Faith, Fish, Earth & Cheese Tour

Faith, Fish, Earth & Cheese Tour

Today Shelby and I got a special treat. Our gracious neighbor offered to watch Colin so we could go on one of the tours offered through Outdoor Rec on base. So Shel & I had a kid free day to do some sightseeing and lunch! Today's tour was Faith, Fish, Earth & Cheese, which are four pillars of Azorean culture. It started off by taking us to a pottery house which has been handed down over generations. We learned how the dirt/clay from this island is too hard, and the dirt/clay from another island is too soft, so they bring the two together in a mixture that is perfect for sculpting and making pots. The most common kind of pot is a baking dish used to make alcatra, a traditional local dish. It was an interesting little stop and now we know where the store is so we can go back and buy some things.

Next stop was the Queijo Vaquinha Cheese shop and factory. We got to taste four different cheeses that are very popular on our island and also made right here. As part of our tour everyone got to choose a cheese wheel to take home with them. After the cheese stop we headed just down the hill a bit to an area where you can swim and there is a campground across the street. There were beautiful views from that spot and I got lots of pictures there.

Next we visited the San Mateus Church, which is the tallest church on the island. There were people inside decorating and preparing for a wedding that was scheduled at 2. The church was very beautiful in its own way, but after seeing some of the old cathedrals and churches in mainland Europe, it wasn't quite as impressive. The wood work and carving was something to appreciate though.

Finally it was lunch time and we went to what we hear is the best seafood restaurant on the island. It is right next to the fishing harbor in San Mateus, so all the fish inside the restaurant literally comes straight out of the ocean and into their store. I had shrimp and squid skewers that were grilled, and Shelby had grilled octopus. Both meals were amazing and we also had bread, goat cheese and wine with the meal, which was all covered in our tour. We were told that when you go on the island tour through your right start briefing (mandatory welcome to the island/inprocessing stuff) you will also come here. Our right start briefing days are Tues & Wed of next week, so we'll get to go back next week I guess, can't wait! After lunch we walked up the hill to an ice cream shop. Everyone on the tour could choose 3 scoops of ice cream for dessert. I was so stuffed and ready to get back in the van by this time!

The last stop of the tour was a brand new store called Quinta dos Acores. It is a local company that produces all organic beef and milk products from their cows, all without hormones, chemicals, preservatives, etc... Their calves are all fed milk only from their mothers, no bottles or machines, and their cows only eat grass. The store also sells products made in the Azores such as liquors, wines, pastries and baked goods in addition to their meats, milks, yogurts, cheese, ice cream and such. We got to taste more ice cream here (oh God, MORE ice cream?!) and we got gift bags with milks and yogurts in them to take home. This tour was awesome, I am pretty sure they payed us to go on it! We got at least our $35 worth and then some between all the included stuff/freebies. It was a fun day and a great way to see the island and get to know some new places.