R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 67

Constitution and Citizenship Day vs. Justice of 6Jan Rally

Just a few words I felt that I needed to get off my outraged chest:

Fun Photo Friday — São Miguel Island Random Favorites 2

Time for the second of two Fun Photo Friday random collections of São Miguel Island favorites. Next week I have one more area to show here, which will be Monday’s article. After that, for Wednesday and beyond, I’ll be taking you to our next destination, for we stayed on the Brilliance of the Seas for a follow-on cruise to Cozumel. And in Cozumel we took a trip to visit some ancient Mayan ruins. That’s right. Beginning next Wednesday we’ll be exploring Chichén Itzá. Meanwhile, today’s photo g...

São Miguel Island, Azores — Lagoa das Sete Cidades

Lagoa das Sete Cidades

In the above photo you can once again see the two distinct twin lakes. Green Lagoon (Lagoa Verde) lies to the left, and Blue Lagoon (Lagoa Azul) to the larger lake to the left. But I came here for the real scenic beauty, and here she is:

Ursula posing at the lake overlook

There is much of interest to photograph in this twin lake, and I found the Blue Lagoon the more fascinating of the two:

Blue Lagoon

I think part of this had to do with that interesting peni...

São Miguel Island, Azores — Aquaducts and Crater Lakes

No. That’s not Ursula and me in the photo above. That’s some friends we met on the cruise, and they had neglected to take their camera. As such, I volunteered to take some photos and email them the results. The location for this shot is the Coal Peak Viewpoint (Miradouro do Pico do Carvão). And the views from way up here are quite nice:

Coal Peak Viewpoint

And in case you’re wondering where this is, we’re on the western portion of São Miguel Island headed west toward the town of Sete C...

Fun Photo Friday — São Miguel Island Random Favorites 2

Time of Part 2 of our random images of São Miguel Island. Below is today’s picture gallery/slide show. As always, just click on any image to enlarge it, and engage the slide show presentation.

São Miguel Island, Azores — Another look at Ribeira Grande

I gave Ribeira Grande short shrift on Monday’s blog. In that article you saw one church, and two photos of a factory liquor store. You probably thought, “What the heck?” Well, I only had three shots I wanted to post of Salto do Cabrito, so I threw in those images of Ribeira Grande to pad out the article. Needless to say, we now need to head back and take a more in-depth view of this charming little town and what it has to offer. Well start with heading back to that Baroque marvel, the Igreja...

São Miguel Island, Azores — Ribeira Grande and Salto do Cabrito

The next two stops on our tour of São Miguel Island were the town of Ribeira Grande and the waterfall at Salto do Cabrito. Since we’re discussing the tour in chronological order, I’ll begin today’s article with Ribeira Grande. And we’ll begin with the charming and ornate façade of the Church of Espirito Santo:

Igreja do Divino Espírito Santo (Church of the Holy Spirit)

How about a quick gander at a wonderful liquor store specializing in some of the local spirits? This is A Mulher de Ca...

Fun Photo Friday — São Miguel Island Random Favorites 1

I am going to try something a little different on today’s Fun Photo Friday. Usually, Fun Photo Fridays feature pictures of locations featured on the preceding Monday and Wednesday. For for today and the rest of this series on the Azores, I’ll be featuring random selections from the entire collection of shots. Here is today’s gallery/slide show of São Miguel Island favorites, which will give you a preview of what’s coming in the weeks ahead as well:

São Miguel Island, Azores — Lagoa do Fogo (Fire Lake)

We left Ponta Delgada behind, and as you’ll recall from Monday’s article, our van began some serious uphill climbing. We were headed into the clouds for a look at Lagoa do Fogo, which translates from Portuguese as “Lagoon of Fire”. Most English-speaking people call it “Fire Lake.” But before we would arrive there, we would be treated by some great vistas:

São Miguel Island

Fire Lake is a volcanic crater lake atop Água de Pau Massif, which is a stratovolcano complex running through the ...

São Miguel Island, Azores — Arrival into Ponta Delgada

We left Cobh (Cork), Ireland behind, after which we spent two days at sea aboard Royal Caribbean’s cruise ship Brilliance of the Seas. And on the third day of our transatlantic voyage, we made port in the Azores in Ponta Delgada on São Miguel Island.

Ponta Delgada

And, once again, Ursula had us slated for a tour. Our tour on this day would take us to visit numerous sights around the island, and our vendor for this tour was Azorean Tours. Azorean Tours was a great choice, and our tour g...