One week in São Miguel - Azores Part 2

Mallaury
1 oct. 2017
3 min de lecture

Here we are for the second post telling about our wonderful Azorean week. We keep on going with beautiful visits...

Tuesday morning (our 4th day if we take into count our arrival day) we decide to explore the extreme-North-West of São Miguel :

The area of Sete Cidades, famous for several unavoidable things :

Monte Palace

First, if you drive to this area (Sete Cidades) you should make at least a short stop at the Monte Palace abandoned hotel. It remembers Tobias and me the Panoramico de Monsanto, this abandoned restaurant in Lisbon from where you could get the most amazing view over the city.

As expected, the legend around this place tells that it's haunted. We can for sure imagine a crazy Halloween night there. However, the different views you can have from all around the several floors and the rooftop (you can only access it by the second stairs, not those directly at the entrance) help you to forget pretty fast the freaky feeling.

One of the main interest in the visit of the Monte Palace is the view it has to offer over Lagoa Azul (Blue Lake) and Lagoa Verde (Green Lake).

Miradouros around Sete Cidades

Miradouro do Pico Paúl

We find the way to Miradouro do Pico Paúl by mistake as initially we were searching for another Miradouro called Miradouro da Boca do Inferno (that we've by the way never found).

After one hour hiking, we reach the top and can enjoy the crazy 360-degree view on the island.

Praia de Mosteiros

Still near Sete Cidades, you should not miss the idyllic beach : Praia de Mosteiros. Located at the down of a long rocky and green cliff, Praia de Mosteiros is a black sand beach, from where you can contemplate huge rocks in the wild ocean while chilling at the sun.

On wednesday, we keep visiting the North of the island with the town Ribeira Grande.

A Mulher de Capote Fabrica de licores

Rua do Berquó, 12, Conceição, 9600-542 Ribeira Grande, Portugal

Our first move is to stop by an artisanal liquor factory, Mulher de Capote. This is not a place made to "visit", in fact it's simply a shop where to buy local alcohol. You can taste different shots of liquor (like ananas for exemple, the one we choose for our dégustation).

Advise : if you are a Gin lover (not my case, but Tobias's one) you should definitely go there to buy a 70cl artisanal Gin bottle for only 10€.

Ribeira Grande

We don't stay that long in Ribeira Grande's town center, only the time to take a coffee and a cheese platter to be honest.

However, it seems to be a cute place, very calm and chill.

Chá Gorreana (Tea plantation)

Plantação Chá Gorreana, 9625-305 Maia, Portugal

Now, if you're a TEA lover you need to see ONE OF THE TWO tea plantations of Europe : Chá Gorreana.

Chá Gorreana and Porto Formoso, the only two tea plantations in Europe are actually right next to eachother on Ilha de Sao Miguel in Azores !

Beside the beauty of the plantation itself with the ocean in background, Chá Gorreana proposes you a free visit of the factory where you can discover how the tea, from the plantation, arrives in the small teabags you buy for your consumption.

Before passing by the shop, you can try different teas for free. I promise you it will make you buy some packs (which are really cheap by the way) !

While the tea dégustation you also have the possibility to enjoy some Azorean and Portuguese sweets from the tea factory Pastelaria.

Through the window display I'm directly intrigued by small-round-light-orange cakes which look delicious and so I decide to try. I can say that at this moment I fall in love with what they called : queijadinhas de limão (or queijadas). Queijadinhas or queijadas can be made with several different flavours : limon (limao), ananas, beans (feijao), orange (laranja), ... I guess the most commun are the feijao ones, that I don't find especially good comparing to the limon ones.