Meet Terceira, Sao Miguel’s little sister

It was a quick and easy flight from Sao Miguel to Terceira, (even in a smallish prop plane!). After landing, we made the mistake of following some random dude and quickly found ourselves outside without our backpacks-ooops. We had to try to explain to the Portuguese TSA and after a lot of hand jesters we were guided back into baggage claim to find two lonely backpacks on the baggage merry-go-round, much to the amusement of the staff.

Terceira is smaller and much less rugged allowing for easier driving on the island. We drove the outer loop around the island and crisscrossed through the interior. Our rental car, a diesel Citroen Clio, was already banged-up so we didn’t need to be as concerned with where and how we drove and where we parked, but there was still no-way that Terri was going to drive here.

We had only two days on Terceira and stayed in a upstairs downtown apartment that overlooked the marina and Mount Brazil. Our place was small but the view was awesome. Terceira has a much more “touristy” vibe to it – or maybe it was just where we stayed….

We left our window open to enjoy the cool sea breezes but were awakened early in the morning by some enthusiastic night owls who probably had too much to drink & they were speaking English!

Like Sao Miguel, the locals take advantage of every spot available to create a swimming hole. We had both a sandy Beach and a marina with swimming/jumping areas within a 5 minute walk from our place.

With limited time, Terri had already mapped out a few places to see and to eat at. First up was the Misterios de Negros trail, a 5k hike through volcanic rock formations, ( sooo cool!), as usual-we were first at the trail head. Following the hike, we drove to Biscoitos, the coolest salt water swimming area we have ever seen. After a refreshing swim, we went in search of a local place to eat and quickly found a very popular place that offered a “Terceira Island Only” dish called “Alcantra.” It is a beef dish, baked in a clay pot inside a wood burning oven-delicious! Dummy me tho-so hungry I forgot to take a piture😖.

Acting like a local, I finished my lunch with one of those little espressos-Wow!?! After a great lunch, Terri is ready for a little rest – she says I’m acting like the “energizer bunny” and talking too fast…..

Needless to say, we love the Azores! The people are gracious and very accepting. We only got to experience 2 of the nine islands and truly hope to come again someday. If you get the chance, you should come here too.

Next stop: Porto, Portugal

M&T