Hello, Olá, Bom Dia

Hi, I'm Steve, from the UK. Love the Azores, in particular Faial. This blog is a journal of my move to the Island of Faial and experiences along the way.

August last year (2016) saw me taking a holiday in the Azores. I had one mission in mind; find a house to *eventually* retire to. I had been looking at properties on the web for several months, and one offer had already fallen through due to a fast acting cash buyer, before I could get out there.

That fast acting cash buyer was savy to the effect 'Brexit' would have on the value of the pound in June, after the referendum. Damn it. Yup, that was my first lesson learned: Just go for it....

The one that got away: within budget and had all I wanted - for sale by a UK couple. Gone.

However, like most sensible people, I was not prepared to buy a house off the page without actually seeing it and obtaining proper legal representation. Life sucks like that sometimes.

Let's back-pedal a bit though. Why the Azores? And why in particular the Island of Faial?

...... Well, many, many years ago I sailed past it... looked through the third mate's binoculars and made a promise to myself there and then that I'd like to visit and perhaps live on this extreme west point of Europe. From my distant viewpoint I could see the neighbouring volcano of Pico, see the green fields and blue flowers of Faial, the yachts, the towering cliffs, caldera and the azure sky. A distant glimpse of somewhere fresh, somewhat remote and certainly beautiful.

Spool forward thirty years, and there I am on Faial. It was everything I imagined it would be and plus some. Sad to say I actually had tears in my eyes as I walked out of the tiny airport and looked around, breathed the open sea air and felt the warm sun. This effect could have been caused by sleep deprivation - see the next blog post!

Seriously....

For those of you reading who have not visited the Azores then you are in for a treat if natural beauty, relative tranquility and relaxed living are your aims. That's not to say that life in the Azores would be totally 'chilled' all the time though - plenty of of social events happen throughout the year, plus there is a great sense of community and warmth.

Prior to jetting off to the Azores though, I had done much research on properties and made contacts regarding a property search. So I had a pretty good handle on the local market and what was available....

.... or so I thought.

Azorians giving it large. Party time.

Next Up: Getting to Faial