APPENDIX #4: Odds & Ends

This is a compilation of thoughts and observations based on our trip.  The trip experience is the only thread that links them.  There is not story line connecting them.  For this reason, they are in no particular order and I have made them bullet points. 

TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS

• Arrangements for our trip were made by Fran's Travel in New Bedford.

THE TRIP OVER

•  I kept waiting for airline personnel to pass out customs declaration forms.  It never happened.  This form is not required to enter the Azores.
• Gate to gate the flight from Boston is less than five hours long and arrives at 7:00 AM.  This precludes any significant amount of sleep during the flight.  Guests departing hotels in Ponta Delgada usually are not required to check out until noon.  Depending on your stamina, consideration should be given to booking a room for the night you depart Boston so you have it available as soon as you arrive at the hotel.
• There are numerous things to see within easy walking distance from anywhere in the center of Ponta Delgada, so get out and walk if you have to wait to check in.  It will be a good use of the time, probably make you feel better and get you acclimated to local time more quickly.

 HOTEL MARINA ATLANTICO:  

• Good location.  We liked our room.  We found the hotel staff pleasant.
• Other than the shaver outlet in the bathroom there was no 110-volt outlet in the room, so we were glad we had a cylindrical  outlet adapter that fit into the recessed socket.  We made sure that everything we plugged in was capable of receiving 220-volt input. 
• Be sure to get a room on the ocean-side of the hotel.  The higher the floor the better to see more and to minimize street noise.
• It is safe to drink the hotel tap water.
• The buffet breakfast was boring.  There was very little change day-to-day.  

TOURING THE ISLAND:  

• If you are on a bus and the route is clockwise, sitting on the left side will give you more panoramic views of the ocean villages.  Sitting on the right side will give you a better view of the mountains.
• Traveling by bus or in a car, some of the roads contain many turns and switch-backs.  Members of our group reported varying degrees of motion sickness. 
• If you are considering a car rental, winding, often narrow roads necessitate a high degree of concentration when driving which will limit the driver's opportunity to sight-see.

WHALE WATCH

• The ocean was calmer in the morning every day we were there.  Calmer is better for seeing and for photographing marine life.

FOOD

• We enjoyed the food.  Some items such as blood sausage won't become favorites of ours, but we experienced nothing that incinerated our mouth or invoked a gag reflex.
• The cost of food is neither a bargain nor expensive.  Eating and drinking locally produced items is less expensive; imported items more expensive.  (e.g. Ordering lunch one day, it came with a glass of the local wine.  I ordered a Coke Zero instead for which I had to pay a surcharge because it was imported.)

SAFETY

• We felt relaxed walking the streets of Ponta Delgada in the evening.