg and cheese. Then we had a crepe with Nutella for dessert. It was delicious.

Then we divided into different groups, this time the men and the women. The ladies wanted to do more souvenir shopping while the men wanted to go back to the apartment to rest. Spencer detoured to take some more pictures.

While going through the metro station, Theron was accosted by a team of 2 young pick pockets. One young man distracted us by pointing to the bottom of his pant so we would look down. Then the other reached into Theron’s shirt pocket for his phone. Fortunately, he also had his glasses in that pocket and the glasses came flying out and hit the ground. They missed his phone and had got the glasses instead. They apologized and picked up Theron’s glasses and quickly went on their way empty handed.

After resting for a while, we had some miscellaneous snacks from the market. Jenny, celebrating her birthday, and Camille went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant. Then we all got packed and moved the furniture back where it had been.

Normandy and the Eiffel Tower

 Tuesday - 23 Sep

We broke into two groups for the day, the older 2 couples to Normandy and the younger 3 to make a “gastronomical tour” of Paris.

The drive from Paris to the Normandy coast was about 3 hours. We used the navigation in the car to make our way through the horrendous Paris morning traffic. It finally led us to what we thought was a really good museum but turned out to be a very minor one and the 5 euro entry fee was a rip-off. 

But we did get to the  right museum at Utah beach. We had lunch in the Le Roosevelt cafe and bought a book and some postcards in the gift shop.

The museum was fantastic. It had a good mixture of artifacts from both sides of the war along with vehicles and even a bomber. Theron and I toured quickly while Gayle and Cindy went on the guided tour, which took about an hour. I lost my patience with the whole experience and was grumpy for a while but eventually got over it.  

We visited the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc where Rangers lost over 50% of their group trying to scale the cliffs and take the bunkers, where ultimately they were successful. Then we went to Omaha beach but didn’t take in the museum there. So it was just a big, wide beach that we took a few photos of. We stopped at a store for a lite dinner and then tried to go to the American Cemetery but it was closed.

So we got on the road for Paris about 7  pm and the trip computer showed us arriving at 9:45 pm at the Eiffel Tower. But there was one problem, we would arrive with only 50 km left in fuel. We debated but ultimately felt like we had to get diesel. That put us down to 5 minutes before the hour. We tried any ways and arrived in time for everyone but me to go up the tower. I had to drive around and for a while and eventually picked them up a little after 11:00 pm.

The Paris traffic is quite difficult because they have stoplights on crosswalks as well as for the roads. So I didn’t know where to stop and when to go. It was quite taking. But we made our way back to the apartment only having run a few traffic lights. But it all came out well.  

Everyone that went up the Eiffel Tower had a really good time. They enjoyed the views from the second level but some express fear of heights. It’s a good thing we didn’t get tickets for the top floor.

Notre Dame & the Lourve

 Monday - 22 Sep

Monday morning we awoke to beautiful weather and full of anticipation to start seeing the sights. We took the metro and had no drama in getting our tickets. We went to the area around Notre Dame. When we got off, we headed towards a church that I was sure was the grand cathedral, but I was wrong. It was St. Michel. I have been wrong many times in giving directions but everyone has taken it in good stride.

Notre Dame is awe inspiring! It’s majestic carvings are unreal!  Each door has carvings above it that tells a story. The left door tells of St. Denis, who was beheaded and the story says that he simply picked up his head, walked up the street where he washed it off and just put it back on and went on with the campaign. The center door is all about the judgement, with Christ siting in judgement and Satan and an Angel taking the judged to their appropriate punishment/glory. Rick Steves, the PBS travel commentator, of which we have his Paris book, jokes that those that were condemned were taken for a 6 hour tour of the Lourve on a hot summers day.

Cindy had taken too much sleep medication in the morning and wasn’t able to get up to go with us to Notre Dame. So Theron and I went back at 11:30 am by metro to pick her up. She was already and we took the metro to meet the rest at the Lourve. The others had been touring and saw the Luxemburg Gardens that they raved were magnificent.  

It took a while for us to find each other at the glass pyramid entrance to the Lourve. But by 1:30 pm we were back together again and started our tour. To say the Lourve is overwhelming is an understatement. It is huge with thousands of paintings and statues dating from thousands of years before Christ to the 1900’s. We agreed on a meeting point in two hours and set off together. But one by one, we began peeling off on our own pace and discovery. 

I toured more quickly, walking past most art and stopping occasionally to take a piece in and snap a few photos. Jenny caught up with me and we toured together through the Dannon and Sully wings. Then Mom joined us and we went through the history of the Lourve exhibit, which we found most interesting.

The art depicts the history of the world through the ages and mankind’s view of it, especially of people. Many of the paintings and carvings were religious in nature and depicted Christ most often. A lot had a Catholic look to them, since that had been a major influence, especially with the Italian art.

It was an exhausting experience and all of us had had enough by the end of the two hours. Our feet were killing us and we had taken in all that we were able to. The crowds were oppressive and we were glad to leave. 

We took the metro back to the area around Notre Dame and Cindy got to experience it. Then we went to a French restaurant among the hundreds of all types of cuisine in the area. We ate a three course meal that took a couple of hours. I experimented with escargot or snails, many had duck for the main course, Gayle had fondue and we had a variety of French deserts. The food was marvelous and the atmosphere marvelous.

Our evening also included souvenir shopping. Spencer got a silver ring while others picked up various trinkets. We were very tired after a long day and a long subway ride back to the apartment. This tourist business is hard work!

I had a mishap back at the apartment. I went to sit down on the couch and tripped over some shoes that were hidden under the coffee table. I fell backwards into the glass top and it broke with a crash. Fortunately, the glass did not penetrate me and I was fine, except for my wounded pride, which took quite a beating. This trip has been humbling in many ways. Theron and Gayle helped to clean up the mess and we deposited it in the recycling in the basement.

The Black Forest and entering Paris

 Sunday - 21 Sep

This morning we had a quick breakfast snack purchased at the Air Base before hitting the road about 8:00 am. We drove east from Strasbourg back into Germany and a ways into the Black Forest. Spencer suggested that we just explore for a while. And what beautiful country we saw! We saw cows, sheep and lots of well manicured orchards.   

We stopped at a colorful, roadside fruit and vegetable stand. It had cute wagons full of pumpkins and squash. The little stand was in the shape of a fruit. We bought some plums, apples, fresh apple juice and dried apple slices.

We left for Paris about 10:30 am and made our way in  on-again-off-again rain through green tree-lined hills and fields. We tried to stop in Mertz to get gas and something to eat but we didn’t find anything open, it being Sunday.

We finally found a place to get gas and food at a freeway service plaza. The sandwiches were much better than you’d expect. We had difficulty getting the gas pump to work with a credit card. Mine didn’t work because it doesn’t have the European chip and Spencer’s was declined. So I had to go in and communicate that we needed to pay cash for gas. It was quite comical with my zero skills in French. But finally, between hand signals and my translation app, we got the job done. I also accidentally ordered 3 sandwiches when I meant to order two, but we needed one  for Spence anyways. What fun this will be with no French abilities. 

Upon arriving in Paris, we couldn’t find the place to park by the subway station and we were pressed for time, so we went directly to the apartment. We were greeted by Song, who allowed us to park in the underground garage, which saved us a lot of money.

The apartment is beautiful, though not perfect for sleeping arrangements. It has two bedrooms with double beds and a twin bed. We moved two of the twin beds into one bedroom for Cooks, Gayle and I took the double in the other bedroom and Jenny/Camille slept a double mattress on the floor in the entry room with Spencer in the living room. We are on the 8th floor and have a nice little porch with large sliding doors that bring in a nice view. 

We walked along our street and took in the Paris Sunday atmosphere. It’s a nice neighborhood with mostly apartments with some shops and restaurants. We found a bank machine and were able to take some money out. We had dinner in a nice dinner in a Turkish restaurant. The food was good and reasonably priced.

Europe - a whole different story

Saturday - 20 Sep 

The start of this day was just the continuation of a very long Friday. Our late flight to Frankfurt continued the difficulties of earlier. The good news is that all our baggage arrived fine from the Azores. And we upgraded our vehicle situation to one mini van instead of two cars. But it took us forever to find our rental van. It was a huge parking structure. We walked what felt like forever and still couldn’t find the van. So exhausted, some of us sat down on the curb and Camille ran up and down the parking structure with the fab trying to get the van to respond. She had pressed it so much that the battery ran down. But finally, by going in a counterintuitive direction, Spencer and Camille found the vehicle. 

The van itself was really nice; a Volkswagen Multivan. It has middle seats that turn around so that the back passengers face each other and can easily carry on a conversation. It also has full electronics, navigation, bluetooth phone, media player, etc. The navigation has really come in handy.

So we finally got into the van and headed towards the address of our hotel, which we thought was in Heidelberg. It turned out to be about 20+ minutes from Heidelberg and was closed by the time we got there, around 2:00 am. So here we were in Germany with no place to sleep for the night. 

Fortunately, Spencer was very creative and called his base to see if they would have some accommodations. And they did have a four bedroom apartment available. But it was about 2 hour away. So we got to the base around 4 am. Again things worked against us as Spencer was only allowed to have 4 guests on the base. So that left two of us unable to get ot the apartment. Again Spencer came through by having Gayle and I sleep at his house while. So we were dropped off at close to 5 am and the rest went onto the base apartment.

Spencer's House

The others slept until about 12 pm, while Gayle slept till 1 or so and I slept until almost 3 pm. So it sort of shot the day.

Spencer left Cindy, Camille and Jenny at the base “mall” while coming to get Gayle and I. He got a friend to come and sign Gayle and I into the base. We ate lunch at a German restaurant and it was delicious eating the  national favorites like schnitzel,  bratwurst, and sauerkraut. It was wonderful.  

His little village is quite quaint and the house is just right for Spencer and Black Betty. It is set in a farm-like village, with farm a short walk from his house. The houses are close together and the streets and sidewalks narrow. Spencer has to stop to let traffic coming the other way pass, as people park partway on the sidewalk and part on the street. We had a tour of Spencer’s house, and, after much debate, went to Heidelberg.

Snitzles

 

Heidelberg was absolutely amazing at night. We ended up at a public square around the large cathedral of the Holy Ghost. There were many restaurants, pubs, ice creme places and shops still open, though not as many as during the day. We had a “gelato” or ice creme. The ones on cones were shaped like a flower with the ice creme flowing into the petals.

The church was the one where Theron’s grandfather was baptized. But we couldn’t go into it and take the tour, so we decided that we will come back to Heidelberg on our way back to Frankfurt and leave earlier in the morning from Paris on Thursday.

Our hotel turned out to be OK. We had 2 rooms, each with one queen size bed and a couch that made into a twin bed and a cot that rolled from underneath. The beds  situation seemed to be acceptable to all. 

Some Anecdotes to Share

We had a few interesting experiences that don’t really fit into the day-to-day blog. Like the story of my teeth and Spencer’s little accident.

The story of my teeth: 

My teeth have always been my achilles heal health wise. I have a partial denture and have recurring problems with it. On this trip, Gayle had bought what looked like cookies but were really biscuits to soak in coffee. So they were very hard. Gayle warned me not to eat them, but of course, I didn’t listen. On my second one, I broke my denture. I didn’t know how I would make it through the rest of the trip as it was. Earlier that day, quite fortuitously, Gayle had noticed a dentist at the end of our street. When she mentioned it I had a premonition that it would be an important observation. Sure enough, I now needed them.

So about 5:30 pm I walked down to the dentist office to see what could be done. They had a sign on the door saying that they were only open from 10-12 O’clock. But had a number to call for emergencies. So I took a picture of the sign and went back to the apartment and called. Somehow I mumbled through a Portuguese conversation and managed to explain my predicament and to set an appointment for the next day at 9:30 am. He just happened to be the kind of dentist that did fixtures and had his own lab. He examined my teeth and then said to come back at 11:30 am to pick them up. When I returned, he did a little bit of fitting and then I was on my way, only set back 30 euros. I will have a little time adjusting to the new fit, but it works perfectly and keeps the denture in. What a miracle that we had the right kind of dentist at the end of our street and that he was able to repair it so effortlessly. Truly amazing!

The story of Spencer’s Little Accident:

After the fiasco in Furnas where I had taken our little group for a circular walk to nowhere, we decided to have a little snack. As Spencer was parking the van, he backed up to get closer to the car behind us. He thought the van was equipped with a rear detection system and kept waiting for it to warn him when he was close. Unfortunately, it had been switched off, so the warning came in the sound of a crunch. I let out a little explicative and we jumped out to see the damage. Fortunately there wasn’t a scratch on the van and the car behind us only had a  dangling license plate but no damage to the vehicle itself. What another miracle.

We had a Peugeot van for our stay in the Azores. It was nine passenger and quite serviceable for a large group. Other than poor ventilation in the back seats, it was very comfortable. Since the weather was so mild, we were able to rectify the ventilation with a couple fo cracked windows. It got amazing mileage and the joke because that the gas gauge had not moved at all the whole time we used it. The reality was that it had moved a little and I put 20 euros of diesel in and that was it for the six day we drove it all over the island. The other reality is that Sao Miguel is only 39 miles long and 10 miles wide, so though it took us a while on windy roads, we didn’t really travel very far. 

The apartment we stayed in was another marvel. It was well situated, only a few minutes drive from

the main marina where we spent a lot of time, and we finally figured out how to park for very little money. It had 4 bedrooms, which had two in the first, 2 in the second, 1 in the third and 1 in the fourth. So it was quite comfortable, though definitely not fancy or extravagant. It had a full kitchen though we only used it mostly for breakfast and snacking, except for our feast, and it had a barbecue that we were able to use out on the patio. The living room served us  well though the couches and chairs were a bit uncomfortable, it gave us a place to all meet together. We had a couple of great little family meetings. I had put the family tree up on the wall as well as a small map of Sao Miguel that had the names of our ancestors next to where they were from.

Leaving Sao Miguel

Friday - 19 Sep - Leaving Sao Miguel 

It was hard to feel really sad to leave because we had such a wonderful, magical time on the island. Some sad that they had never seen me happier. I have to agree that it was a unique place and time that would probably never be repeated. It was truly a once in a lifetime trip. Having our children all together and my sister and Theron made it really special. We loved and shared and enjoyed.

We left on time to go to the airport and returned our van, for which that was no problem. We did a little shopping in the airport shops and checked in. Then our flight boarded and we were off to Lisbon.

We had a 5 hour layover in Lisbon so thought we could go into town. We got on a bus that took us to the city center and then boarded a tour bus that went around the city with a recording in various languages explaining the sights. 

The tour was supposed to last 90 minutes, but we got behind a parade that added a good 20-30 minutes. So we of course, were going to be late for our flight. We took the metro back to the airport but couldn’t figure out their automated ticket system. It was quite a comedy as we thought we had bought tickets for all of us but it only let one of us through. It must have taken us 20 minutes or more to get everyone through the turnstiles with  multiple people going through at once and some getting caught. It would have been hilarious if we weren’t so press for time. Fortunately, our flight was about a half hour late so we made it, but just barely. We didn’t even think we had time time to go to the bathroom or eat, but we did. That was a crazy experience.

Spencer could tell that things were going to be rushed, so rather than boarding the tour bus, he stayed in the city center and enjoyed a leisurely stroll and meal. He was so relaxed that he barely made it back for the normal departure time.

Nicki and Al Hike Relva

Thursday - 18 Sep The Hike to Relva 

Nicki and I decided to go for a hike. With everything else going on, we had to take a bus so the others could have the car for errands. So we walked down to the marina and figured out how to use the bus system to take us to a town called Relva, on the westerns side of Ponta Delgada. The bus ride was only 20 minutes long and they dropped us off in the center of town. 

We decided to head towards to ocean, since the hike we wanted to take was in that general direction. As we walked, we found a path going  down to the water that we thought might be the hiking path we were looking for. It turned out to be a path that fisherman used to get down to the water to snorkel the waters just off the rocks. The path was well established with stairs in many areas.  

Just before coming to the water, we found a set a cement tubs. We later surmised that they were used in times past by the fishermen to clean their fish that they caught. The water was fresh and we drank heartily and filled our water bottles from the running springs. 

When we got to the bottom, the path ended and there was nothing but rocks. We thought maybe there would be rocks for a short way and then the path  would take up again. But that was not the case. After hiking across the very large, volcanic rocks for about 45 minutes, we decided to turn back.

We saw fisherman snorkeling in the waters just off shore. Sometimes they would yell and wave to us. One actually held up an octopus on a spear for us to see and we exchanged the thumbs up symbol.

The hiking the the rocks was pretty rough. I twisted my ankle a  little and scrapped my leg on the sharp rocks, causing my leg to bleed profusely for a short time. I thought the blood pattern looked pretty cool, as you can see in the picture.

We had a little difficulty finding the path back up, but once we did, it was not a bad hike up. It felt so good to have accomplished such a difficult hike. We took this selfie to celebrate the occasion.

It took a little bit to figure out where we needed to go to catch the bus again. We were finally shown a bus stop where we were told to wait. But when the bus came about 15 minutes later he didn’t stop. So we jumped up immediately and started following him. He stopped a little ahead and we thought we could catch him, but the driver took off even though we knew he had seen us. A little ahead, he turned the bus around and stopped. That evidently was the correct place to get on.

A few minutes after the bus took off, we realized that Nicki had left her brand new iPhone on the bus stop bench. So she stayed on the bus and took the return route back to Relva. Unfortunately, when she got there, it was no longer there. It really bummed Nicki out.

I had not made the return trip but got off the bus when it arrived in Ponta Delgada. Almost immediately I say Gayle and then the rest of our group slowly showed up from their morning of  shopping and getting laundry done. We ate lunch at a little snack bar on the marina and waited for everyone to arrive, including Nicki.

The afternoon was spent with a little shopping and preparing for a barbecue that Spencer thought up. We had a veritable feast, with fish, shrimp, portuguese sausage, pizza rolls, a fruit salad and some cooked zucchini. After dinner we had a little birthday party for Nicki with ice creme cakes and a little pie. It was a great idea and we all really enjoyed the food.

Most everyone, except Cindy and I, went back down to the marina area. They wanted to see the puppets and listen to the music that only a few of us had seen the night before. But the concert turned out to be boring music, so they came back to the apartment not long after they had left.

Starley checked her email and miraculously there was a message from a Luis, saying that he had Nicki’s phone and would like to return it. We were amazed. So we called him and he spoke English well so we arranged to meet him a few minutes away from the apartment. Even more surprising was that he didn’t want any money for his trouble. But we finally convinced him to take a 20 euro bill. We told him it was the American way and that he was our Azorean brother. We got back to the apartment and rejoiced in the “miracle of the iPhone” and recognized the hand of God in the process. 

Afterwards we packed for our flight out of the Azores on Friday. There was beginning to be a sense of sadness for leaving our special, enchanted island of Sao Miguel.

Furnas

Sep 17 - Wednesday - Furnas

Today was another magical day on Sao Miguel. We went to the town of Furnas, which is only about 20 miles away but took about 45 minutes to drive there. The view was spectacular.

While in the area, we visited the church of Nossa Senhora das Santana where Rosa Candida, my great, great grandmother was baptized. It was very small and simple by comparison to the church in Ribeira Grande that we saw yesterday.

 Furnas is famous for their hot springs. We toured the “caldeiras” of really smelly, sulfur ridden air. But it was quite interesting.This video gives you quite the vision, except for the smell.

We had dinner in the renowned establishment of “Tony’s”. They cook food in the hot springs, “corzidos”, but unfortunately, we had to reserve that food 24 hours in advance. So we had excellent meals of other foods. There was some adventure in the menu choices: Spencer had tongue and Camille had sardines, which were full-sized fish, again with their heads attached.

After dinner we decided to split into two groups, one group going to bath in the hot springs and the other to tour the city. Gayle, Theron, Starley, Nicki and I were in the first group and Spencer, Cindy, Jenny and Camille in the latter.

The hot springs baths were very relaxing. There were several pools were various groups of people were soaking. The water was not as hot as I expected but was very comfortable. The weather was a little cool but the water kept us plenty warm. We were very “chill” after our baths.

But then I had to ruin it by getting us lost and going in a large circle trying to find our way back to the van. Gayle seriously objected to the route I wanted to take and only after finding ourselves back at the springs did I admit that I was wrong. Fortunately, Spencer decided to come looking for us and saved us a longer hike back to the van.

The second group ended up at the Terra Nostra Hotel and Gardens. There was also a hot springs there but they opted for a walk around the gardens instead. It was unbelievably beautiful, with black geese and a wonderful lake.

We stopped for a quick snack at a little place in Furnas before heading back to the apartment, which has begun to feel like a little like home. Along the way we saw a church across the lake that looked interesting. It turned out to be a shrine to a rich man's wife that was built to honor her.

But Nicki and Starley wanted to go get something more to eat, so the three of us went back to the marina area. They had salads and then we all had ice cream. On our walk back to the car we walked past the city center, known for the arches of Ponta Delgada that is often depicted. We heard a bagpipe and saw larger-than-life puppets that must have been 12 feet tall, walk by. We went to see what was going on and were pleased to see a band forming to place music. But we had to leave before the concert started because we had ice cream for Theron and Spencer to deliver. It was an enchanting experience though. 

Ribeira Grande - Birth Place of Great, Great and to some, Great Grandparents

Panorama of Inside of the church of Our Lady of the Star

Baptismal Font

Tuesday, 16 Sep - Today was the most amazing day. We went to the city of Ribeira Grande (pronounced Grand), where the Bento (pronounced Bent) family is from. Cindy and my Great Grandfather, Marianno de Sao Bento was born, as was his father, Manoel de Sao Bento and probably his father Joao de Sao Bento. We visited the church where they were all baptized, built in 1507. It was just breathtaking to be in a place with that much historical significance to our family. And we saw what we believe to be the baptismal font where the actual acts took place.


The church, called Matriz (for the main church in the council) is also called Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Estrela (Our Lady of the Star). It was amazingly ornate, with saints all along the outer walls and gold plated or perhaps solid gold ornaments at the front of the church. We had a spirit of awe in the place and were taken in by it's Catholic beauty.


The outside of the church is very typical of churches on Sao Miguel, though larger than many. It has a spire on the side of the church where the bells ring loudly. It was a beautiful experience to take pictures from the gazebo in front of the church stairs.

After visiting the church, we enjoyed a little shop directly in front of the church. Most all of us bought authentic items from the locals. It was a fun little shopping time.

Then we ate lunch at "Let It Be" restaurant. It was set right on the ocean with big waves crashing directly in front and next to swimming pools right on the water. The food was very reasonable and was delicious.

We went to a Museum of Emigration. It was much of a museum and didn't focus on older emigration, but the hostess there was fantastically friendly. She was born in Providence, RI, USA and spoke perfect English. We got to talking with her about the name Sao Bento and she said that she knew someone of that name. She wrote his name and street on a piece of paper and gave us general directions on how to find his house. So much to everyone's surprise, off we went to find Doctor Oliveira Sao Bento.

I asked in a local watering hole, where he lived. The bartender gave me exactly the house he lived in. We just went up to the door and knocked. Unbelievably they allowed us (Starley, Cindy and I) into their home. In my very broken Portuguese I explained that we were of the family Bento and thought that we might be related. They then proceeded to open their hearts and their home to us.

They shared information about their family, but we were
unable to make a direct connection. Still they considered us Primos (cousins). They, Oliveira and his wife, Hilda, told us about his father who was a somewhat famous author, poet. His name was also Oliveira Sao Bento. And their daughter, Marlena, was also an author and he gave Starley one of her books (one of only two that he had).


They gave us a tour of their house, which was a marvelous 3-story home. They even showed us their "secret room" that opened from a bookshelf. Then we went outside to their garden with a six-foot-around palm tree. Their hospitality was over-the-top, especially when you realize that we just knocked on their door unannounced. We just loved the experience.

Lago de Fogo

We came back to Ponta Delgada by way of a mountain road that took us past the Lago do Fogo (Lake of fire). It was a beautiful overlook down to the town of Ribeira Grande and the lake was picturesque.

We had dinner in a "Mall Food Place" and was amazed at the freshness of the fish (the waiter showed them to us with heads, and they were left on the cooked plates). The prices were very reasonable and the food was very flavorful.

Overlooking Ribeira Grande and the North Ocean