Azores Journal 12

Azores Journal Entry Nr. 12

Refer to Azores journal entry 1........nothing has changed...

Refer to Azores journal entry 1 – nothing has changed and there is no Christmas STRESS, there are NO mall-shootings or any others, the world keeps turning at a slower, more pleasant pace and now it is time to seriously start with the actual writing of the book on life in the Acores. It will be done in collaboration with my spouse and with the valuable addition of his photography.

Do not expect a boring travel-log but a book about life as it is during this period in time in the Azores describing the physical beauty, customs, lives of the Azorean people and a good dose of humor.

Having taken a trip to mainland Portugal, Lisboa, Porto and Coimbra to be specific, I must confess that on the first day in Lisboa I was homesick for the Acores. Life was too hectic plus there were too many people who seemed less friendly and helpful than the Azoreans. To my great amazement, few Portuguese we met had actually been here on the islands. So far the Acores have been sort of looked down upon as the “poor cousin” which could not be further from the truth, given the large sums of money pouring in from the EU for infrastructure and building as well as renovating purposes. Actually it is like living in a different country altogether. If the reader is interested, click on my husband’s poster and view some of the photography taken during our trip, it will be worth your while.

The weather was glorious but too dry as they had not seen a drop of rain in nearly 3 months, while in the Azores right now we have again reached the unpredictable but delightful off-season (harvest-time) with nighttime temperatures in the high 50s or low 60s while during the day we have entered what I refer to “onion clothing phase.” By noon the temperatures usually rise into the mid to high 70s – here it is the middle of December and we are shedding layers, there is no need to heat……………. The house has been staying at a comfortable 70 degrees.

The profusion of flowers again is growing more varied by the day, Camellias and Azaleas are beginning to come into their own as well as many others. But THE best and most spectacular this year are the Poinsettias. Sitting on our upper terrace the other day I looked up in the late afternoon sunshine from below into a truthfully huge bush of Poinsettia blossoms about a foot across with a cerulean sky as backdrop and the warm sun illuminating every leaf rendering it the deepest red you can imagine. It was magical. Such is pre-Natal on the Azores. The lights are adorning the streets en masse but yet again –there is NO Christmas frenzy. We love it.

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

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