Our last full day, Wednesday

Today being our last full day here we decided to stay more local.  We headed out shortly after breakfast to explore the villages and places near our hotel that we have missed along the south shore.  We started at Ribeira Cha.  This is a small village on the hillside that we have been able to see from our place.  It looks small from afar but one thing I have learned about the villages here is that they are good at cramming in a lot of village on the hillside in a small area.  Houses are so close together, roads very narrow.  And always the big church.  This one is a little different from the usual ones we have seen.   

Following this village we headed over to Aqua De Pau and Caloura.  We had been to dinner here but had not really explored.  We went down to the harbor and there is a park with a pool in it.  The strange thing about the pool is that it is built in the stone right in the ocean but with sides so that it is protected.  But every so often a wave comes over the top.  Unfortunately we didn't have our bathing suits this time but we could put our feet in.  There were a lot of people there including many young women lounging in their very small bathing suits.  We walked a bit in the village.  Caloura is a bit different from the other villages.  It has wider roads and big houses behind walls.   More touristy I guess.  

Finally our last stop was to go to Lagoa.  This is a much larger city on the way to Ponte Delgada.  It is not as big but busy and large.  We really only drove around making a stop at the Ceramics factory that we had heard about.  We like to find out about ceramics wherever we go since I like to do this at home.  It had both casts and wheel throwing.  Came back afterward and we have just been relaxing by the pool on this last day here.  We expect to fly out tomorrow afternoon but we understand the Hurricane Jose is by Boston where we have to fly into.  So we will keep posted of whether our flight will be able to leave on time.  Who knows- maybe they will cancel and we will have another day here in the Azores.