Praia de Vitoria, Terceira

S/V Goldcrest
David & Lindsay Inwood
Thu 5 Jul 2018 11:19

38:43.828N 27:03.454W Tue 3rd Jul 2018. 13nm 2h20mins

 

We stayed in Angra until their festival had finished and spent an afternoon watching their “bull on a rope” craziness.  Naturally every culture has its own history, and whilst it’s certainly less hideous than bull fighting, we felt it was demeaning and just a little cruel to the animals.  The enjoyment of the many young men who were taunting the bull to charge was evident, but only a few showed real skill and courage to dance around and avoid the horns by inches.

One of the daring ones:

Showing how close the crowds were and how the bull is controlled by the rope team:

 

By Tuesday we were getting a bit anxious about where to leave the boat when we fly back to the UK.  The surge in Angra’s harbour was not getting any better and we would have to find a minder to tend the lines & fenders, so we decided to try Praia de Vitoria which is more sheltered and much closer to the airport.  We knew it was full but hoped that a space would become available in the week we have in hand.  We had a surprisingly rough short motor around the corner of the island but tied alongside a fellow OCC member’s boat in the perfect calm and shelter of the marina.  Happily the marina was able to find us space so Goldcrest is now tied up safely until we get back from the UK.

 

Praia is a much smaller and less well supplied town than Angra and we struggled to find a special restaurant for Lindsay’s birthday.  However we found a popular local place that was certainly enjoyable enough.  The weather is still disappointing with mostly cloudy cool days – it’s hotter in the UK we gather!  We’re hiring a car for a few days to explore the island and I feel we will be moving on to other islands as soon as we get back.

 

Views across Praia:

Praia’s restored wetland park: