No Moss For Us

We were up early, and for good reason: we were finally heading to the Azores, more specifically, to the island of Terceira, where Grant’s great grandmother lived! We were very much excited for this leg of the trip for a couple reasons: 1) We were on a mini-mission to locate the house where the aforementioned great grandmother lived; and 2) We were touching down right into the middle of one of the islands biggest annual festivals – the festival of San Joao (St. John)!

After a quick Uber ride and flight, before we knew it we were touching down on the island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. At the airport we were greeted by our AirBnB host, Fatima, who was incredibly sweet and friendly, and who immediately whisked us from the airport on a driving tour of her town, Agra do Heroísmo.

The town is tiny and full of pretty, picturesque streets, just like this one

She was a font of information, and showed us everything – sights, streets, restaurants, and even the grocery store, police station, and fire department. Even more, she was kind enough to accompany us to the pharmacy where we desperately needed to find some treatment for a mysterious bout of itchy bites Jess had picked up at the end of our Morocco trip. In short, she very much took us under her wing 🙂 Perhaps most exciting, we found out that that night was the biggest night of the festival, where the streets would be filled with food stalls and a giant parade of costumes and dancing!

Then, thanks to her glowing recommendation, she dropped us off at one of her favorite restaurants (Canadinha) and set us on our way (but not without speaking to the staff to essentially place our orders for us!). We had a hearty lunch of al catra, which is a typical regional meal of slow cooked beef chunks in a rich broth, accompanied by not one, but two, types of potatoes (fries and boiled), and of course, glasses of red wine to wash it all down.

After lunch, we were much in need of a quick nap before what promised to be a late night of parades, music, and traditional Terceiran food. After the nap, Jess felt quite refreshed but Grant… had an ominous rumbling in his lower half. Long story short, Grant spent the afternoon and evening shuffling to the bathroom, while Jess had a much more exciting evening, that included:

• Parade watching, with lots of colorful costumes, and large troupes of locals dancing and singing (and drinking, whenever one of their friends in the crowd passed them a beverage).

The entire parade route is marked with light up arches for enhanced viewing

Tons of little old ladies hang brightly colored quilts from their balconies for more comfortable viewing

The troops are made up of three components – first the dancer/singers, then the band, and then their supporters.

They sing and dance for the entire 1.5 mile parade route – and are really into it

When a troop has passed, there’s usually about 10 minutes till the next, and people flood into the streets

These were my favorite troupe – flamenco dancers

When not up in the balconies, the older folks ensure excellent seats by setting their chairs out a day in advance

• Donuts! Jess had both a tasty local donut, and a malasada (though the Terceirans had another name for it) for dinner. Yup, we know. We’re pretty sure she’s an elf too.

Then after 4 hours of navigating the packed streets, abuzz with celebration, talking, and drinking, Jess headed home with a detailed account of the parades to share with Grant.

Approximately 400 pictures later, it was time to sleep.

-G & J