Azores, the European Oasis – Part 2

Those looking for a luxury tropical destination will not find that there. Azores are still in their infancy in terms of tourism. Especially in the winter months you must be really lucky to run into a group of tourists. Locals, as they say themselves, do not want mass tourism. They want to keep the authenticity of the islands. However they are trying to increase their earnings. But many still prefer to emigrate, rather than to put more effort into the development of tourism. In the Azores there are about a quarter of a million inhabitants. Many of them emigrate, since they do not find employment. So most young people leave to get the education on the continent. The economic crisis has in fact reached also these very isolated islands. Those who choose not to migrate to the mainland or to Canada rather relocate to South America, as it, as a result of a common language and a growing development, has become easily accessible destination for them. Azores are significantly falling behind the rest of Portugal in terms of development, which can be seen quite soon after arrival. Natives’ livelihoods depend mostly on fishing, agriculture, tea and tobacco, and of course also on tourism. The pulse of life there is calm, slow, as no one is in hurry and that was what really bothered us at first. It was hard for us to understand the long wait to be served in any of the village pubs. But after a few days of the trip we ourselves fell into this slow and relaxed pace of life. At the beginning it was not quite clear to me how people can live like this, how life can be so calm and slow, but in the end you do not even realize when you start liking it and living it. You start to realize how we actually live in our own countries, where we are constantly in a hurry, working to the fullest and ultimately have no time for ourselves. But they do; for themselves and for their loved ones. The locals are very open to foreigners. It appears that the only problem is with communication. If we communicated with our hands it was already quite normal.

 

On the trip we felt really safe. At the beginning we, of course as always while traveling, were very careful with our things, regularly locking our car and keeping our bags as tight as we could. But a couple of times the hosts themselves told us that it is very safe and it is not necessary to lock the car, the house, and that they usually do not do it. Regarding safety, I can agree that most of the islands except the main one are pretty safe. Those few intoxicated homeless people on the streets there have forced me to think differently.

Locals like to boast that they are in most subsistence. A large part of the food that they need they produce themselves. This is mainly meat, fish, vegetable and fruit, wine, cheese and other dairy products. Except on Sao Miguel there weren’t any large shopping centres to be found. Most often we were shopping in the small village shops, where at first glance you doubt you will find everything you need. But there are food, drinks, socks, any piece of clothing, dishes and anything else to be found.

 

Within two weeks of our trip we got to know four out of nine islands. We visited Terceira, Pico Island, Ilha do Faial and São Miguel. On all the islands we travelled with a rented car, because otherwise you cannot even imagine how to get to the remote parts where the nature is so much more pristine. Any other type of transportation would be more expensive, since it was our plan to travel a large part of the islands. And furthermore, the experience is even better if you have your own freedom while exploring. 

 

Nature is the one that makes it worth visiting the Azores. It is not enough to be described only with words. Each of the visited islands is different. When traveling from the first island, I couldn’t imagine that the second, third and fourth would be so different and unique. First we visited Terceira, then flew to Ilha do Pico, from where we continued our journey with the ferry to Ilha do Faial and returned to Ilha do Pice. From there flew over the Terceira to Sao Miguel.