We made it (finally)! We each slept for about 3 hours on the plane which I guess isn’t the worst. We got “upgraded” to the emergency row, and no one was sitting next to us so that was actually pretty nice.We tried asking every rental car place at the airport if they had any automatic cars, and they said they were €650 for 2 days… Yeah, no. Looks like we’re walking and cabbing!This island is absolutely stunning. It’s like a more tropical Prince Edward Island, with massive hills covered in farms. Everyone here has been very friendly so far, and they automatically assume we’re from Toronto. Apparently there are a ton of people from the Azores living in Toronto.Of course our hotel wasn’t ready, so we did what we do best – eat!

We went to a place on the north side of the island called Botequim Acoriano:We ordered limpets, an island specialty, which are basically a cross between mussels and clams. They have a great mussel-y flavour with a bit of chewiness. They also explode in your mouth a bit.Then we had the fresh fish of the day, called a zipperfish. It was very light and deliciously flaky, with some fried potatoes on the side.Everything is swimming in a pool of butter… But that’s not a bad thing. We’re on vacation! Next, we had the octopus, which tasted like the chef had been massaging it ever since he found out our flight was delayed. It wasn’t chewy at all, and had a great crisp on the outside. So so so good. One of the best we’ve ever had.We hopped in a taxi and headed to our first hotel, a beautiful place next to a pretty stream in the middle of Ribeira Grande.Off to explore!!