SST: May 28, 2009
28 May 2009
Yesterday we docked in Porta Delgada, the capital city of the Azores. We are now moored in the harbor facing the town center. The morning was spent docking, and going through passport control and customs. Liberty for cadets began in the afternoon, with the first class cadets leaving first, then second class, and finally third class. Since liberty is a privilege not a right, students on watch, work duty, and restriction remained onboard.
The Azores are an archipelago 950 miles from Lisbon and 2,400 miles from North America. The Azores are volcanic islands where tectonic plates meet in a T-shaped triple junction. Some of the Azores are on the same Mid-Atlantic Ridge as Iceland. São Miguel Island, nicknamed "the Green Island", is the largest and most populous of the Azores Islands. The island covers 293 sq miles and has around 140,000 inhabitants. The largest town of 45,000 is Ponta Delgada. The average temperature in São Miguel during late May is between 59° - 78° F.
The Azores are an autonomous region of Portugal with its own President. The Presidential Palace is in Ponta Delgada and its gardens are a tourist attraction. The Azores, as part of Portugal, belong to the European Monetary Union and its currency is the Euro. The Azores are safe and crime is minor. The culture is traditional and more formal than in the United States. Courtesy and civility are ingrained. Portuguese, of course, is the spoken language, with numerous regional variations. English will be widely understood in Porto Delgada.
Ponta Delgada is no longer than two miles, so getting around is easy by foot. If our cadets like seafood, they will love the Azores! The islands are also major cattle raisers, so finding a good steak for dinner will be easy. The Azores are a sportsmen’s paradise, so there will be opportunities for cadets to hike, bicycle, go deep sea fishing, dive, and go whale and dolphin watching. There are also two beautiful golf courses.
At the eastern end of the harbor promenade in Ponta Delgado there is harbor swimming and a full-service pool complex. Beaches in the Azores are black sand. For other beaches, some students are thinking of going to Lagoa which has a complex with two pools, an ocean swimming pool surrounded by three sides with lava, sunbathing, diving, and slides.
