Our next stop after lunch was the hotsprings in Furnas that are nestled within a gorgeous garden, called Terra Nostra. First we walked through the trails and saw all kinds of cool flowers, plants, and giant koi fish. There was even a section dedicated to different types of palm trees from around the world, some of them from the 1600s! Then we went to try out the thermal baths, all naturally heated by the ground. The brownish water might not be so appetizing but I assure you, it was wonderful; as warm as a nice bath. There were also 2 other smaller hot pools (not as brown), that were slightly different temperatures. We had a lovely relaxing time!

We had gone to a vista earlier that day overlooking the lake, but it was too cloudy. So Bruno took us back before we went home and luckily the clouds had cleared:

Then he took us to another vista on the other side of the island, where the weather was completely different (that happens in the Azores):

At the top of the vista, we had amazing homemade gelato from a place called La Gelateria. I had the “Maria cookie” flavour, which had chunks of Azorean cookies (basically arrowroot cookies) in it. Michael opted for watermelon but mine was much better, probably because of the milk used in it. Milk in the Azores is from “happy cows”. There is a government program in place to make the cows as happy as possible, for example making the farmers buy the cows a massaging machine. There is no factory farming here, the cows graze the fields all day and live happy lives. The milk and cheese just tastes better here.

Then Bruno ran into the bushes and cut off some flowers for us, which smelled like jasmine. He knew a ton about the wildlife on the Azores (he loves nature) so he told us the plant is an invasive species but it is quite pretty and smells good. Most of the plants here were brought over by different groups over the years and have become a staple of Azorean culture (even the cows, but they aren’t plants).

For dinner, we went to Alabote, and had some interesting things. Guess what this is (you won’t get it):

Imagine spanikopita, but instead of spinach and cheese, it’s the inside of a sausage. It’s called a crispy sausage and I’m sure this restaurant just made it up. Really tasty though! We also had some delicious cheese and bread, and fish baked in phyllo pastry.

We finished the evening by watching the sun go down by the ocean. Look at those rays of sun!