#100 days of honesty Day 16: In love with Sao Miguel

PHOTO AND WRITING BY MONIKA CSAPO

I arrived two days ago in the evening to Ponta Delgada where I am going to spend one week and get to know the island of Sao Miguel a bit. I am really happy that I could make this trip happen because I wanted to visit the Azores already since a long time.

Yesterday I woke up at 6 am because I could not sleep any more and caught a beautiful sunrise by chance. The sky was first deep blue then a lighter shade of blue and in the end pinkish-yellowish pastel colors appeared. The streets were silent, only the birds were awake and a white cat on the balcony on the other side of the street.

I have met many nice people here so far, everyone is so kind and helpful. I was surprised how modern Ponta Delgada is. You can find all the shops here what you have in continental Europe, the city has a real modern touch besides representing traditional Portugese architecture.

Yesterday in the afternoon I went to Villa Franca do Campo by bus and climbed the hill to the Peace Chapel from where I could enjoy a breathtaking view. Before my emotional moment was ruined by a loud family I got really sentimental for some seconds as I was standing there looking to the ocean on one side and to the fog-covered mountains on the other.

I am always so thankful for everything beautiful I can see- at home or on the road it is all the same. It touches me so much because I can truly feel then not just want to know in theory that besides adversities life has also so much good to offer.

I took today's morning "off" and went only to the shop and planned the rest of my trip. Yesterday although the hiking was beautiful and cathartic I had no food or water with me for the whole day because I could not find a shop so I was a bit exhausted when I got back to the bus terminal. Even better it turned out that there was actually a cafe where I could have bought water and food for me before starting the hike. So when I could finally in the evening before the bus I tried some Portugese pastries and at a toast, bought water, had a coffee. And today I went to Insterspar to be able to store some water and biscuits for the probability of such events occuring again.

Now I am heading to Lagoa de Sete Cidades and will go to have dinner in Ponta Delgada in the evening.