More Family and Food

I may have grouped a few days into the last post, so I think we are up to day 4 of their visit.

We started out by taking advantage if the nice weather and heading up to a high point on the island where there is a lookout spot.  This was helpful because it put us headed in the right direction towards Angra, in what we call the long way.  Apparently what we consider the long way is not the long way according to the Garmin.  Don't ask, but we actually used the Gamin once to see what it would tell us.  There is actually very little chance of ever getting lost on this island (it's 12x18 for heaven's sake!), but we have the Europe maps, and this has maps for the island.  Too bad the Garmin does not account for the shorter way having a much slower speed limit, and being made of almost all cobblestones, hence making it the bumpiest ride on the planet.

But, this is a fun way to go, especially if you are heading to the Serra do Cume, which is an awesome lookout point not too far from our house.  On the way we stopped to look at the altar looking place that is carved on the side on the mountain.
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I posed with the waterfall.
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Here is the view of the island from the top.  Doesn't this look fake?  It's not!
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All the little squares are made of lava rocks piled up to make walls, and this sections off the farmer's land.
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Here I am at the lookout point observation deck.
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They built it off the edge so it is like you are dangling.  Almost like the one at the Grand Canyon, but no where near as big or over anything as deep.
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Here is Ryan's mom and Aunt, trying to hang on tight as the wind picked up.
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I love that the altitude sign is in meters.
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This is the view off the other side.  See, this spot is like the ridge of the hill, so you can see off in both directions.  The other pictures look out over the interior of the island, but this side overlooks the ocean towards Praia da Vitoria.
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Not sure, but we think there is a rock out there because there is always a wave patch off the rocky cliff in that direction.  You can see it is the random white patch out in the water.
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Then we got back in the car to continue our trip in the direction of Angra.  We stopped in the industrial zone to look for a toilet seat.  We really needed one after our cracked.  Since the furniture store is always so much fun to look around in, we took them inside.

Can you believe this couch has a built in fish tank?
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Look at this crazy couch.  Those are pictures of people.
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What about this chair?
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Here is a dining room to show you that not everything inside this store is crazy.
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This is Ryan's aunt trying out this children's desk.
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While driving we had that all too familiar conversation of what to do for dinner, which would determine what to do for lunch.  We wanted a small snack, and the restaurant for dinner would open at 7 pm, so we knew we had to eat.  We stopped in at a little cafe and snack shop that we have wanted to try for some time.

Both Ryan's mom and I ordered a veggie burger with a fried egg on top.
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Ryan had a tosta mista, which is the equivalent of a hot ham and cheese.  It is a standard snack food here.
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His Aunt ordered a tosta queijo, which is just a grilled cheese sandwich, and she added tomato to this.  that's how I would have done it too!  I also could not resist an order of fries for those of us not eating off Ryan's plate (as in everyone other than Ryan).
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The next stop was the museum in Angra.  It is the perfect place for a Sunday because nothing else is open.  I know this is a World War I display, but I would really like some transportation like this.  The ammo is in the back here and you can load it up and shoot it out behind you.  Obviously not how things would be done these days.
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Since we had some time before dinner we walked through the gardens.  We found this really need, extremely large leaf.
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After killing as much time as we could there, we stopped in to a cafe for a coffee (this one here is known as a galao) and a little snack while we chatted.  This is at O Central, which is my sister's favorite cafe on the island, mostly because of the location and the relaxed atmosphere.
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I know what you are thinking, we went from a snack right to dinner.  If you are familiar with European dining you will know that we had some time before we actually ate our meal.  Plus, we had the snack and then chatted before heading to the Whale restaurant.  Yes, we are on vacation and wanted them to try all the yummy foods they have to offer here.  Oh, if you want to know why we call this the whale, it is because it is called O Cachalote, which means sperm whale in Portuguese, and the building has a whale sculpture coming out of it.

Dinner started with some tasty items, including fried shrimp and olives, and of course bread and cheese.
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Ryan and his Aunt both ordered steaks, which are cooked table side.
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The steaks were served with rice and fries.
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Ryans mom ordered the salmon with an orange sauce.
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I ordered the squid and jumbo prawn skewer.  This prawn was HUGE!
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Then it was off to get some rest after a long day, and way too much food...but it was worth it!

QUESTIONS: Have you ever had a shrimp that big?  Have you ever had the shrimp with the head still on (obviously common on the island)?  Do you have any places with higher elevation near you that you can visit for a great view of your town?  What's your favorite part of vacation?

8 comments:

Astra Libris said...

Your island is SO beautiful! Your photos are amazing!!

Wow, I can't get over how huge your prawn is... :-) I thought we had big shrimp in Louisiana (where seeing them with the heads on is quite common :-) but I've never seen one that big before! :-)

Melinda Walker said...

I remember the first time I ordered shrimp on the island. We were having lunch w/ my husbands shop and Adam and I were sitting with his commander and they delivered my shrimp. The look on my face must have been awesome because they all started laughing at me. It was quite odd to have to decapitate my food to eat it.

I love Serra do Cume. You can see to left and the right of the island and almost across the island. It is pretty awesome. Have you visited Santa Barbra yet? There are some beautiful views from up there.

Gina; The Candid RD said...

Holy SHRIMP!! I don't think those should be called shrimp, because they are in NO WAY shrimpy!! haha, they are gigantic! And they look even more gigantic simply because they are stacked on that giant skewer. I love it.

That children's desk Ryan's aunt is sitting in makes me claustrophobic. Yikes.

I love the pictures of the views. Yes, that picture above does look fake. It's amazing.

Jessie said...

What beautiful views you have! I would be snapping so many pictures, I probably wouldn't even see the view, hehe :) Sounds like you all had a fun drive.

Thanks for showing us the wackiness of that furniture store! That couch/fish tank combo is crazy. And is that really supposed to be a desk for kids?? I probably would have just thought it was a bookshelf and walked right by!

I've never seen a prawn that big - that dish looks like it could serve a table of people. I ate a lot of shrimp with heads, tails, legs, and antennae still on in China, and in Hong Kong I ate a plate full of them. A little daunting at first, but pretty tasty :)

Unknown said...

OMG that shrimp is comparable to the matzoh balls @ Suburban House! I think you take the cake, i have never seen anything bigger!! I love heads on. I think I last had it @ Woodberry Kitchen...next time you and Ryan are here, we HAVE to go! nom nom nom!
My favorite part of vacation is not going to work :)

Emily said...

Fun photos! Love the cute waterfall and the gorgeous view of the island.

And that couch is crazy with a built in fish tank!

I've never seen shrimp that huge either! And my hometown has sand dunes that are higher, and I love going there to see the lake. :)

Special K said...

Okay....Is that shrimp a MUTATION? Seriously! With that AND that chair, I am thinking....what FUN these people must have! And how having guests can bring out the fun in the simplest of endeavors. Walking around shopping. Super fun and rejuvenating...or so it seems.
:)

eatingRD said...

Wow spectacular views!! So neat! Wow, now that's the biggest shrimp I've ever seen. I did have some really good shrimp in New Orleans, but not that big!

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