The great wall of Praia

After the organic market last weekend, we went out for some hiking, despite the rainy weather.  First we headed over to Furnas do Enxofre which are sulfur pits from the nearby volcanic activity.  Here are some shots from out mucky walk around the pit.

Marie took this one of me, I am trying to carefully get across this area without getting muddy.  Almost worked, but I got a chunk of mud on my jeans anyway.  Oh well, it was still fun.

We realized that we hadn't eaten lunch, so we headed to Praia to grab a small snack since we were planning a nice big dinner out.  But when the display case looks like this, a small snack turns into a sampling adventure!

Marie ordered a cheese omelette.

Ryan had a tosta mista (pronounced toshta mishta) which is basically a hot ham and cheese sandwich.

I ordered a veggie burger.  Not like a standard veggie patty, but vegetarian nonetheless and tasty.  Oh, and cheap...only 3 euro, which is about $4.11 right now.

And dessert for sure!  Ryan spotted this kiwi cake, it was Ok, but too dry.

This was filled with some kind of paste (maybe like almond and egg which is popular here) and I really liked this treat.

As we were leaving we pointed out this statue up high to Marie and told her there was even a path you could climb up to get there (although driving is also a possibility).  So she had the brilliant (and after completing the hike I agree it was a good idea) idea of climbing the wall to get there.

Here is a shot from the bottom. 

I took a lot of pictures along the way up.  It was set up with stairs, then a wide ledge you walk arcoss and at the end of a straight away, there was another flight of stairs, so it was never a direct shot up.  It did make it a tad easier.  Anyway, there are many shots of Praia and the marina below.

A set of the stairs...

Yes, we spotted a plane coming in for a landing since we weren't too far from the base/airport.

At the top there is this statue.  At night it is lit up and we can see it from our house.

After we went home and took a short break from activity, we headed out to O Chacolote for dinner. This is the restaurant that has the sculpted whale coming out the building.

Their decor is very ocean-y.  I love it!

This place serves fantastic appetizers that are standard when you eat there so these come with what is equivalent to a small "cover charge" for the table.  This is VERY common here.  These are delicious little shrimps in what is similar to a wonton wrapper.

butter, olives and sausage...

fresh goat cheese and garlic bread...

and regular bread too!

Who can resist wine when your in Europe?  Certainly not us!  This is a nice white wine from on of the other Azorean islands.  This was delicious.

So this was my dinner.  This is cod fish in a special bread with potatoes.

Sadly, while it may look pretty, the fish was WAY too chewy and I couldn't eat.  Chewy texture is one reason I became a vegetarian, so this was certainly not going to cut it for me.  I was stuffed anyway, so no big deal.  I did get a chance to at least enjoy the potatoes.

Ryan had a steak.  He said this may just be the best steak he has had on this island.

Marie had the wreck fish, well it was listed as cherne, which translates to grouper, but it seems after a little research, this is really wreckfish and I think it is that the wreck fish is a member of the grouper family.  Oh well, either way, this was good too.

Oh yes, we totally ordered the chocolate fondue for dessert.  I loves that it came with kiwi.

Look how fresh everything looks.  Oh, FYI if you go to eat a grape here never assume it is seedless...that is totally an American thing.  I always forget and wind up with a surprise each time I indulge in a grape here.  When will I learn?!?

Ok, I am off now to work on our from scratch meal for this weekend.  We sadly did not get a chance while Marie was visiting.  There was just too much going on, but tonight we will be making a meal from scratch, so stayed tuned for that as well as the rest of Marie's stay on the island.

QUESTION:  Do you have any monuments in your town?  What is your favorite chocolate covered item?