Lanee and I have been on the Regal Princess cruise ship for six days crossing the Atlantic Ocean. For those that cruise you know there are plenty of activities and the days go by fast. Our first stop was the Azores on April 22, 2018.
It is foggy this morning and it made picture taking a challenge. We took an eight passenger van around the island for three hours and saw about one-fourth of the island. It is a very beautiful place.
| Island | Area | |
|---|---|---|
| sq mi | ||
| Sao Miguel | 293 | |
| Pico | 172 | |
| Terceira | 156 | |
| Sao Jorge | 95 | |
| Faial | 67 | |
| Flores | 55 | |
| Santa Maria | 37 | |
| Graciosa | 24 | |
| Corvo | 7 | |
The Azores are a group of nine volcanic islands located 850 miles west of Portugal in the North Atlantic Ocean. The nine major Azorean islands and an inlet cluster are in three main groups. These are Flores and Corvo, to the west; Graciosa, Terceira, Sao Jorge, Pico, and Faial in the center; and Sao Miguel, Santa Maria, and the Formigas Reef to the east. They extend for more than 370 miles and lie in a northwest-southeast direction. Mount Pico, on the island of Pico, is the highest point on the island with an elevation of 7,713 feet. If measured from their base at the bottom of the ocean to their peaks, which thrust high above the surface of the Atlantic, the Azores are actually some of the tallest mountains on the planet. The island of Santa Maria was discovered in 1427 and the island of Sao Miguel was discovered in 1428. The islands were first settled August 15, 1432. The culture, dialect, cuisine, and traditions of the Azorean islands vary considerably, because these once-uninhabited and remote islands were settled sporadically over a span of two centuries. According to the 2012 cencus the population of the Azorean islands was 245,746 people. Capital cities are Angra do Heroismo, Horta, and Ponta Delgada. Ponta Delgada is the largest city. The climate of the Azores is very mild for such a northerly location, being influenced by its distance from the continents and by the passing Gulf Stream. Due to the marine influence, temperatures remain mild year-round. Daytime temperatures normally fluctuate between 61o F and 77o F depending on season. Temperatures above 86o F or below 37o F are unknown in the major population centres. It is also generally wet and cloudy.
The main currency is the Euro (€) the average income is €14,900, the gross income of the Azores in 2013 was €3,694 million. Its main industries are agriculture, dairy farming, livestock, fishing, and tourism, which is becoming the major service activity in the region. In addition, the government of the Azores employs a large percentage of the population directly or indirectly in the service and tertiary sectors.
