After a delayed flight from Boston due to the hurricane in the Atlantic, I arrived at Terceira, a small island in the Azores archipelago. It’s sort of in the middle of the Atlantic, but leaning to the east, off the coast of Morocco and Portugal. It ‘belongs to’ Portugal (a fact it would have behooved me to remember once I arrived in Portugal proper). It was supposed to be a quick layover only, but turned into an overnight stay (i.e., the second delayed flight). It would take half a blog post to explain the screw up by the airline and it’s too ridiculous to convey. Suffice it to say, the airline crew in Terceira didn’t expect our arrival. I overheard one of them saying to an upset passenger, “But, you’re not supposed to be here!” Well, we were there and they needed to figure out what to do with us. Fortunately, they put us all up in nice hotels (after hours of standing in line, etc.). It wasn’t such a big deal for me – I’ve got time (though it did cause yet another screw up at the hostel I’d already booked in Lisbon – but it’s been straightened out). But some folk had a limited time for their once-a-year vacation and they were spending a large portion of it waiting in airports. I felt bad for them. We all were getting sort of punchy with tiredness and kidding about this being the Twilight Zone with no way out – just endless flights and more airports. They were a very long couple of days. But, I also figured if this is all we have to complain about, then we don’t really have anything to complain about.
So, anyway, here are some pictures of (my little area of) Terceira.
Not sure what this was, but it was impressive. These pics were taken pretty early in the morning. I had limited time to wander around before my flight for Lisbon was to leave.

A pretty tiled street sign.

Here comes Vasco da Gama striding on into town….

An enticing entryway….
The sidewalks were incredible. Tiny marble squares placed in the most beautiful patterns.

My flight actually left when they said it would this time and here is a peak at Portugal’s coastline.