You might have noticed we did not post yesterday. Well, it rained all day and so all we did was stay in with the exception of lunch. It was nice to be lazy and read most of the day. I read from cover-to-cover the book I started. We even watched a movie on the projector. We watched Rebel Ridge on Netflix and highly recommend it. Even the host’s cat had a lazy day though she was outside.

Lunch was at Restaurante III Arcos in Ginetes, 10 min south of where we stayed. It was good and fresh. After a couple years of not eating octopus, I (Jesse) was convinced to try it as it is the local delicacy. It was ok but.. it was the last octopus I will eat. This was 100% of the octopus.. including the head (which you can see below, the size and general form of a plum). They are just too complex and amazing and I don’t LOVE them as food. Yeah I don’t know my own full thinking here, I’m working on it.

Today we woke up to find our friend on the patio. She is so cute.

Since today is a work day for Jesse, we geared up early and drove the whole 5 minutes to the parking lot for Lombo do Vasco. We did a 5.2 mile out and back hike that starts on the road, then woods and finally along the northern ridge of the Caldeira das Sete Cidades. Along the ridge route, you have views of the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Lagoa Azul on the other. The day was cloudy and misty but it was really nice to hike in the cool weather and watch the clouds dissipate at various portions of the hike.

Then there she is …. Logoa Azul (Blue Lake). Spectacular even in the mist. You can’t tell in the photos but along the ridges the color are a deep hunter green-blue.

We continue on the (at times narrow) ridge towards our final destination Miradouro das Cumeeiras. On the way, we passed more flowers and some cows too. It is pretty windy as you can hear from the video below.

Then we got to Miradouro das Cumeeiras and there is nothing to see. The clouds are thick and the wind has picked up so we take the opportunity to have a simple lunch of PB& J sandwiches and apples.

During our lunch break, we met the guide (Vin) of a large group from Catalan and Seville. Funny, how all conversation starts with politics here. Once again, we aligned with this gentleman’s view. He was witty and smart. We all agreed that all we want is peace in this world.✌🏽

Back the way we came, going through dense woods, mud and burrs, engravings on the ridges, more cows and beautiful vistas.

We decide to go for a late lunch/early dinner since the car needs gas and Jesse has to get back for work. We head to Capelas on the central, north portion of the island. Yes, we literally had to drive 30 minutes to get gas here. We are in a very small town on the West Coast of the island. We head to the #1 restaurant (out of 5 in total), Café Canto do Cais. A family style restaurant with ~8 long, communal tables and yellow walls with writings on every inch of each wall. The plates were huge loaded with salad and local, fresh fruit to accompany your meat and starch of choice – delicious! I even have leftovers for tomorrow’s dinner.

Just down the street from the restaurant, Jesse checked out Miradouro do Pesqueiro. As you can see, the clouds dissipated, the sun is out and the water is crystal blue.