Touristy western route
Scot Free III
Frank & Anne
Sat 24 Aug 2024 11:00
Collected the rental car today, a Ford Puma hybrid, though not much of a hybrid as far as F is concerned. This one, scratch and dent free, so no pressure!! It proved to be comfortable enough though rather a challenge for A as it was manual. On these roads it was always an event if she got into 6th gear.
Off to Sete Citades via one of the numerous viewpoints!! Drove off road, single track, fingers and toes crossed again that we didn’t meet anyone. Found a “lake” / half empty reservoir. Perhaps the 2017 guide book is out of date?
Arrived with hoards of people at the Sete Citades lakes, the most photographed and ones often shown in brochures of the island. Mythology provides a romantic story. A handsome shepherd and a princess meet, fall in love but are forced to part by her father. One lake is green from the shepherd’s tears, the other blue from the princess’s when they met one last time.
There is also a renowned derelict hotel here, built in 1989 with no facilities, in the middle of nowhere but with lovely views. It was soon abandoned to the elements.
On our way back to Ponta Delgada visited a museum Oficina-Museo Artesanato- MJ Mello in Capelas, a vast and remarkable display of retail and artisan shops in the style of a street. Sehnor Melo is a very elderly retired teacher who financed and constructed it in part of his house- entry through a double garage door. He was a charming , softly spoken man who proudly showed us his handmade delicate flowers made from fish scales, onion skin and fig pith.
We then wandered the “street” truly staggered by the extent of the memorabilia. Everything from a sweet shop, a tailors, a haberdashers, a domestic kitchen, radios, tape recorders, early computers, ploughs, other farmyard machinery, huge mechanical devices including a Gutenberg printing press and that’s just as small selection.
