Port of call: Ponta Delgada (Azores)

After six days at sea it was nice to touch land again and our first port of call was the city of Ponta Delgada on São Miguel.   Instead of taking one of the tours, which all involved spending a few hours on a bus, we decided to just walk around and see what we could see.  Even though we didn’t get to all the big sites it was nice checking out and getting a little taste of the Azores.

Portuguese Navy WWI memorial at Forte de Sao Brás (Fortress of Sao Bras)

I always love ships so I had to take this picture.

Praca da Republica (Republic Square) and the Portas da Cidade (Gates to the City), the historical entrance to the village of Ponta Delgada

Migrant workers monument.

Maisie took a little play break during our walk.

Folk dancers in the Mercado da Graça (Farmer's Market)

Church of São Pedro

Academia das Artes dos Açores (Art Gallery)

One of the many streets we strolled.

On the campus of Universidade dos Açores (The University of the Azores)

I’ve always loved birds of paradise and they were in full bloom on the University campus.

Not sure what these or the drum parade was for but it was fun to see these coming down the street.

The drummers that followed the figures above.

We stopped for coffee and pastry and I when I asked which pastry we should try, I was told that this queijadas da vila was a very traditional pastry and that I needed to give it a try.  It was sweet and delicious and given the opportunity I’d enjoy it again.

We didn’t have a long day in Ponta Delgada so before we knew it, it was time to return to the ship.  Next port of call:  Amsterdam.

I mentioned in my previous post that while on the ship I enjoyed the cold fruit soups daily at lunch so when I started thinking of what I wanted to make with this month’s assigned ingredients of strawberries and cream for my Improv Cooking Challenge I immediately thought of a cold fruit soup.  Check out my new post over on Cook Lisa Cook for Strawberry Soup which is a slight adaptation on the Strawberry Soup which is served at 1900 Park Fare restaurant in Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.  Just click on the picture to be taken to the recipe.

Other recipes posted on Cook Lisa Cook include: Mango Lassi, Stir-Fried Asparagus with Water Chestnuts, Ginger & Cashews, Curried Roast Chicken Pieces with Spicy Sweet Potato & Carrots, Grilled Corn & Bacon Pudding, Oriental Chicken Salad, Potato Salad with Bacon, Coffee Crusted Steak, Home Style Chicken Curry, Watermelon Frosty,  Mango Gazpacho, Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies, Long Beans with Walnuts, Blacksmith Pizza, Rhubarb Crisp, Laksa, Math Book No Bake Cookies, Aloo Gobi, Mint Lassi, Red Curry Chicken, Lamb Curry, Grilled Corn, Avocado & Tomato Salad with Honey Lime Dressing, Baked Egg Cups Two Ways, Thai Peanut Salad, Holy Guacamole, Cantaloupe Agua Fresca, Wallaby Darned, Piggy-Out Cookies, Wicked Good New England Lobster Roll, Long Beans with Garlic, Super Simple Summer Shrimp Salsa Salad, Grandma’s Teriyaki Steak, Watermelon Tomato Gazpacho, Red Chinese Long Beans with Peppers & Red Curry, 24-Layer Crêpe Cake, Fig & Watermelon Salad, Grilled Chèvre & Fig Panini, Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad, Grilled Prawns, Spicy Brown Sugar Bacon, Kicked Up Piggy-Out Cookies, Pesto Pita Pizza, Cilantro Lime Chicken, Nutella Crêpes, Mango, Lime & Chile Spiced Ice Box Pie, Roast Beef & Garlic Herb Cheese Sandwich, Layered Crespelle with Bolognese, Fresh Mozzarella & Basil, Jamaican Jerk Meat Pies, Nutella No Bake Cookies, Velvety Mac & Cheese, Welsh Cakes, Tom Yam Ghoong (Spicy Shrimp Soup), Lime Jewels, Southwest Pasta Salad, Walnut Roca Squares, Uncle Bubba’s Shrimp & Grits, Chocolate Chip Gingersnaps, Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies, Copycat “KFC” Coleslaw, Happy 6th Birthday Maisie Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies, Thin Mint Irish Coffee, Caramel Apples, “Rotisserie” Chicken, Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwich, Mummy Hotdogs, Mango Upside Down Cake, Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens, Aloo Tikki, Pink Strawberry Cake Balls, Praline Pumpkin Cheesecake, Apple Dumplings, Rum Cured Salmon, Apple, Cranberry & Rhubarb Crisp, Hasselback Potatoes with Garlic Sour Cream, Crunchy Oat, Almond, Cashew & Pebbles Granola Bars, Texas Chicken with Lime Butter, Biscoff Fudge, Eggnog Popovers with Cranberry Butter, Creamed Corn with Cheese and Cilantro, Potato Crusted Pork Chops, Oatmeal, Cashew & Chocolate Granola Bars, Texas Chicken Sandwich, Seared Scallops with Creamy Pesto & Lemon Pepper Pasta, Thai Chicken Noodle Soup, Glazed Lemon Squares, Chang-Style Brussels Sprouts, Maisie “safe” No Bake Cookies, Ponderosa Lemon & Sour Cream Tart, Pork Dumplings with Rice Wrappers, Sweet & Spicy Apple Pork, Dark Chocolate Dipped Candied Lemon Peel, Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites, Double Chocolate Meyer Lemon Mousse Cake, Malted Pretzel Crunch, Shrimp & Avocado Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing, Apple Pancakes, Baked Egg & Avocado, Health(ier) Peanut Brittle, Crab Cake Stuffed Mushrooms, Broiled Sushi, Tomato Sauce with Onion & Butter, Loaded Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole, Slow Cooker Chicken Curry, Slimmed Down Loaded Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole, Baked Meatballs, Skinny Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad, Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars, Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich and Hearty Sausage, Mushroom & Cheddar Mini Quiche.

Enjoy!