21 April
Saturday
   
Our day in the Azores.   The Azores are beautiful.   Ponta Delgada is the main port, and it was their that we docked.  To make it simple, we took a tour coach across the island to Ribeira Grande, a very old town on the north side of the island.  We then visited Caldera Velha, a series of hot springs on the side of an inactive volcano.  The Azores are entirely volcanic.  The last eruption was in the 15th century, after settling had begun.  The steam from the volcanos are being tapped to provide electricity for the islands.  From the springs we travelled on up to the top of the volcano to see Lagoa de Fogo (Fire Lake), named because it was formed after the last eruption, which sealed the lake bottom and sides so that the crater held water.  The whole area is naw declared a natural reserve.

From there, we were taken to a pineapple plantation.  Here, the pineapples are grown in greenhouses because they do not thrive in the volatile climate.

After returning the port, we looked around the town a bit before boarding.  The pictures we’ll b e posting when we leave the ship will tell a better story than any written account could accomplish.

22 April
Sunday
Another relaxing day of sun and good food.  We have been very fortunate in regard to the weather, often sunny and I don’t think any day was less than 60 F.

After dinner we saw two shows, ‘Second City; Living in America’ at 7 pm then at 9:30 we saw Comedy Magician Jeff Hobson.  We thoroughly enjoyed both.







We will be posting yesterday's story with our trip through the Straights of Gribralter after we check into our hotel in Barcelona.