Rain Falls Mainly on the Plain (and Cities) in the Azores

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Day 9, 2024 Ultimate Mediterranean

Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024; Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal

Alas, my plan to enjoy my favorite cocktail – a gin and tonic – at Peter’s Café Sport in Horta, Azores, went awry. Seas too rough for tendering ashore caused us to miss yesterday’s port call after six days at sea. Years ago, my bucket list included sailing a yacht across the Atlantic, with Horta as a primary stop along the way. (Later I decided a cruise ship crossing would suffice.) Decades of sailors have made Peter’s — just across the street from Horta’s huge yacht marina — famous for its G&Ts.

Instead, the Volendam continued on to Ponta Delgada, the largest city in the Portuguese autonomous region of the Azores. We arrived at noon yesterday, giving us an overnight stay as the port already was scheduled for today.

In 2023, Ponta Delgada was our last stop on the world cruise and the first stop two weeks later on my following segment. Having already seen much of the island, this time I planned to explore the town and seek a good vantage point for painting. The weather didn’t cooperate.

Port officials in Ponta Delgada assigned the Volendam to the commercial port, where pedestrian traffic is prohibited. The 3,000-passenger Norwegian Prima got the pier that leads straight to the city center. It is part of a parade of cruise ships heading for North America and the Caribbean after spending the summer and fall in Europe.

Complementary buses shuttled us from the commercial port dock to Forte de São Brás, a 16th century maritime fort facing the harbor. I guess it made more sense to bus 1,350 passengers than 3,000. From the fort, it is just a few blocks to the central square with its arched city gates called Portas da Cidade.

Yesterday, I found a perfect perch on a stone wall facing the parish church, Igreja Matriz de São Sebastião. Just as I retrieved my sketchpad sprinkles began to fall and soon turned into a heavy rain. The sketchpad went back into my backpack, and the umbrella came out. On the way back to the ship, I toured the military museum in the fort – mostly a collection of vehicles and a large room filled with maps and drawings.

A few of us considered eating dinner ashore, taking advantage of our overnight stay. But I recalled that the Portuguese follow the custom of eating late – like at 9 p.m. or later. We settled on eating aboard the ship.

With today’s early morning arrival of the NCL ship, the streets were crowded and more shops open, despite it being Sunday. During my three-mile walk around town, I discovered block after block of the distinctive dark stonework and white plastered buildings, and the occasional mural.

Dark and light paving stones line the sidewalks and sometimes the streets in myriad patterns. Some buildings sport samples of Portugal’s famous colorful tiles.

Christmas decorations are starting to appear over the narrow streets.

When it looked like there would be a break in the intermittent rain, I returned to the perch I identified yesterday as a good vantage point for sketching the parish church. This time the sporadic rain held off until I finished a pencil sketch. I added ink and watercolor paint back on the ship.

As we left the Azores, the captain warned that the wind and swells would worsen, and he was right. By evening I needed a railing for balance, and paper bags appeared in the elevator lobbies.

I met my friend Deb at the Pinnacle Grill, where we had reservations for the Morimoto pop-up dinner. Of course, I forgot to take pictures of my dumplings or “Angry Lobster Pad Thai,” but they were just as good as on my last cruise when Chef Morimoto himself watched over the preparation. A sampler of sorbets finished off the meal.

Today’s low point was late tonight, when my beloved Kansas City Chiefs lost their first game of the NFL season to the Buffalo Bills. The game didn’t start until almost 9 p.m., and due to the rough seas, I opted to watch from my cabin instead of the ship’s bar.