Catching Up - Too Many Beautiful Sites

The last couple of days we've been exploring both in the city (Angra) and also the south side of the island.

On Sunday after church we went to the local museum to learn a little of the history of the island.
Part of the museum included this amazing cathedral.  The displays were incredibly ornate.  Here's a few of them:
A fellow came along and started playing the organ which was really cool to hear.

In addition to the amazing church there were these other very interesting items: 

These carriages, do you still call them that when you're actually carried in them?  Anyway, when you look inside they were tiny.  The people who rode in them had to be very short.

Aren't you glad you didn't have to wear either of these?

These signs were hung at the museum water closets.  Which do you think is the ladies?  I thought I had figured it out but when I walked in and saw the urinals I knew I had chosen wrong.

It's amazing how fast the clouds move around the island.  They blow in and out at record speed.

All around town you can see these cute little lizards.  These fellows were right outside our balcony.

I'm amazed at the narrow streets of Angra.  Locals don't seem to blink an eye.  We've found them a bit difficult to navigate both on foot and behind the wheel.  I'm sure after a week or two on the island we'd be comfortable as well.  This first picture is a street we walked down.  It was incredibly steep and the cobblestones made it a bit hard to navigate in sandals. 

Parking is a bit of a science here!

This is a bit of a strange business/building downtown.  Not sure what it is or what it is used for.  We thought all the faces were a bit odd.

Feeling hungry, how about a little octopus picked up from the local grocer? 

Another beautiful view of Angra

I can't get over how inexpensive meals are here.  This is what Matt and I had for dinner.  The total was less than 20€.

Who needs a pharmacy when you have your everyday vending machine on the street?

On Monday we headed towards the south end of the island.  Here's some of the sites:

Sao Sebastian 
This little town is about 10 mins from Angra.  This old old church is found there.  I didn't ever see a date of when it was built but just the look on the outside as well as the in tells you it's old.  They recently discovered these old paintings underneath the outer covering of the walls and are now in the process of restoring them.  I couldn't help but wonder how do you get the plaster off without ruining the painting underneath?  Interesting...

This isn't part of the church but similar things like this are found all over the island.  Clearly, they have no problem with separation of church and state.  I can't help but think of how many of the 10 commandments plaques or nativity scenes have been removed.  Here there isn't a problem with having Catholic images all over the island. (Not saying this is a bad thing just that they're there.)

This is a monument to the local men who have served in the army.  The fellow to the right is a typical farmer from the area.  For whatever reason there were a lot in town the day we went through.

This church was across the street.  We aren't sure what religion it is.  You find the throughout the island.  All are very colorful.  We thought maybe Greek Orthodox.

One of the things we were told to make sure we did was take the opportunity to eat the meal that is most associated with the Azores.  It's called Alcatra.  It's a beef stew that is traditionally prepared in a stone dish in one of the underground furnaces or hot spots.  It's boiled for about 5 hours.  I've seen it on the menu at many different places.  Most included carrots or squash along with potatoes in addition to the met.  Ours was only meat with onion and juice, the potatoes were served on the side.  To me this dish was okay.  A little bland because Azores restaurants use very little salt in their cooking.  I'd like to try a different restaurants version of it before I decide if I like it.  

It's hard to imagine a place being as beautiful and relaxing as the Azores are.  Everywhere we've driven it's gorgeous and interesting at the same time. I really could live here.  Now if there was a way to get our family here.  That's the only thing I'd miss about home.