There are gardens and a tiny outdoor aquarium alongside the bubbling river on the way to the town center of Furnas. We meandered through the narrow streets until reaching the Terra Nostra Botanical Gardens. This garden contains a large thermal pool that is about five feet deep, is about 75 degrees Fahrenheit -and has so many minerals including iron that it is an unbecoming brown color. When in Furnas…enter the pool.
Beyond the pool there are lush gardens, nurseries for new plantings, streams filled with koi and ducks, and hiking paths. It is easy and lovely to spend hours exploring the gardens.
The Terra Nostra Garden Hotel which backs the garden has a restaurant and spa. We enjoyed both. The massages were relaxing and rejuvenating. The indoor pool area had a lot of rules and regulations, no rules were broken while lying on a lounge chairs.
A typical Azorean dish is lampas or limpet. The internet describes them as a barnacle/snail-like mollusk. They are on every menu. The portion size is enormous and they are served in a large sizzling cast iron pan with lemon, garlic and butter. No opportunity to get just a few. This restaurant offered them as mini croquettes – done! We also had a quinoa salad with shrimp.
After our food, we leisurely wended our way back to our hotel passing some happy cows, lovely homes, an open fruit shop and small farms. We relaxed by our pool enjoying the rest of an unusual but delicious sunny afternoon.
Our final evening meal at A Terra restaurant included corn soup with popcorn…some calamari and a local specialty, fish stew (Cozido), which I paired with a local volcanic red wine to complete the island vibe.
We will leave the Azores knowing there is so much more to enjoy on our next visit.
Where is Wendy 