My first truly international travel experience
was with the family to the small island chain in the middle of the Atlantic
Ocean called the Azores. From genealogy
research done by my mom, we determined that my dad’s family was from the island
of Terceira and we were going to check out our heritage.
I only remember portions of the trip, but the
memories are definitely vivid. The trip
began and ended with food at the airport and revolved around food pretty much
in between (which is great if you are a foodie like me and Cody, not so great
if you are my sister who was getting over food poisoning from two nights before
we left. She was pretty much miserable
the entire trip).
While waiting with anticipation for our first
intercontinental flight ever, we became more than slightly distracted by an
elderly woman also waiting for her flight…she had pulled out a plastic shopping
bag which contained an ear of corn and proceeded to eat the entire thing
sitting at her gate. I have heard of
buying food at the airport and was new to the idea of bringing your own food
for a flight, but I had never considered corn on the cob a food to take on the
go. Needless to say, when we saw the
option to buy corn on the cob on the side of the road on one of the islands we
had to take the opportunity as homage to the little old lady who clearly left a
lasting impression.
We spent our vacation on three of the nine
islands starting with Sao Miguel. It was
here that we were first introduced to caipirinahs, the Brazilian
specialty. Our hotel was two blocks off
the main square in Ponta Delgada and
every night (or at least it seemed) the town came to the square to enjoy music,
drinks and the social scene at what can best be described as a night
market/party. The loudest and busiest
stall was the Brazilian one which sold caipirinahs. We were hooked.
After getting introduced to the locals’
favorite drink, Cody introduced the locals to Bloody Mary’s. Again, the details are fuzzy, but Cody and I
somehow ended up going out dancing and bar hopping with some of the locals who
worked at the hotel where we were staying.
It seemed like a pretty tame night and when asked by our parents, we
gave the cursory response of “it was fun”.
But apparently Cody made an impression because later the following day,
every waiter and bartender from the hotel stopped by and exclaimed “Cody!” as
an approving friend or admirer would.
And it wouldn’t be a trip without my dad also
making a lasting impression as well. Our
first full day in town on Sao Miguel we went exploring. I am not sure what prompted him, but my dad
decided to walk down the boat ramp to feel the water in the harbor. Three inches into the water and he hit a
slimy patch. He slid completely into the
water, re-emerging covered in salt water and a green algae. To add to his new look, while eating lunch
later that day, my dad managed to splash red sauce from his octopus meal all
over his white (now green and red) shirt.
If our shoes didn’t already let people know, we were clearly American
tourists.
It was also during this trip that I began to
appreciate the variety of foods that I had been exposed to living in
California. While on the islands, we learned
that the main staples of their diets were salted cod and linquinsa and options
for fresh produce were limited… I also learned the European style of eating a
salad (sans Ranch dressing.) After a
week plus of eating the same thing, our desire for something different reached
a new low when we spent our last night of the trip at a Chinese Food restaurant
and we ran to the closest Burger King when we landed in Boston during our lay
over. I like to think I have improved in this regard.
Other highlights included a beautiful walk to Lagoa
das Sete Cidades (two very different lakes, one green and one blue, separated
by a narrow strait), a tour of the island of Fayal with some family friends
which wrapped up with us cooking our dinner on hot stone plates (the first I
had seen) and some serious bonding with the family.
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