Azorean walking trails, TAKE ONE

Since the weather has been beautiful here over the past few days, we decied to take the dog up to some official Azorean walking trails not too far from where we live. This particular trail is 5K and considered an easy circular path. What they don't tell you is that the trail might be easy, but finding it isn't. In all seriousness we did not locate the trail itself until we were driving out of the parking lot and realized the trail started in an open field across the stree, not the wooded path right next to this sign (go figure). So here are some pics from our first attempt at taking the dog hiking. This is apparently the camping area.

My dog in the parking lot.


Sniffing around


The view when we were driving back home. You can see the ocean in the distance.

In the other direction is a mountain ridge.
We also finally got a chance to try this soup restaurant. The owner only stays open for lunch and once the hot meal items are finished she does not make more. She makes all soups from scratch and has a salad bar, 4 hot entrees a day and also makes paninis.
The is the server dishing up food. It was the Friday after Thanksgiving and she was slammed with American customers. We knew we were in for a good meal because there was barely a place for us to sit down inside.
Ryan had the chickpea soup, which had Portuguese sausage in it.
I had pumpkin soup, with carrots, garlic and onion. It was really good.
My eyes are bigger than my stomach. I ordered a guant sandwich too and thankfully Ryan took the other half. This is a veggie panini. It tasted like cream cheese, and also had tomato, onion, and broccoli. It was really really good.
On our way home we found ourselves in another one of these traffic jams. Three cars ahead you will find the culprit(s).
Thankfully they all turned up here so we could get home at a quicker pace.
QUESTION: What's the worst traffic jam you ever got stuck in? And now I hope that never ever happens to you again!

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19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like a beautiful hike! Glad you found the beginning of the trail! :)

I once got stuck in a REALLY bad traffic jam in L.A. I realized right then and there that I could never, ever live there!

Anonymous said...

the veggie panini looks SOOO good! And those trees on your hike look really neat :) They're so big and mighty! Cute doggy too. Have a great day!

Gina; The Candid RD said...

Isn't it nice haw guys can be like a human garbage disposal?? Whenever i order too much, Nick always helps, although lately it's been the other way around!! Last night for dinner he had extra sweet potato fries and beans, which I ate :)

Love all your pictures, that trail looks like a good time. I can't wait to get a dog so we have more excises to go outside and do stuff like that!

Regarding your comment on my blog, I agree 100% with all that you said. They did take one bad things, and completely run with it, portraying big companies as the #1 culprit for all the bad food and bad health. It's not true. We demand these things, which is why it's good that Americans are focusing more on organics now because we are demanding them and thus they will hopefully become more mainstream! It's true that many people assume that "all natural" or "organic" or "in the raw" means "healthy" or "low calorie". It sounds crazy and dumb to us, but I can see why they think that sometimes. We, as RDs, have a lot of work ahead of us! I'm ready to take on the challenge, and I know you are too!

Nicci said...

I like to find walking trails around town, good way to get in exercise and enjoy the fresh air.

chow and chatter said...

great to see your posts on the island the food looks pretty good there cute doggie

Naomi(Onefitfoodie) said...

i was going to cape cod once (an hour and a half frmo my house) and it took us 4 hours to get there! there was so much traffic going over the bridge, I was miserable! I HATE traffic ahhhh

the hike looks beautiful!!

Tricia said...

Looks like a great place to hike, and the pumpkin soup looks yummy!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful scenery!! Once we had a snow storm that was so bad, my office closed, but since I lived the closest, I offered to stay.

By the time I left, the roads still hadn't been plowed, and my once 11 minute trip turned into 3 1/2 hours!

Julie said...

oh lordie that sammie looks so melty and delicious!

that woman who owns the soup restaurant sounds like an amazing woman! seems like she works really hard and it must pay off being that there was a huuuge line!

glad you had a good time!

Anonymous said...

Haha interesting traffic jam! Better than the rush hour/holiday car traffic I got stuck in on the way home for Thanksgiving. ON my way back to Philly today, we had to maneuver around at least 10 horse and buggies.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful scenery! I love hiking, esp in open fields like that.
and a place specializing in soup? Oh...I miss good soups so much!

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful place! I suppose the beauty is worth the occasional traffic jam!

Anonymous said...

How beautiful!! I love your pics! AND what better way to refuel than a delicious bowl of soup!

Michelle Nardine R.D. said...

Same as Naomi here - going to cape cod was the worse traffic jam I've ever been in. I won a panini maker from food buzz and I still haven't opened it because I was thinking of gifting it to someone else. That picture is making me think of cutting the box open....

Beth said...

For a year of my life I commuted from Baltimore to DC for a job where I often had to be at work very, very early and stay very, very late. The trip was exactly 40 miles, and there are not one but TWO major highways that I could take. But sometimes the drive would take up to 2.5 hours--I don't miss it at all!

Beth said...

ps-thanks for your comments on the wedding cake. We were sooo happy with how it turned out!

Emily said...

What beautiful scenery. The walking trails look and sound amazing. The more I'm in cities, the more I crave being away from all the hustle and bustle.

Love the pretty dishes at the soup restaurant!

Unknown said...

OMG 2 words - Nissan Pavilion. That parking lot is a HOT MESS! Post Kanye West concert we didn't move for over an hour! Ugg...I'll never go there again...

Astra Libris said...

Such gorgeous, gorgeous photos! Your dog is SO adorable!! :-)

The soup looks incredible, too! Pumpkin soup is the best, and oh my goodness, the panini sounds heavenly... *dreamy sigh* :-)

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