Pico Island Day 5

I woke up at 3am to a text from Melissa. She forgot about the time difference. I laid there for a while and decided I wasn’t going to fall back asleep, so I got up and took my shower. I wanted to get caught up on my journal anyway so I wouldn’t get too far behind. I headed downstairs to catch my ride at 6:30am. I arrived at the airport and there wasn’t anyone in line. Oops. I thought it was going to be like Sao Miguel, but then I realized Sao Miguel is basically a main hub, so there were a lot more people in it. There are only 5 gates in this airport. I got some breakfast, an omelet, or “omelete” as they call it, but it was more like a big cold McMuffin without the ham. I sat and ate and then went down to my gate, which I swore she said gate 5. Typed on my laptop for a while, and then started feeling I was not at the right gate. Went and looked at the board and there was no gate listing for my flight yet. I asked one of the agents, and she told me gate 1, so went there and here I sit finishing my journal for this morning 😊. Boarded no problem and landed on-time. I grabbed my suitcase and found the car rental place. The girl went outside with me and showed me a couple cars. She pointed out a red 5 speed, which she said was new, so I took that one. It was partly sunny outside. OMG. There is a sun! I headed out to my first stop, the Forte de Santa Catarina. It was a 16th century fort right at the sea. It had been redone a little bit. I would have liked to see it when it was originally built. I left there and went to a whaling museum, which was converted from an old whaling factory, called Centro de Artese e deciencias do Mar. It had all the original boilers and wenches that were used in the old days for the whales that were killed. They showed a 10-minute video with old footage of the hunt. As a scuba diver, it bothered me to see them killing those beautiful whales. She told me no part of the whale was wasted, so I guess that is good. They used parts of the whale for medicines, perfumes, food for the animals, etc. Next stop down the road just a little bit was the first windmill, Moinho da Ponta Rosa. Evidently there are several on Pico. Great view of the vineyards from on top of the stairs. Next, down the road, was another windmill, Moinho do Frade. Great view of the ocean from on top of the stairs. I headed back towards Madalena to go to a Burger King for lunch. After eating, from there, I went over to a wine museum, called Museu do Vinho. It had the original buildings with the old equipment they used to process the grapes and make the wine.

After I finished there, I headed back to the hostel to end the day.