"Açores - The Green Island " a Ilha de São Miguel Travel Page by tolovajka

Once I knew about Açores only because of the famous anticyclone that comes from there and brings bad weather to our country. I knew that the Açores are some little islands somewhere in the middle of the ocean – nothing more than this. It was thanks to my VT-friend António that I got the chance to get to know these wonderful islands, or better, one of them: São Miguel.

The Açores, islands of volcanic origin, lie in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean 760 nautical miles from Lisbon and 2111 from New York. São Miguel is the largest and most populated island of the archipelago. It is also known as the "Green Island" because of the abundance of pasture and forest covered peaks.

What I mostly loved of São Miguel was the wonderful landscape in all its shades and colours: the green of the hills covered with exuberant vegetations, the blue of the hydrangeas and of the sea with sheer cliffs dropping into it. I've been there in June and I would recommand this month to visit the island, because the hydrangeas are at the top of their beauty then. (NOTE: for infos & pics about some of the major towns of São Miguel, please see the pages "Ponta Delgada", "Ribeira Grande" and "Vila Franca do Campo".).