Day 11: Ponta Delgada

Today we decided to visit the main city on our island, Ponta Delgada. The last time we tried to we couldn’t park our car anywhere because of Portugal Day, but since it is a weekday today (Wednesday to be precise) we shouldn’t have any issues.

Ponta Delgada is about 20 minutes drive away from our apartment, and is on the south coast right about in the middle of it. It is also where the airport is located, and where nearly all cargo is offloaded when it arrives at the Azores. It even is home to a few boats by the Portuguese Navy and where any cruise ships dock when they are in town. So it is quite a busy hub!

Yet is has remained a nice and tranquil place. With old architecture and even an 16th century fortress called Forte de São Brás de Ponta Delgada. It now houses a small military museum, but we passed on that opportunity and decided to stroll along the harbour on the promenade.

This town has a lot of small parks and gardens, each one meticulously kept and cleaned. As we are in the right time of the year, pretty much everything is in bloom right now which makes for some very pretty sights to be seen. Also, these parks are not just for us tourists, but seem to be used by the locals as well which is great!