Walking Around Ponta Delgado

Today, we finally hit land in the beautiful Azores. This island, although thousands of miles from the mainland, is part of Portugal. The shuttle from the ship left us in town by a little park near the Military Museum. This is our third or fourth visit to the Azores but our first just wandering around Ponta Delgado. It’s very photogenic.

And of course when we see a canon Bruce can’t resist to pose.

There are many churches in Ponta Delgado but the Church of Santo Cristo is the most famous. The Portuguese name is Santuário do Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres. This was built in the 16th century with many renovations over the centuries. And free to visit. The outside I believe lights up after dark,

The inside was an ornate gold with many blue and white tiles which are very typical of Portugal.

Churches and bakeries are always on my list of places to visit. We couldn’t find a bakery but stopped in the HR Hotel and Bar where I had a cappuccino and a Portuguese egg tart.

There was a grouping of vivid blue buildings, Palácio da Conceição.

The streets are quaint with cobblestone and meandering alleyways.

The City Gates of The Main Square invited us to walk within and admire the architecture of the surrounding buildings.

The Igreja Matriz de São Sebastião or the main church in Ponta Delgado is another Catholic church located behind the city gates. It is typical 16th-century architecture and has a clock tower. Unfortunately, it was locked today.

Here are a few more photos from our meanderings.

We also went into a lovely colorful store which we thought was a candy store. See if you can guess what they were selling!

After our walk, we headed back to the ship.

We sat on our balcony and read during the late afternoon, then saw a sunset as we left the Azores.

A couple of sea days and then Ireland.

#pontadelgado#azores#church#princess#hrhotel&bar