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Horta, Faial Island, The Azores,
Portugal
We are assigned room number 304
and it has a lovely balcony with a view of the hotel entrance
and the sweep of the eastern shoreline beyond down below.
The room has two twin beds (bummer!) and no internet connection
capabilities but is clean and nice. After unpacking, we call
the front desk to have them connect us to Pat & Ashley's room
and I hear Pat's voice as he is talking to them in the lobby.
They put Ashley on the phone and we agree to go our separate
ways but hope our paths will cross in the small downtown area
as we walk around. Horta is only about 7,000 population, and
the whole island is 16,000. It has a large marina and yachts
from all over make a call here as they cross the Atlantic.
The tradition is for each crew to paint a picture/message
on the concrete sea wall around the harbor and it is now covered
with colorful artwork.
Horta became a major center for
transatlantic communications in the 1890s since it was a terminal
for the undersea cables that connected Europe and America.
Western Union from the USA as well as cable companies from
England and Germany all had centers here and now they have
all been converted into other uses. In fact, the Hotel Fayal
was the old Western Union complex!
We walked the few blocks to the
harbor and quickly found Ashley and Pat waiting to cross the
street. After viewing the wall-art, we asked a police lady
for directions to a good restaurant and were told to follow
the main street by the shoreline, east, and we would find
it on the left side. How far? "Go, go, go, go" as she pointed
down the street. The four "goes" equated to about a mile and
we were surely ready to eat when we arrived. Pam and I shared
a fish special for two while P & A had the buffet. There was
only one waitress working the large second story room and
both service and food were mediocre. The price, however, was
right: 7,000 escudos per couple, about $35, and that included
a bottle of local red wine. (Unfortunately, again, mediocre.)
The place filled up quite a bit before we left and we heard
lots of English spoken from tourists and boat crews. P & A
took a taxi and Pam and I walked back to the hotel in the
balmy night air. Many upscale shops, now closed for the night,
made the little town seem bigger than it is.
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