Hi, Delores, New here myself, although I've been intermittently researching my Azorean roots for over a decade. I've been to the Azores five times starting in 2002, so have some experiences I can share.
1. Would you be willing to divulge which island(s) besides Terceira you're thinking of visiting, so the group can share their experiences there? In general I agree that a visitor can have a better time by going to a single island rather than hurrying through two. One arguable exception might be Faial and Pico, since they're separated by just a short passenger-ferry shuttle that runs multiple times a day. In fact, friends of mine who stayed in Horta, Faial, this spring day- tripped over to Pico and were delighted with their visit (even took a cab down to Lajes to see the famed Whaling Museum). 2. When planning my first two visits to the Azores (2002 and 2004) I used an Azor-American-run travel agency, and am really glad I did, since they know the islands so well. They arranged all flights, hotels, connections from/to airports, tour guides, etc. Since I live in the East, I used an East Coast travel agency, although I've heard only excellent reports re Ginny and Al Dutra and their agency in California that was already mentioned by others here, in case that's where you live; I also met Al last fall while in California, and can vouch that he's a lovely gentleman. I've arranged my own Azores trips online since my third visit in 2006, partly in order to save money, but also because by then I knew what I did/didn't need, and because more booking options had begun to be available online by then. 3. On my first two visits to Terceira I stayed at the Hotel Angra (sometimes called the Angra Garden) on the Praça Velha in the center of the historic downtown district. While it's certainly nice, it's also large, fairly expensive, and, for my tastes, terribly impersonal. By the time I was planning my third trip, I knew several acquaintances in Angra, so asked them to suggest something smaller, more intimate and more economical. Independently of one another, they all highly recommended the Residencial Monte Brasil, located only 2-3 blocks from the Palácio Bettencourt, where the Angra Public Library and Regional Archives are housed (though the new Library/Archives under construction just above Rua do Galo at Conceição are supposedly scheduled to open in 2011). Not only is the Residencial Monte Brasil located more conveniently to the Library/Archives than Angra's large tourist hotels, I find it much friendlier; the only drawback is that breakfast is very plain, which bothered my husband a bit. 4. If you need to take a cab but don't speak much Portuguese, look for ones with "English spoken" painted on the side. I always ask first how much my ride will cost to my destination, just on general principles. 5. On my first Azores visit, I used a local English-speaking tour guide on each of the six islands I visited. Five were marvelous. The sixth, on Terceira, was hostile to me just because I was American -- and this was less than nine months after the 9/11 attacks, which he informed me the US had brought on itself; he also recounted what I deemed an anti-Semitic account (which may not even be true) re the origin of the name of the Terceiran town of Porto Judeu. Coincidentally, a few years later a California friend born on Terceira started to tell me of the bad experience a non-Portuguese-American friend of his had had with a tour guide on Terceira the previous summer, describing him as anti-American and anti-Semitic; yep, the same guy (since he's unmistakable-looking). In the spirit of non- flaming, I won't post his name online unless Cheri OKs it, but I can provide it to you in a private email so you can try to avoid him. 6. Re Archival research of Azorean baptismal, marriage and death registrations: a) I agree with everyone who suggested you might want to start now studying the relevant records already online before you go, since a good deal of the 19th century materials have been scanned and are online in .jpg format (i.e., downloadable and printable). b) While I'm a huge fan of Angra's Public Library and Archives, not many of the staff are fluent in English, so unless you know a certain amount of Portuguese you'll have a challenging time trying to pursue research there on your own. What one resourceful friend of ours and his family once did when they visited their ancestral homeland in order to conduct genealogical research was to hire a college-student interpreter by the hour to assist them when they visited the archives where their ancestors' records were housed. I imagine a travel agent could book such a service for you in advance -- does anyone know the price? (Wild guess: 15-20€/hr.). 7. On one of my own websites (blush) I've researched and organized two pages of extensive references to Azorean tourism into table format by island, complete with hyperlinks, which I hope might be useful in helping you find articles and websites specific to your interests. articles: http://www.inolongerlikechocolates.com/cul-tour-refs.htm websites: http://www.inolongerlikechocolates.com/cul-tour-links.htm 8. I second everyone's recommendation to pack as lightly as possible -- last time we each had one wheeled carry-on bag for the overhead bin plus a briefcase-type bag for under the plane seat. We just rinsed out our clothes by hand in the hotel room (the bidet's great for soaking undies and socks!), then drip-dried them; if something isn't totally dry by morning, just use the hairdryer on warm to finish drying. 9. Our most recent trip to the Azores was last fall, and the weather was just lovely -- not as warm and muggy as in summer (more like the San Francisco Bay Area that time of year, only slightly rainier), and we never needed more than a light jacket, even at night. Please don't hesitate to ask more questions, because I'm sure the others here know a lot more than I do re visiting the Azores. Regards, Katharine. On Aug 15, 2:53 am, Delores F <[email protected]> wrote: > List Members, > > Thank you for your warm welcome to the List. I imagine and hope that > is what the Azores will be. > > I have been reading the information sent to me and exploring the > links. I am learning how to read the messages on this List that are > older to see if the questions I have are already answered there. It is > a little confusing to me, but I will learn. I have many more questions > than when I started and will make some phone calls on Monday to get > some answers. It is beginning to feel that perhaps we have not made > enough advance planning for this type of trip. I will know more after > I make the calls on Monday. > > Beside Terceira, there are two other Islands that we would like to > see, but because of time and wanting to have a good experience, we are > going to settle on one. For me, it will be the best place to research > family history for my family, in addition to Terceira. > > I appreciate all you have shared and am continuing to learn. > > Delores -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership."
