点评:5 hour Cruise Tour: Seven Cities and Fire Lake with Lunch
We arranged with Lisa to make the tour open for others on our cruise ship. Grouped with three other couples we met our guide Jose Melo in the port. The 8 passenger van was clean and had a microphone to be heard. Melo described our day and it became apparent that our 5 hour tour extended to the full day 8 hour tour. This was not a problem as we had a late departure.
Melo, as he preferred to be called, is extremely knowledgeable on the history and life on the Azores. The early morning clouds obscured the view of the green and blue lagoon lakes. Melo said we would have a second opportunity later in the morning. We viewed the lakes at water level and walked across the stone bridge.
In Sete Cidades there was free time for washrooms and to visit the local church. Escalvedo viewpoint at the western end of the island showed the rugged shoreline created by volcanic activity. Returning back east the clouds had cleared and we had magnificent views of the lagoon lakes and another crater lake.
Lunch at O Carlos in Lagoa was a letdown. The restaurant was overcrowded with tour groups, extremely noisy (60 people in a small narrow space) and as we were the last to arrive, the buffet food was totally picked over with dried our fish and beef and an unrecognizable item that was chicken. First restaurant I ever gave a poor review.
Back on the road we drove to Logoa do Fogo (Fire Lake) for more amazing views. Some free time in Ribiera Grande led us to a bakery for portuguese tarts (pastel de nata) was followed by whale watch lookout.
This was an excellent tour and we saw much more than expected. The only reason for not giving 5 stars was the lunch experience. I would still recommend the tour.
翻译:5小时游轮之旅:七城和火湖(含午餐)
我们与丽莎商定,让船上的其他乘客也能参加这个一日游。我们和另外三对夫妇一起在港口与导游何塞·梅洛会合。我们乘坐的是一辆干净整洁的八座面包车,车上配备了麦克风。梅洛向我们介绍了当天的行程,我们这才发现原本的5小时游变成了全天8小时的行程。不过这并没有影响我们的行程安排,因为我们的出发时间比较晚。
梅洛(他更喜欢别人这样称呼他)对亚速尔群岛的历史和生活了如指掌。清晨的云层遮蔽了碧绿的泻湖,梅洛说我们上午晚些时候还有机会欣赏湖景。我们站在水面上观赏湖泊,并走过了石桥。
在七城,我们有自由活动时间,可以去洗手间,也可以参观当地的教堂。岛屿西端的埃斯卡尔韦多观景点展现了火山活动形成的崎岖海岸线。返回东部途中,云层散去,我们欣赏到了泻湖和另一个火山口湖的壮丽景色。
在拉戈阿的O Carlos餐厅享用午餐令人失望。餐厅里挤满了旅行团,极其嘈杂(60个人挤在一个狭小的空间里)。由于我们是最后到达的客人,自助餐的食物几乎都被人吃光了,我们的鱼和牛肉都干巴巴的,还有一种我根本认不出是什么的鸡肉。这是我第一次给餐厅差评。
之后我们继续上路,前往洛戈阿杜福戈(火焰湖),欣赏更多令人惊叹的景色。在里贝拉格兰德的自由活动时间里,我们去了一家面包店品尝葡式蛋挞(pastel de nata),之后又去观鲸。
这是一次非常棒的旅行,我们看到的远超预期。唯一让我没有给五星好评的原因是午餐体验不佳。但我仍然会推荐这次旅行。