Praia da Vitoria is the cruise port of Terceia, the third of the Azore islands to have been discovered-hence its name , which means ‘third’ in Portuguese.

The combination of mineral-rich volcanic soil, a subtropical climate and gulfstream-warmed waters make the island a haven for plant and animal life both on and off shore.

On the day that we visited the weather wasn’t at its best, it was overcast with the occasional rain shower. However we all said that there was a great “vibe” and although the weather was dull it was a beautiful place. We stopped at a small cafe along the way and each of us had a coffee and one of the famous Portuguese custard tarts. The bill for all this extravagance was 4 euros, what fantastic value for money!

We hired a car for the day to tour around the island. One of the first things we came across was a statue of Morph, we are not really sure as to why because the inscription was only in Portuguese, why won’t these people just learn and put things in English as well?

We saw this image of Bart Simpson on a nearby rock as well, maybe the Azorians have a ‘thing’ for animation!

There are very many fine buildings around this island and it’s hard to believe that many were destroyed in a huge earthquake in the 1980s. They have all been rebuilt to the same designs and plans as before!

Some buildings just looked bizarre, Kev commented that this one looked plain eerie with all those eyes looking at you!

Our tour guide Kevin took us to this place which is famous for its natural swimming pools made from the reaction when the hot volcanic lava hit the cooler sea.

We had brought our swimming costumes, but the windy weather put us off going for a swim, Val did dip her toe in and said the water was warm but that’s as far as it got!

We were all impressed with the majesty of the sea…………

And at the power of the waves as they crashed and exploded over the lava rocks.

Val did her best ‘King Canute’ impersonation and told the sea to halt………..but to be fair Kev never pays much attention either!

Well to sum it up we saw this island on a bad day, but we all agreed that we must return and see it in June or July when all the flowers are out.