We spent all of day four in Furnas, known for the hot springs, gardens, bread cakes, and cozida stew, cooked in the hot ground. Furnas is in a valley after a beautiful drive near the coast from Vila Franca do Campo. At last, we captured some of landscaping around highways. So many miles of highway so carefully planned and maintained…
We took a bit of a walk at Lagoa das Furnas, but opted not to hike all the way around due to weather. It is interesting, especially at the top near the lagoon with the thermal activity, but otherwise didn’t look all that special. We are spoiled living on such a beautiful blue lake. It was interesting to come across some bat houses. The are trying to restore the island’s native bat population. Like New Zealand, bats are the only native mammal.
Then we were off in search of the famous bolos levedos cakes of Furnas. We were directed to Maria da Gloria Moniz’s, where there was a shop tucked away behind a house. This is the Portuguese sweet bread I remember loving in Cape Cod when I was a kid.
A quick walk around town revealed many historic and modern surprises.
After a walk around this sweet little town, we headed to Terra Nostra Gardens, where there is a large thermal pool and expansive gardens that are hundreds of years old. We skipped the pool, but spent half a day exploring the gardens and feeding the ducks. It is a magical tropical place, with plants from all over the world. We put in over 12,000 steps here… a much more interesting and enjoyable place for a walk than the lake. Rachel wants to stay at the hotel next visit, so we can really settle into the gardens and read and relax.
The red flower below is a camellia, a favorite in Terra Nostra Gardens.
We had a wonderful, if expensive, meal at the Terra Nostra Hotel restaurant, including the famous cozida stew. We planned our visit for Easter Sunday, to ensure we could have a special meal. It’s worth noting that entrance to the garden is included in a meal at the hotel, so it probably all evens out. If you want to wander the garden before your meal, see the folks at the front desk at the hotel, and they’ll sort it out for you.
And then we went to the thermal pools at Dona Beija’s. It was pouring rain by then and super crowded, so we only stayed a bit, but it was an interesting experience.
We also stopped to visit the cats we met on Friday at the lagoon park, and we brought them leftover tuna and cheese from last night’s dinner. Great day. Very relaxing.
