Ponta Delgado means "thin point". Oddly enough it sits on a smooth southern coast of whale shaped Sao Miguel Island, "only" 900 miles west of mainland Portugal. That means, this administrative center and only real city in the Azores is still in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Everyone speaks excellent England as well as completely undecipherable Portuguese, at least by me.
Our early morning arrival was in mist and fog despite weather.com's forecast of "party cloudy". Quite appropriately we would spend our only tour on this cruise in one part or another of the cloud. But we took a pleasant tour of this persistent cloud, stopping at overlooks for a while. One of the guides held up post cards showing us what we might have seen from each point. The cards were spectacular.
After some conferences among the drivers of our Land Rovers, the itinerary of the tour was modified to include a stop at a very damp town with a cool (and wet) looking church and some very pretty lake shores.
We then drove through the main business district of Ponta Delgado observing quite intricate graffiti which the guide explained was commissioned works of art. OK, I'll buy that. What the hell, I'm on a cruise.
We then returned to the ship for lunch and a sailing that was delayed by a few minutes by a fellow passenger who was slowly walking to the ship with shopping bags long after "all aboard time". Her pace did not increase when half the ships' officers tried to get her to speed up, as perhaps the look from the captain might have frozen her in her tracks.
We sailed shortly after lunch time in calm seas and light winds for our two and a half day completion of the crossing. We will transit the Straits of Gibraltar late Thursday evening and arrive at Malaga, Spain early Friday for three days on the Costa del Sol. Perhaps the sol part will be true.
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