Praia de Almoxarife
Having picked up the hire car we drove through to Horta to meet with Fred, who owned the Fishermans Cottage that we had booked, located in Almoxarife. Fortunately, Fred was aware of the delay with the flight, and was indeed there to meet us at the hotel.
We had boked to spend our first night at the Hotel Horta, before moving onto the cottage after a good rest and restaurant meal there. Being late by nearly 24 hours meant we missed out on that. Amazingly the hotel refused to accept any payment for our unscheduled cancellation, something that you would be unlikely to find at many other destinations, I'm sure.
Missed out on a day of luxury here at Hotel Horta. However, no charge for not turning up.
Getting to the hotel was itself a bit of mini-adventure. Imagine two seriously sleep-deprived people hopping into a hire car: I'd never driven on the 'wrong' side of the road, so Cher gallantly, but somewhat unwillingly (LOL), agreed to drive the short distance to Horta. We had a map on my tablet, and with the help of some locals we did safely (just) get to Horta... Fred then led us onto the cottage, another very short drive of around 6Kms.
Fishermans Cottage: Small but quite delightful. Highly recommended for a couple or solo travellers.
We found the cottage small, but well equipped, immaculately clean and well decorated, there was tea, coffee milk and some basic essentials there to get us through until we could visit a shop the following day. Personally, I would have paid an extra supplement to have a few beers in the fridge and a bottle of wine, cheese and bread on the table.
Apparently, a lot of the black sand got washed off the beach during a storm... Locals say it should wash back; it has happened in the past a few times. How strange.
Almoxarife is a small village, with a black sandy beach, two restaurants and a couple of bars.
It also has a campsite, a beautiful church and some of the most spectacular scenery you can imagine. It is very pretty and a popular destination for locals coming for a swim off the beach.
Instead of being sensible and getting some sleep we just got washed, changed and made our way to the nearest bar. Unfortunately we just sat outside at the tables, not realising we had actually sat outside the restaurant. The guy there wasn't very happy and informed us that the 'bar' was next door. So, that's us off to a good start then! He still served us a beer though and since no one else was there, we thought he was quite lucky to get our money.
We needn't have worried about the faux-pas though. Apparently, though the bar and the restaurant shared the same building they are somehow separate businesses and there must have been some reciprocal deal going on between them... and we had broken the rules :)
We transfered to the bar next door for a G&T before heading back up the hill 300m to the cottage. This was a struggle. Seriously.
I've not mentioned it before, but a year previous I had major surgery on my foot, following an accident. My foot was (is) full of plates and screws. Walking on the flat was somewhat painful, but do-able. Going up the hill was murder. This would return to haunt me sometime later....
Forty winks, a shower, and we hit the restaurant for a meal. Mr. Grumpy was no-where to be seen. I can't believe it... real food... steak and chips basically. Now I mention "real" food for a particular reason... During our two day extended flight, the only food we had been given by the airline was "Sandes Mistas". For the uninitiated, Sandes Mistas literally means mixed sandwiches. Sounds good? Well yes, of course they can be.
Airline Sandes Mistas though are the most basic of the basic. Ham and Cheese. Square Ham. Square Cheese. Square Bread. Like this, but without the lettuce, olives or crisps:
Sandes Mistas ; basically ham and cheese. This has lettuce, olives and crisps - we did not get these luxuries with SATA Airlines. This was served 5 times over 36 hours. Torture.
So, the restaurant meal was a life saver and delicious. A word about portions in the Azores: They are huge. There is no getting away from this. With these portion sizes, and the obvious appetite of the locals you would expect the population to be seriously obese? No, not so. It is all wholesome, natural and balanced.
For the average tourist though, it may be wise to order a half-portion, unless you are truly ravenous. "Meia Dose" is the phrase you need here. Unfortunately it is unlikely to be half-price, but at least you won't be faced with a sheer cornucopia on your plate.
Another thing you can do is order one meal to be shared. Yes, you can get one meal on two plates.
Don't be afraid to do this, it is the norm and you won't seem odd.
A typical Bif de Boi, served with egg, lots of garlic, pepper and onion sauce, fries. This often also comes with Rice, Salad and Vegetables. Rice and Chips, Salad and Veg? Yep.
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