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The best possible description of what the Bay of São Lourenço is can be summed up in the following extract:
" When the first settlers arrived the hillsides were densely covered in undergrowth and shrubbery. Scythes were used to clear the land. In 1707 it became mandatory to reduce the size of scythes so that they wouldn't be used in conflicts between feuding neighbours. Eventually the rain began to wash away the rich soil of the hillsides into the sea. Ever persistent, the islanders began to build walls of black rock to keep the soil from being washed away. So were born the steps of land on which much of the islands' farming is done."
We just stood there admiring the landscape but also the vineyards that now cover most of the hillsides wondering how much effort must have been put into transforming that terrain ...
Azorean are known for being intrepid and hard-working people, be it in the age-old activity of whaling or in farming ... and the Bay of São Lourenço was just another example of those personality characteristics.
We then headed towards the Bay of Praia Formosa where we would be having dinner and there again we stood for endless moments admiring it ... and its indescribable beauty ...
By the time we made it to the beach the sun was beginning to go down ... from the restaurant overlooking it we watched the light bluish sky being tinged by patches of red, as we listened to the cries of joy of those still playing around on the sand and the sound of the waves breaking on it.
There was something magic about that meal that went well beyond the taste of the grilled fresh fish ...
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