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Intro to the Azores
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-6:30

Intro to the Azores

An inside track we hesitate to share.

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[00:00:00] Kelly: Joe we're, we're enamored by this place in the middle of Atlantic. And we ended up there because we were in Portugal, we were on business and we had carved out some time to see Algarve, which would've been our, our second trip. The first one was very fast and it was gonna rain. And you do what you do really well, which is "okay that's not gonna work. Let's fire it up and figure it out." You found us some relatively inexpensive tickets from Lisbon to the, a source and it has become a thing for us. It's ingrained in our memory and yeah, it's nine islands is, an archipelago and we landed on the big green one. San Miguel.

[00:00:59] Joseph: Yeah, it was incredible.

[00:01:00] I have some hesitation about sharing it. It's that kind of place. But also a lot of delight in sharing it. Mm. I have a friends that flew there yesterday. You had just mentioned before, before recording, that you were there this week, couple years ago. Mm-hmm and when I saw their tickets, just memories flooded back like that crazy cliff on the north side. We flew the drones over. And the milk trucks and Freddie and the deep green hole and the unbelievable, I didn't expect it, lunch on that south side. Right. Um, such good, good memories here that we can't get into in just a short period of time on this, but take this video as an intro to what is Sao Miguel and the Azores

[00:01:59] Kelly: Yeah, 4 our flight from New York, we didn't do that.

[00:02:03] We flew to Europe and then Lisbon and then back over. So we took the, we took the long way around, but really simple JFK flight in- you can be there and you can be on these islands in the middle of Atlantic in some ways kind of like Hawaii of the Atlantic, not quite the same temper climate year round.

[00:02:21] It is. The nine islands, about 130,000 humans occupy those islands. Those islands are some of the tallest mountains in the world, if you measure from the sea floor up to the top. Features that strike me as interesting and also incredible only tea plantation in Europe. Is there. Only place in the world they grow pineapples indoors.

[00:02:45] And I have burned my memory... we took a left outta the airport to go chase a sunset and it is green and is lush. And inside of seven minutes, you're in tunnels of hydrangeas. It's green. The cows, you mentioned are happy cows. There's dairy production on the island. None of it in big sheds, like in some other places in the world, they're all free ranging. These little trucks go out by these little, mostly men. I didn't see any women doing it. And they go out and they milk 'em in the field.

[00:03:12] So we, we. We kicked it off by going left. And we ended up at this, this place with this lava rock and the ocean spray and this, this, this hot spring part in the Atlantic part, not. So I'm, I'm, I'm enamored by, I, we have 50 things to share about it, but that's what's top of mind and we wanted to, to share our initial thoughts.

[00:03:33] Joseph: Yeah. And as we went, as we went back in the photos, as I went back in the photos, I remember seeing the airplane we got on because it took pictures when we got off of it. And I don't think I saw it in Lisbon, the side of the plane. But the Azores, the Azorean's have their own airline. And in giant green letters, for the green island, on the side of the plane, what?, 12 feet tall, the word BREATHE.

[00:04:03] Kelly: Yeah.

[00:04:04] Joseph: And I think in that first day there was. All of the firing of your brain needing to ACC acclimate back into like, wait, we're not in continental Europe. We are not on anything I've ever seen in America. Yeah. It's like Hawaii, but but very much, not much, much more volcanic, very much. Not, like there aren't leis there. Aren't those kinds of things. You get off onto the tarmac.

[00:04:31] But I remember being up on that, north side looking west where we had walked past the mile marker pin and looked out and seeing your face going like and ducked around the corner and stopped as the breeze was pummeling the side of that cliff and pushing the ocean spray vertical.

[00:04:54] Do you remember this? Yeah. And, and actually breathing it, like stopping and going and just being present, very much in that moment, not knowing what the next, what 36 hours was gonna do that every 90 minutes or so. And so excited to go deeper on more of the exchanges that we had there.

[00:05:16] Kelly: I remember that vividly you sitting on that cliff. Actually, I think there's a photo of you with your eyes closed enjoying it, but we did venture the whole island. We'd go around it. We'd go back. We'd do it a whole lot. And there's so much to talk about whether it's hot Springs, whether it's buried food, being cooked, whether it's isolated lakes, whether it's Freddie and La Tosca and all of those things, finding black sand beaches, sea glass.

[00:05:42] All of it. So we're gonna dig in. We love it, wanted to share it just so you had some context of where it is in our heart and how it's burned in our memory, highly, highly recommended and hopeful to stay tuned. And we'll share some of our moments because it's those moments that matter. Joe, I'm so grateful you and I got to experience it together for the first time.

[00:06:00] And I know it won't be the last time we've

[00:06:02] been there.

[00:06:03] Joseph: It's gonna be awesome. Kelly, thanks for going. I really look forward to this series and the moments that we've cultivated and the ones we have coming. And to you out there, share this moment, share this with your people and have fun out there.

[00:06:20] Kelly: Yeah. Another example of the universe conspiring to put you where you need to be, if you let it. All right, let's get to it. Joe, let's go and curate some of this for the good humans out there in the world. Take care.

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Moment Farm
Moment Farm Podcast
Welcome to the farm. This is where we cultivate the moments that are important to us in our life. We share the places, the people, the products, and the ahas we bump into along the way to growing more joy in the world.
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Appears in episode
Kelly Vohs
Joseph Rueter