Terceira, Azores, Portugal
Sunday, May 24, 2009
oh my god, will this guy ever shut up? granted, it was novel and even beautiful at first but at hour 5 is a bit annoying especially as i had just drifted off in what had to be one of the most uncomfortable positions i have yet to be in. the waves bobbing our ferry around lulled me into a fitful rest (much needed after moo's marathon snoring sessions) and i had exhausted the good sleeping positions on the floor so now i was on the seats shoving my body into 3 segmented seats and somehow conning myself into a short lived but much deserved nap. but this dude. this little drunk dude in a plaid shirt is singing again. his voice is high and penetrating and he seems to know every portuguese song ever recorded. when he started singing as we left the dock, me and moo smiled and enjoyed it. what a character, what a great voice, what a lovely diversion from a dull 6 hour ride. and so he sang. and sang.maybe his buddies were plying him with booze, maybe he needed no liquid encouragement, so on and on he sang. and sang...he left the area for a while though because i slept for a bit but now he sings again and the rest of the passengers i fear will mutiny. as we dock in
Terceira he sings one last burst and the crowd laughs and claps a bit but mostly we snicker to each other about how crazy this dude is. language is not needed in these situations, we all understand each other perfectly.I had been calling our new friend Ken since we knew when we were going to
Terceira. he never answered and we were pretty bummed as ken was super cool and really smart and he lived here on the island. we met ken at the boston airport in the security line. he's american but he's lived in terceira for 3 years with his very large family. he does some kind of work out here but has his hand in just about everything AND he's a major Knights Templar buff. i dabble a bit in that history so we have a bit in common. that and his home sits on a crumbled fort site that dates back to the 1500's and he's found some old coins there so i want to dig up his yard.after staying the night in a not so nice hostel, we pack up, rent another car (manual transmission again) and head out to see another part of the island. it takes maybe an hour to drive around the island and we find a great little seaside town called Praia da Vitoria, check into the swankiest place in town and ring ken one more time. this time he picks up and he says, "where are you?" "we're in praia, where are you?" "stay there, i'm coming to get you"he meets us in 10 minutes and says that his horse is getting saddled up, he's taking us on a carriage ride to show us the sights. SWEET! he takes the keys to our car (he has NO idea how happy that has made me) and we make our way to his house where the carriage is. the driver is so cool looking with his tweed hat and wellies and the carriage is goooorgeous. we stumble in and ramble off to see some old forts and the beach. there's a lot of history here in the islands and most of the juicy stuff is Templar related. some of the templars came here when they were persecuted by various kings and the catholic church and they flourished here. the streets are inlaid with templar crosses and there are mini churches next to the big catholic ones where they practice the templar version of catholicism. also, there are festivals and traditions that are only practiced here that come from templar traditions, like the guarding of crowns by certain townsfolk. it's fascinating and ken has made a study of all this so he is unbearably intriguing to talk to. after the carriage ride, we meet his family and he takes us to different churches, mini churches and even takes me into a home where they are holding the crowns. it's incredible and ancient and opaque and i need to know more about it! as the day and our trip draws to a close we realize that one of the best days of our trip came out of no where, a chance meeting with a stranger, a call picked up, and trust placed in someone we had no reason to. this is one of the best things about traveling to me. giving yourself over to perfect strangers and trusting that they will not only take care of you but enrich your life in ways you could not guess. me and moo had a fantastic time, we ate (mostly crappy food), we drove (ummm, not so well), and we got to be together. and that was truly wonderful, just to share the experience with someone you love, that is a part of you literally and figuratively. now we just have to figure out where to go next...
to see pix from the trip go to:http://gallery.me.com/tin100tin#100140
love,tin tin
