A day in Angra

Angra do Heroismo is the capital of the capital of the island.  It is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Last weekend we went down to spend a day enjoying what Angra has to offer.

We started off with a walk through the gardens on our way to the museum.

We found this little greenhouse with some displays which we sadly could not read because they were not in English.

At the far end of the gardens we looked out over the city towards Monte Brasil.

Then we visited the museum, which has exhibits that change every few months.  I have to admit, this was our first visit there.

There is a church attached and part of the museum.

Lots of war medals.

This is inside the church.

Not sure what the original function of this was, but these are stairs into a dead end with a little cut out in the wall at the bottom.

This is an explorer who came here.

It seems Vasco da Gama stopped here in his exploration journeys, and while in Angra, his brother Paulo da Gama died.  He is buried in Angra.

This is the courtyard.

Not sure how comfortable this looks, but it seems to be a chair.

This month they have an ivory exhibit.  These are made from ivory and painted whale teeth.

This is the jaw of a sperm whale.

These are elephant tusks.  I am guessing all of this is from before ivory trading was illegal.

Chess set made from Ivory.

Another display was of old animal pulled cars.  Some are from the mainland and others are local to the island.

 

This is a price list for renting a car.

 

Another room had these crazy paintings.

Then a final display with stuff from World War II

 

 

I guess Roosevelt was here.

After the museum, we walked around a little and then stopped for lunch at Aqua Emotion.  We had fried cheese balls and tuna baguettes.

 

It was a great day out exploring a town filled with culture and history.

QUESTIONS: Do you have any museums new you?  Do you sometimes forget to explore things in your “own backyard”?