Friday, August 11, 2006

The Island of Flores, Azores

These rocks lie off the coast of Flores, close to the harbour at Santa Cruz. The harbour itself is tiny and difficult to access, and yachts are no longer encouraged to go there since the breakwater at Port das Lajes was built.







The town of Santa Cruz, overlooked by a hill with one house visible at it's summit - as well as various communication towers. You can see the red tiled roofs which are everywhere, set off against the white walls of the houses. Almost all the houses have blinds or shutters to keep the sun out.






The sea swirls in eddies and rips around the rocks off Santa Cruz, beautiful to see though it would be terrifying to be among them. We were glad to be seeing them from on shore...







Houses, cafes and shops perch on the hillside above the harbour at Ponta das Lajes - the western-most point of Europe. At the top, the church overlooks harbour and port. There are still some of the old stone buildings, black stones outlined with white. The old cobblestone streets are also made of black stone, and black and white stones make patterns along the pavements.







This is the anchorage at Lajes, looking down from the street above. The black sand beach is very popular with the children and young people of Lajes, who spend summer afternoons swimming and jumping off nearby rocks and the dock.







Flores really is the island of flowers. These were growing by the roadside along which we walked almost every day up to the town above the harbour in Lajes.

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