En provenance de Madère, nous nous apprêtons à rejoindre les Açores, du moins l’île principale de Sao Miguel.

Nous sommes partis avec la compagnie SATA Azores ; le vol dure deux heures et coûte 150 euros par personne. Nous avons organisé notre voyage grâce à l’aide de l’office du tourisme du Portugal, de l’office du tourisme des Açores

Sometimes it’s because we wear bright purple T-shirts that say stuff like “Cleveland: It’s not that bad.” Other times it’s because we stop to take a selfie while getting charged by an angry bull. And it was this exact brand of dumb American I found myself playing in the Azores islands.

Nach fünf Stunden Flug ist Land in Sicht. Land, das von oben aussieht wie ein Wal in grünem Pelz. Ein Eiland mit schroffen Felsen im knalltürkisfarbenen Meer, nur gestört durch das Weiß der heranpreschenden Wellen. 

FURNAS is a handsome, brightly painted village lying in the shadow of the volatile volcano after which it was named. It wouldn’t look out of place in the Pyrenees. Except it’s in the middle of the Atlantic, a thousand miles west of Lisbon and a good way east of New York, in a place where the Earth’s bowels erupted 20 million years ago, blasting nine sharp volcanic fragments into the briny.

The world is finally wising up, and the Azores are rapidly getting more popular. It’s places like Furnas, nicknamed “The Hydropolis of the World,” that make the archipelago so appealing -- it’s built literally on top of an active volcanic crater, and is scattered with geysers, fumaroles, and hot springs. 

Secluded in the middle of the Atlantic, sits a series of nine Portuguese islands called the Azores.  Still relatively undiscovered by modern tourism, they radiate a Mediterranean charm and simplicity.  I sojourned over a long weekend on the second largest island called Terceira.

FOR A CASUAL SPECTATOR, the scene at the marina in the Azorean village of São Mateus da Calheta looks like a typical summer evening on the water.

O Geoparque Açores é composto por 121 geossítios que representam a enorme geodiversidade do arquipélago.

TEATIME ISN’T SUPPOSED to be a chemistry lesson. It’s supposed to be about sipping tea and snacking on deliciously sweet cakes, discussing simple things. The words “oxidation” and “molecules” don’t usually enter into the conversation.