Day 4 Pico -31-8-10

Day 4 Pico.

HOLY FREAKIN CANOLI...

What a GORGEOUS DAY!
 
Here's what I woke up to

Amazing huh. When my friend Justin gets here we will be climbing that... it's the highest point in all of portugal and it's in my back yard... I've been up there before all the way to the very top. it's a little more that 2300 feet up in the air. i would've posted a pic sooner but the weather being shit I haven't been able to.

So anyways, I'm a huge coffee drinker and every bar/restaurant serves coffee. Even the Grocery store has a small place to get a coffee. So shortly after taking that picture i got ready and went back to Clube Naval for my Morning Slash afternoon coffee. My mother had to go to her salon that she owns to clean up some stuff... She's actually closed up shop while i'm here... kinda unnecessary if you ask me. But she said she needed to straighten her hair and that she'd pick me and Diogo up from Clube Naval after she was done. We went down and and had coffee(he had a soda he's only 13 or 14) and some sandwhichs then went to the pier and watched the tide come in. Well i wasn't expecting to be there as long as I was or I would've brought a bathing suit and sunscreen or even my camera. My mother took 3 FREEKIN HOURS! Either way I called her and asked her to bring me some of my Euros from my bag and Camera *I could've taken some nice pics* She came we left end of that.

We drove about 10 mins to a town called Madalena where my mom has her shop. She gave me the royal tour and I met Cristina at the coffeshop there. She works in the area. We had another coffee then Diogo and I went to the Docks at Madalena. The equivalent would be Queens Quay in Toronto on a much much smaller scale. I grabbed a ferry Schedule so that I would know when to go to the other Islands, since it's something that Justin and I will be doing when me make our rounds

I still can't get over the natural beauty of this place.

We went to Arcos after where the beach house is and since it was such a nice day I thought I'd take more pics of the Mountain from a different perspective.

I then went to the pools to see the place that I learned how to swim its across the street from this church and down the cliffs. Here's a picture of me there.

That Pool behind me is where I learned to swim :)

My Cousin Cristina picked me up with Diane and we went Fishing. Leave it to the Canadian traveling to portugal teaching the portuguese to fish. I was the only on to catch something. We are gonna get some more of the same fish at the market tomorrow and have a Calde Peixe (Fish Soup) MMMMMM YUMMY

Anyway, Today took too long to upload these pictures and i have plenty more where this came from. It's late and i'm getting tired so i'm gonna just turn around and go to sleep now. So good night and till tomorrow be safe.

B

Day 3 Pico - 30-8-10

Day 3 in Pico

So I start today's blog with many mixed emotions. I'm happy to be where I am surrounded by family and friends and i can say that i feel like i'm home. BUT today i got some very bad news from Toronto...A friend of mine was stabbed in the chest and died in the hospital on Friday night.  We weren't the best of friends but we were friends nonetheless.  Thank goodness they caught the guy, i just hope that the Canadian Justice System doesn't fuck this up like they do many others. So Nelson wherever you are i hope your at peace.

So let's change the mood of this blog. My day started with me waking up at 11am local time but really it was 7 am for me. The weather still isn't the fun in the sun kind but it was enough to get me bronzer than what I came here with. I had the urge to go fishing me and Diogo went down to the docks had a quick lunch and dropped the lines in the water... my mother came by to check on us a few times was great she even brought my grandmother who sat in the car watching us... now this isn't like going to go fishing at the lake which I realized after 5 minutes of fishing. I didn't catch a damn thing for 4 hours.  But my mother coming by to check on us a few times was great she even brought my grandmother who sat in the car watching us. I changed my method... i put down the fishing pole... grabbed a fresh line put a hook and sinker on the end of it and tied it to my finger... within 10 mins i caught 4 small fish YAY i was so happy, but after 4 hours i was done and decided i was gonna go for a swim. Now i'm not the type to do product placements but Mountain Equipment Co-op has an amazing contraption that allows you to put your Digital Camera underwater to take some pics. OH AND DID I EVER TAKE SOME.

The day was mostly overcast and rain spit here and there and i'll say it over and over again... I'm having a blast. so much excitement and i'm already starting to realize that my days here are numbered it's time to get
take advantage of every minute i can. Came home for some dinner after a day at the docks.  Mom made some spagetti with meat sauce, I have to say that I do miss my mom's cooking. We then went to my Aunt restaurant had a coffee and went to the beach house to clean it up ... there will be a town festa this coming weekend so my mom decided it needed cleaning. we went and watch bull fights on the TV that her boyfriend had filmed live. WOW. He's Crazy! My cousin Pedro showed up and met us with some beers. Great times!

After everything is clean we pack up and start to head over to clube naval, which is just a bar right at the docks. I met Cristina and Diana there we had a drink and went for a walk. Well since I'm on an Island we don't have gas lines so the gas is imported so that people can run their homes. here's a picture of the boat it gets here on:

Now get this Guess what the boat is called lol sorry if you get offended that i'm laughing.

We continued on our walk and snapped some shots. The thing that sucks about vacationing with family is that they work when you don't so our night got cut short some. This blog is getting super long so i'll save some for tomorrow it is another day :P

Day 2 in Pico. Saturday 29-8-10

Day 2.

Day 2 of Pico was great! The weather is still shit but that will settle out in a few days that tropical storm just doesn't seem to disapate.

My day started after waking up at 10am Local time. My mom tells me that we are going to watch a bullfight training thing. Now i'm not a fan of watching bulls being tormented but i will say this, the bulls that i did see managed to put some of the guys down on the floor.

i'll post the videos later since the connection is so slow. It takes way to long. But damn do those boys scram when that bull starts to charge. So we left after being here, the cold crisp air was refreshing.

After lunch, my mother decided that she was going to take a nap and my ADD kicked in. I went for a walk and stopped at a cafe and kept on walking went down to the pier and sat at the top of the sea wall barracade.  Done with that I went to my cousins auto body, mechanic shop and the rain started to pour down. The shop was closed cause it was Sunday. I turned around to see the distance that I walked and i saw a beautiful double rainbow no joke... I will post the video tonight before i go to sleep hopefully it will be done by the morning. oh what a day. Time to go fishin

Day 1 in Pico.

So... I'm here in Pico. Testing out some camera pictures and enjoying my time. There has been some weird unstable weather. Either way I'm still in Paradise. The food is great and I can see I'm going to have a great time here.

So let me start at the begining of this 3 week journey. It started with me having to be at pearson airport for 6pm to catch my 9pm flight... i check in then i get notified that my plane has been delayed till 11:30... If you ever been delayed you'll know that there is nothing to do when you are waiting as patiently as possible... and if you know anything about portuguese people you'll know that they travel heavy and with the whole family, so being delayed meant that I had to wait at a gate full of portuguese people and their children ERG! Cranky kids crying and needing to be sleeping rather than interupting my internet surfing.

So I finally get on the plane at about 12:30, yup there was more delays. I get on the plane and guess who sits next to me? no not Jennifer Aniston or anyone famous but a VERY OLD MAN with hair growing out of his ears long enough that it can be braided and many flakes of dry wax EW I wanted to throw up. 5 hours next to this man that was too long and would never happen again if i can avoid it.

I got to Ponta Delgada and had a about an hour to catch my next flight. I checked in and went for a smoke. The weather was hazy and over cast. Definatly not optimal tropical weather but this is where i learned that there was a tropical storm heading just north of the azores. Anyways I hop on my flight and try to relax during the most frightful turbulence i have ever experienced. Finally i land in Pico grab my bags and right out the door... Thank goodness i didn't need to have customs check my bags. My mother waiting for me on the other side we hug and move on to the house.

I fell asleep since i didnt get any on that plane. Woke up and went to a festa. My cousin Cristina was there so we took a picture

After that we went to skipper which is a club that was super dead.

Then I went to sleep