March 12 to 18, 2023 ; Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal to Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada

 Sunday ; Sunny and mild, the nicest day so far here in Ponta Delgada. Too bad Joanne was ill all day.

She began to feel ill overnight. Suffering from “upset stomach” also made her feel very lethargic today. She was unwilling to go anywhere or do anything. She came outside with me for a very short walk around 5 PM, but it just made her feel worse, so she returned to our suite and had a very long nap.

I went for an earlier walk by myself. It was a nice weather day, and I walked east along the waterfront, enjoying the sunshine and sightseeing. Back in our room I processed photos, posted my blog, filled out the ArriveCan app for our return to Canada, etc.

Monday ; Sunny and mild. Joanne was ill for a second day.

So … I went for a long noon walk by myself. And then late in the afternoon I went for a blue route city bus circuit around Ponta Delgada by myself.

We packed and prepared for departure tomorrow.

Tuesday ; Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island to Terceira Island, Azores, Portugal to Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Yeah … well ! ! ! THAT didn’t happen ! ! !

Overcast, raining in the evening.

We left our guesthouse suite and our pre-arranged taxi arrived at 9:30 AM to take us to the airport. We were at the SATA Azores Airlines check-in counter by 10 AM for our 10:35 AM flight to Terceira Island, connecting to our flight to Toronto in mid-afternoon. The check-in agent entered our data into her computer, stared at her screen, blinked a few times, then asked why we were flying to Terceira Island for two days, then catching a flight back to Sao Miguel Island in two days to connect to our flight to Toronto ?

WHAT ? ! ? ! ?

Apparently our flight from Terceira Island to Toronto this afternoon had been cancelled, and we had been rescheduled on a flight in two days … from here in Ponta Delgada to Toronto.

WHAT ? ! ? ! ?

And … obviously … we had not been advised ! ! ! ! !

It took quite awhile, but SATA Azores Airlines took complete responsibility for the … <ahem> … miscommunication, and scrambled to find a reasonable solution. They offered three options. The most agreeable one was simply to stay here in Ponta Delgada for two more days, then catch the flight from here to Toronto on Thursday. Taxi from airport to hotel today, taxi from hotel to airport in two days, two nights in a luxury (expensive) downtown hotel (not our usual style), and all meals for the next two days in the hotel’s upscale (expensive) hipster restaurant (not our usual style), at the expense of the airline. Well … <shrug> … fair enough.

Certainly a better offer than the kick in the teeth we received from WestJet last November ! Which was essentially … “**** off or we’ll call security to remove you from our check-in counter”.

Before leaving the airport … hotel check-in wasn’t until 3 PM … I sat in a corner of the airport for a few hours and scrambled to make arrangements made necessary by today’s change in travel plans. I had to extend our travel medical insurance. I had to reschedule / re-book an overnight stay in a hotel near the Toronto airport. That proved to be the most difficult and time consuming task. I had to reschedule the delivery of flooring material for our condo that was to be delivered on Friday. I had to reschedule our pick up at the Winnipeg airport by Joanne’s sister. That was the easiest task today. Thank you, Lorraine. We had a late lunch at the airport before heading to our new hotel.

We were surprised upon arriving at this expensive hotel at 2 PM to be told that we could not check-in until 3 PM. There were quite a few customers sitting around the lobby until allowed to check-in at 3 PM. <rolling my eyes> I understand that some rooms are cleaned and available earlier than others, but … to make ALL guests sit and twiddle their thumbs until precisely 3 PM, and then have them line up like cattle to all check-in at the same time seemed a tad ridiculous, especially at this hotel’s prices.

We went for a walk late in the afternoon to the Spar supermarket. We had only enough toothpaste left for two more days … IF we use it sparingly. And we needed hand washing laundry detergent. We are out of clean socks and underwear ! HA HA HA !

Joanne was ill again today. She seemed to be improving early in the day, but took a turn for the worse in the evening. Maybe she just doesn’t like hipster cuisine ? HA HA HA !

Wednesday ; Toronto, Ontario to Steinbach, Manitoba

Yeah … well ! ! ! Obviously THAT didn’t happen either ! ! !

Sunny, mild, windy.

Late yesterday evening Joanne became violently ill. Spewing out both ends. <sigh>

<mumbling> At least once every ****ing winter travel season !

I suppose the moral of that story is … old women who have already been ill for a few days shouldn’t fill themselves with hipster chef created rich foods. Accordingly, she chose not to eat today, until she begins to feel better.

Oh, well … at least last night’s expensive supper was on someone else’s dime. HA HA HA !

It seemed as if I spent much of the last twenty-four (more like ninety-six !) hours being a sicko’s caregiver. I’m feeling despondent and defeated. <sigh> I want to go home already !

I obtained breakfast from the hotel’s breakfast room. Breakfast is included at this hotel. The breakfast offerings are varied and extensive. I went for lunch to the hotel’s restaurant next door by myself while Joanne slept fitfully. The eclair served for dessert was so exquisite looking I decided to take it back to our room, hoping Joanne might be able to eat it at some point today. The maitre d’ offered to have one prepared for Joanne, encouraging me to eat mine. OK … you’ve twisted my arm. HA HA HA ! It was reaaalllyyy good ! And pretty ! See pic below.

Before lunch I went for a long walk around this part of the city, an area we had not yet explored. I walked all the way to the airport and back. It was such a nice weather day. And we really have not had enough of those this winter, it seems.

I had dinner alone again at the hotel’s restaurant next door. Superb ! Albeit a bit pompous.

Thursday ; Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal to Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Mix of sun and clouds, mild, windy in Ponta Delgada.

Joanne continues to be ill, although not quite as bad as the previous two days. Both of us are eager to get her home, and feeling well.

We checked out of our hotel room this morning at 11 AM, I went for a brief walk while Joanne sat with our luggage in the hotel lobby, and I returned fifteen minutes later to find our pre-arranged taxi already loading our luggage. We have used the same taxi driver for each our four taxi rides in Ponta Delgada. Very nice and helpful fellow, reliable, speaks excellent English. Today he pointed out to us on our ride to the airport that we should obtain a copy of the Portugal airline customers’ compensation regulations regarding cancelled flights. <blink blink> Who knew ?

Unlike Canada and the United States, the European Union countries have imposed rather onerous obligations on airlines when they cancel flights, as a disincentive to do so. I obtained a copy of the regulations from the SATA Azores Airlines sales office at the airport. And reviewed it. HMPH ! Seems as if SATA Azores Airlines owes us monetary compensation in addition to paying our taxis, hotel, and meals for the last two days. I returned to the sales office to get more information on how to apply for / obtain further compensation.

Well … there ya go … another task for me to do within the next few weeks.

We were required to check out of the hotel at 11 AM, but our flight wasn’t leaving until almost 5 PM. We had a lot of time to kill at the airport. When all the passengers on a SATA Azores Airlines flight to Lisbon were finished checking in around noon we checked in early at the SATA check in counter. Around 2 PM we went to a café in the airport and had some lunch. Joanne has been having difficulty eating for the past few days. Everything she eats tastes wrong, makes her feel sick, and … is in a rush to be expelled, one way or another ! <sigh>

After eating lunch … well, I ate mine, Joanne didn’t eat much of hers … we went through security, before it got busy. We were sitting in the boarding gates area by 3 PM.

Along with three young, female Canadians, dressed like they were on the beach ! <rolling my eyes>

Boarding of our aircraft was one hour late. Take-off was fifty-five minutes late. No explanation. Boarding was a complete cluster**** ! Stupid people getting themselves settled into the wrong rows, or the right rows, but on the wrong side of the aircraft. Stupid people assigned to rows at the back of the aircraft boarding through the front doors. Stupid people assigned to rows at the front of the aircraft boarding through the rear doors. Gridlocked traffic jams in the aisles. Assholes jamming the overhead bins with their “carry-on” luggage the size of steamer trunks. HEY, ASSHOLE (with the mullet), WHAT’S THE REASON YOU CAN’T CHECK THAT MONSTROSITY INTO THE CARGO HOLD ? WAITING AN EXTRA FEW MINUTES FOR YOUR LUGGAGE GOING TO MAKE YOU LATE FOR HOCKEY PRACTICE ? ? ? ! ! !

GAWD … getting on an airplane ain’t rocket science ! ! !

<taking a deep breath … putting away the laptop … trying to nap in the crowded Airbus>

We arrived in Toronto twenty-five minutes late at 9:15 PM. After clearing customs, retrieving our luggage, walking for miles and miles through Pearson Terminal 3, we finally found where our hotel shuttle would pick us up, made it to the hotel, checked in, and were in our room at 11 PM.

A hundred and fifty bucks to be in a hotel room for eight hours ! ! !

Joanne is becoming sicker by the minute !

Friday ; Toronto, Ontario to Steinbach, Manitoba

Up at 6 AM, out of the hotel at 7 AM for the short shuttle trip back to Pearson airport to catch our 9 AM WestJet <shudder> flight to Winnipeg. Raining heavily in Toronto this morning.

Checked in at WestJet, through security, and endless walking to Gate 2BC (HUH ?) by 8 AM. Joanne so ill today that she was unable to walk unaided to gate. Had to get onto large golf cart like shuttle for the handicapped to get from security to departure gate.

Note to self ; new rule for future travel ; NO CONNECTING FLIGHTS THROUGH TORONTO PEARSON TERMINAL 3 ! ! !

While waiting for boarding of flight I phoned our Manitoba family doctor to try getting an appointment today for Joanne. <shrug> Desperate, hopeless effort, phoning from Toronto at 8:30 AM / 7:30 AM in Manitoba.

WestJet flight boarded half an hour late at 9:10 AM, took off twenty-five minutes late at 9:25 AM. HMPH ! Most comfortable plane I’ve ever been on ; Boeing 737 MAX-8. WestJet cowboy pilots deliver again ! Arrived on time in Winnipeg at 10:45 AM. After Pearson experience Winnipeg airport seems SO civilized ! Joanne’s sister waiting at airport for us. <sigh of relief> Thank you, Lorraine.

While I manhandled luggage Lorraine pushed Joanne in wheelchair through airport and out to car park. J**** C**** ! ! ! Coldest weather I’ve experienced since moving from Winnipeg on January 1, 1988 ! ! ! While Lorraine drove through Winnipeg I phoned family doctor again. Left message advising that I was bringing Joanne in to Ile-des-Chênes office opening time of 1 PM.

Once out of city and onto highway, blowing snow reduced visibilty to near zero. Arrived at doctor’s office at 12:30 PM, and receptionist allowed us into office when she arrived to unlock door at 12:45 PM. Doctor saw Joanne promptly at 1 PM. <another sigh of relief> Ailment diagnosed and medication prescribed. Thank you, Dr. Hughes.

Blowing snow made visibility worse and worse on drive from Ile-des-Chênes to Steinbach. Had to be rerouted on gravel road detour to get around highway accident. Finally arrived home in Steinbach at 2:20 PM. <another huge sigh of relief> We’re very grateful to Lorraine.

She helped get luggage and sicko into suite, rested briefly, contemplated worsening highway weather conditions, then left for difficult journey back home to Winnipeg.

Joanne took medications and went to sleep. I made myself some soup for lunch, then I went to sleep for awhile. Around 5 PM I walked (BRRRRR) to Giant Tiger and bought enough grocery essentials to get us through the next day or two.

Very glad to be home, with medicated wifey sleeping comfortably.

Yes, yes, the last week has been challenging ! ! ! ! !

Saturday ; Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada

Minus 23 degrees this morning ! ! ! ! !

Well … we’re home, safe and comfortable. Joanne remains very ill. Yesterday the doctor diagnosed her with diverticulitis.

What lessons did we learn this winter ?

• We do not want to do business in the future with WestJet.

• We do not want to have connecting flights through Toronto Pearson airport.

• Southern Europe is not warm enough for us in the winter.

• It is too difficult / strenuous to visit as many destinations / relocate as often as we did this past winter.

• BUY CHEAP THRIFT STORE LUGGAGE. The airlines destroy luggage !

• March is too early to return to Manitoba.

We have been keeping some good news under wraps until we’re home ;

• We have bought a seniors’ condo suite in Dugald, Manitoba. We are moving on June 1. We have been waiting for four years for availability in this seniors’ condo.

• Our Steinbach seniors’ condo suite will be for sale in a few days.

• I sold our truck and camper ! I received an unsolicited offer from a man who has been wanting to buy my truck ever since we arrived in Steinbach in June 2021. He phoned me a few weeks ago with a reasonable offer. I refused to sell the truck without the camper. SO … we negotiated, he bought both and will re-sell the camper. <shrug> Works for me !

DSK

March 5 to 11, 2023 ; Horta, Faial Island to Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal

 Sunday ; Mostly cloudy, mild, windy.

The weather in Portugal this winter has not been as nice as we had expected, and has made us second guess our initial plans to visit Malta and Crete next winter. Southern Europe just is not warm enough in the winter to satisfy us.

Accordingly, once again we spent much of today rethinking next winter’s travel plans. Southern Mexico seems to be at the top of our list. But not “regular tourist” Mexico. As can be seen, we prefer somewhat “off the beaten path” travel adventures

Tonight we had take-out pizza from a nearby local small business. Every day we have been walking by this pizzeria’s open door and catching a whiff of the wonderful smells coming out. But … we were disappointed tonight. The pizza was … okay … but did not meet our high expectations. Which actually can be said for most of our Portuguese culinary experiences. Alcatra on Terceira Island, cataplana in the Algarve, and baking everywhere have been the exceptions.

Monday ; Chilly, windy, raining.

<sigh> We’re experiencing travel fatigue. And/or poor weather fatigue. Our early walk was very short. Our late walk was … non-existent ! I spent part of the day on teeth-gnashing phone calls with unsatisfactory businesses back in Canada. Joanne once again worked on re-inventing next winter’s travel plans. With little success. <sigh>

On the other hand … the day did have its high points. Stay tuned.

Tuesday ; Cloudy, cold, raining, becoming ice pellets around 6 PM. SHEESH !

Today was our final day in Horta. We had two walks, albeit short both times. Working together today on travel plans for next winter, we successfully reinvented the wheel, so to speak. It was as if we couldn’t see the forest for the trees yesterday.

We packed and prepared for departure tomorrow. Joanne did most of the work.

Wednesday ; Horta, Faial Island to Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island

WHEW … tough day ! Bad weather ! Lengthy flight delays !

This morning we were ready at 11 AM to leave. We walked a half block to our local bakery and bought some items for lunch on the plane. Joanne returned to our suite and I went for a morning walk. I arrived back at our suite just as our pre-arranged taxi arrived fifteen minutes early at 11:30 AM. We were at Horta airport at 11:45 AM to check in for our 1 PM flight. As we drove in the taxi the weather turn a drastic turn for the worse, with heavy rain and lightning. YIPPEE ! <sarcasm>

We checked in for the flight, wallowed through the long security backlog, then settled in to wait in the boarding lounge. And waited. And waited. And waited ! Without explanation for the delay. The weather slowly improved. Very slightly ! Finally, we boarded the aircraft. With apologies for the lengthy delays … caused by bad weather throughout the Azores. And then we sat on the tarmac for more delays. Because the delays had been so lengthy that the airline decided to merge our 1 PM and a later flight. <sigh>

Finally … at 3 PM when there were no empty seats left on the aircraft we departed. We landed half an hour later on Terceira Island, our first Portugal destination last November. Seems so long ago ! Passengers got off … passengers got on. We departed again at 4 PM. We landed on São Miguel Island half an hour later at 4:30. Weather was bad throughout both flights. Joanne felt that both landings were more like crashes than landings. HA HA HA !

I had been excited to fly today … twice … on a Canadian built DASH-8 aircraft for the first time. But Joanne was right ! These flights were rough ! Especially the landings !

We retrieved our luggage, caught a taxi outside the terminal at 5 PM and were checking into our guesthouse at 5:30 PM. We got set up in our room, then went to walk around the neighbourhood. We checked out the nearby small supermarket, and the nearby indoor shopping mall. In the shopping mall we found the restaurant Joanne had found online and had chosen as the likely place to have our first meal here in Ponta Delgada.

At 7 PM we returned to the grocery store, bought a few items (water, Diet Coke for me, iced tea and chocolate milk for Joanne, etc.), took the groceries home and stored them in the communal kitchen’s fridge, then went back to the restaurant at 8 PM to buy large, custom built salads for dinner. Good choice, my dear, thank you.

Thursday ; Cloudy, mild, windy.

This morning while Joanne showered I walked a couple of blocks to a local bakery and bought some pastries for breakfast. Around noon we headed out for an afternoon of exploring Ponta Delgada. We’re in the old part of the old city, a block from the waterfront. We avoided the waterfront today because of the strong winds blowing in off the Atlantic. We wandered and explored west of our guesthouse in the afternoon, and east of our guesthouse briefly on our early evening walk.

We found a restaurant that appealed to us, and had their “pratos do dia” / daily specials for a late lunch. Today’s special was supposed to be tomato soup, although they served us what seemed to be cream of carrot soup, and grilled chicken cutlets in a creamy mushroom sauce, accompanied by both seasoned rice and fries, common in Portugal, but that seems odd to us Canadians. We also found a large Spar supermarket so we took the opportunity to buy some groceries, although we’re only going to be here for six days.

We returned home late in the afternoon. I napped briefly then we went out for another walk and more exploring, but it was getting chilly at dusk, and we were tired from our earlier exploring, so we returned home around 7:30 and prepared a light supper of lunch’s leftovers. While I worked on the computer Joanne did some research and planned two interesting outings while we are here in Ponta Delgada.

Friday ; Overcast, windy, intermittent rain.

At noon we left our suite to head out on an adventure planned yesterday by Joanne. We walked a couple of miles to … <blink blink> … a pineapple plantation. In the city ! I thought that was odd until Joanne reminded me of the many times we have visited Shield’s Date Farm in the middle of Indio, a “suburb” of the Palm Springs urban area.

The pineapple plantation was a self-guided tour followed by a free sample of pineapple liquor and pineapple jam in their large dining tent. Great business model ! Allow visitors to wander around the very interesting farming operation, housed in a series of very large “greenhouses”, followed by a multi-media audio-visual presentation in a theatre, followed by tastings that inspire having a reasonably priced (but obviously profitable for them) lunch or snack of pineapple specialty products. See photos below.

As we were finishing our lunch it began to rain heavily. <sigh> We contemplated calling a taxi to return us to our guesthouse, but decided to wait fifteen minutes or so and see if the rain diminished. It did. However, the heavy winds did not decline. We walked home in the light rain and heavy winds, a somewhat difficult task for those of us who find walking on wet cobblestones akin to walking on ball bearings.

We were tired and stressed by the time we got back to our guesthouse. I needed a nap !

Saturday ; Overcast, mild, windy near the waterfront.

It was forecast to be raining all day today. But … it didn’t ! YIPPEE ! So … at noon we went out to explore the waterfront. We walked one block from our guesthouse to the waterfront, and wandered a long distance to the west along the waterfront. We wandered so far that eventually we decided to do what we had planned to do tomorrow, in case tomorrow is rainy. We turned north and headed inland to Jardim Botânico António Borges, a botanical garden Joanne wanted to visit.

It was a beautiful garden / park, and we enjoyed wandering around for quite awhile. Eventually we felt hungry and began heading to our planned lunch destination. Closed ! HMPH ! We headed to Plan B / second choice. Closed ! HMPH ! Eventually we realized, after passing by restaurant after restaurant, all closed, that most businesses in the old downtown area were closed. How odd ! Don’t know if that’s normal for Saturdays here, or if today was some kind of holiday ? Eventually we made it all the way back home without finding any open restaurants that appealed to us. We bought a couple of very nice sandwiches at a sandwich shop a few doors down from our guesthouse.

We went out again at 7:30 PM to walk to another restaurant that Joanne had selected to try. Supper at Apito Dourado (Golden Whistle) was very good ! And an old Portuguese man who now lives in Canada stopped by our table to chat, having recognized our Canadian accents. Too bad he could barely speak English. HA HA HA !

DSK

February 26 to March 4, 2023 ; Horta, Faial Island, Azores, Portugal

 Sunday ; Sunny and mild, with a cold wind.

On both of our daily walks we had to stay “inland” due to the cold wind blowing in off the Atlantic. BRRRRR ! Today we planned some outings ; a bus trip around Faial Island, probably tomorrow, and a ferry boat trip over to Pico Island, probably on Friday.

Monday ; around Faial Island by bus

Sunny and mild early in the day, becoming cloudy and windy in the afternoon.

We left our guesthouse this morning at 11:30 AM and walked a short distance to catch an inter-city bus to Cedros on the north coast of Faial Island. The bus travelled west along the south coast, then north along the west coast, then east along the north coast to the middle of the north coast, for an hour, passing through many villages. We got off the bus at the small village of Cedros.

We visited the large church that was staring us in the face as we got off the bus shortly before 1 PM. Then we briefly walked around the tiny village before going into Snack Bar Xavier for lunch. Joanne had picked this restaurant after reviewing the village’s restaurants online. Both of them ! HA HA HA ! Snack Bar Xavier had good reviews for their buffet at lunch time. Yes, yes, we agree, it was quite good.

After lunch we wandered around the village a bit more … that didn’t take long … then wandered down a dirt road running steeply downhill towards the ocean. At the end of the road there was … a beautifully maintained soccer field … (???) … cows … and the Atlantic Ocean ! We followed a mud trail that looped around some cow pastures then headed back uphill towards the village. When we reached the village again we walked a block to another downhill dirt road, and repeated the process, this time to the cemetery near the ocean. After looping back to the village for the second time we were tired, and sat down to wait for the last bus of the day back to Horta.

We caught the last bus of the day at 4:10 PM. There was only one passenger on the bus, and she got off one stop after we got on. We were the only passengers on the bus all the way back to Horta. We continued the loop around Faial Island, heading east from Cedros along the north coast, then south along the east coast back to Horta in the southeast corner of Faial Island. We had circumnavigated Faial Island.

We got off the bus in Horta at 5 PM and walked to Continente for some grocery replenishment. We arrived back home at 6 PM. Tired !

Tuesday ; Mix of sun and clouds, mild, windy.

On our late walk this afternoon we wandered north until we were downtown. A business that had previously caught my eye a few times, but was closed each time we walked by, was open this afternoon. We went in and browsed, I bought myself a uniquely Azorean product from the clothing designer / seamstress / owner. She’s a good designer, a good seamstress, provides excellent customer service, and has fairly reasonably priced articles. AND … altered my purchase to better suit me at no additional cost. Told me to continue our walk and give her half an hour to make the alteration. Returned in half an hour to find her at the front door shaking off the thread cuttings, ready for me. Nicely done !

Ever since I first visited Europe in the late 80’s I have maintained that North American small business owners could learn a lot from their European counterparts.

Joanne and I collaborated tonight to prepare Piri-Piri roasted chicken. Piri-Piri is a Portuguese seasoning, in both dry rub and liquid versions, used mostly on chicken. Kind of like the Portuguese milder version of Tabasco sauce. Our guesthouse suite’s kitchen had a shaker of the dry rub version. We used it sparingly. The result was good, although it had a bit of an “after bite”.

Wednesday ; Mostly cloudy, mild, windy.

We spent a lot of time today working on / brainstorming financial planning / investment ideas. I think we’ve worked out and fine tuned great short term and long term strategies.

We went for our afternoon walk a bit earlier than usual today when the landlady showed up to clean our room, a couple of days late, complaining about staffing issues. She wasn’t the one who cleaned our room after our first week here, so we assume her cleaning lady quit or … ? We walked to Continente and did some grocery shopping, returning to our room after an hour. She wasn’t finished yet. <sigh> She said she would be done in ten more minutes. We went for a walk around the neighbourhood for another half an hour, and when we returned … she was still there … for ANOTHER ten minutes. <sigh> Yes, yes … so hard to get good help !

Thursday ; Cloudy and mild around noon, cold, windy, and raining at 6 PM.

So … we did not go for our late afternoon walk. But … we had a long walk at noon, finding a new / different circuitous route than we have walked before. I spent much of the afternoon working on reconciling February investment matters. Joanne spent much of the afternoon working on new ideas for next winter’s travels.

Friday ; Horta, Faial Island to Madalena, Pico Island & return

Overcast and mild.

This morning we left our guesthouse suite at 9:45 AM and caught a blue route city bus to take us to the ferry terminal. At the ferry terminal we bought two tickets from Horta, Faial Island to Madalena, Pico Island. The ferry departed on time at 10:45 AM and we arrived in Madalena a half hour later.

OOOOO … the ride made me feel seasick. I was surprised, as I had been conditioned by flight training and many years of flying small aircraft to be immune to vertigo and motion sickness caused by the strange sensation of the body moving in “all three dimensions” simultaneously.

Upon arrival in Madalena we began wandering around, going nowhere in particular. We walked … and walked … and walked … and … ! Madalena seemed to be a newer city than Horta, with larger houses (still very small by North American standards) and wider streets (still very narrow by North American standards). Around 1 PM, using the i-Phone’s GPS we began to head towards the restaurant Joanne had selected for lunch.

On the way to the restaurant we passed by a large grocery store. We went inside to look for the pie/quiche dough that has been out of stock at Continente in Horta. The store in Madalena had some, so we bought a package in order to (finally) make quiche for dinner tonight.

The restaurant’s specialty is Portuguese foods buffet lunch. That’s always a great way to sample local recipes. And today was no exception. Interesting choices, well prepared, reasonably priced buffet meal. We arrived for lunch at 1:30 PM and were out of the restaurant at 2:30. We walked slowly back to the nearby ferry terminal and bought tickets to return to Horta / Faial Island on the 3 PM ferry.

OOOOO … another “rock and roll” ferry ride for half an hour. I felt quite ill on the long, slow walk back home from the ferry terminal. We arrived back home shortly after 4:30 PM.

Saturday ; Cloudy, cool, windy, raining in the evening.

We did our usual two long walks. Our late afternoon walk included a trip to Continente for grocery replenishment, hopefully for the last time here in Horta.

Joanne spent much of today working on next winter’s travel plans. Version two ! Version one, previously done, will probably be rejected. I started work on our income tax returns.

DSK