"Skydancer" - Native American Mohawk Builders of Skyscrapers....

"Skydancer" - this is one of the best documentaries I've seen about the Upstate NY Native Americans of the Mohawk tribe who, for generations have been building the giant skyscrapers of NYC (and all over the world). This film portrays their lives in a realistic, poignant way. Like many, I never knew that the Mohawks were among the first rescuers to rush down to the twin towers of 911 to pull out bodies.....their fathers and uncles had helped to BUILD these towers. Beautifully done documentary on PBS - don't miss it: http://www.skydancer-documentary.com/

THINK before you DRINK that healthy glass of milk.....

Do you know how COW'S MILK is obtained? I didn't. I was really stupid and thought "oh, they milk cows - milk comes out, and that's it - how nice!" Around 2004 we visited a dairy farm in Upstate NY - not to buy milk or cheese but to buy maple syrup, which they also sold. It was then that we saw baby calves being born and hauled away to be killed as "veal" and "other beef"..... It was also then that we saw female cows CRYING for their babies (and vice versa!). We asked. Cows (female) only produce milk when they lactate, which is when they are pregnant. They are kept in constant state of pregnancy (by artificial insemination) in order to produce milk. And because cows are not meant to be pregnant (by nature) ALL the time - their udders often develop cysts or are so bloated that the cows can barely stand....speaking of which, most of these "dairy cows" spend their lives TRAPPED in metal bars where they can only STAND, eat and "produce milk" (or birth a calf now and then - which is quickly taken away). Some of them have their tails "docked" which is a painful process - done without any anesthesia - so they are no longer able to "swish their tails" to chase away pests like flies. Why are their tails docked? It makes it "so much easier" for the constant artificial insemination these poor things are forced to receive. FOUR YEARS - that is the average life of a dairy cow.....after that, they've "outlived their usefulness" and are sent to slaughter. In reality, cows/steers can live about 25-30 years. TO dairy farmers - the cows only have about 4 years' "worth". THAT, my friend, is WHERE your "glass of milk" comes from. Thank God - and without really knowing WHY - we switched to SOYMILK a long, long, long time ago. If anyone thinks that the "dairy industry" is cruel-free - guess again!! LEARN how cows produce milk and why (because they are constantly impregnated) and LEARN what happens to their babies (especially the males, who are considered "worthless" to a dairy industry). Personally - I can't drink a glass of cow's milk ever again. I know TOO MUCH. If you want to pretend to be ignorant and believe that cow's milk is just "given freely" by cows - that's your decision. I have told you what I've seen; the rest is up to you.

May I Say Something??

It doesn’t take that much MORE effort to give a person a kindness instead of an “I told you so!” or “been there, done that!!” or “what did you expect?” or “get OVER it!” An online friend has lost her beloved doggie – she is HURT, sad, crying. How INHUMANE it would be to tell her “oh yeah, we lost a dog too – been there, done that!”. Why is it so difficult for humans to think of others for a change – to really put themselves in their shoes and assuage their pain by either letting them know you are keeping them in prayer (if indeed you are – don’t be untruthful) or that you are at least thinking of them daily with hopes that each day will ease the pain a little. Some are so cruel as to even say (after the loss of a beloved dog) “you, can always go down to the shelter and pick out another one!”. If you can’t say anything kind, nice or sympathetic, then don’t say anything at all. Sometimes even a simple, humble, sincere “I’m SORRY for your loss” brings comfort. I have a friend who is at her wit’s end trying to raise a teenager – her son can be sassy, disrespectful, inconsiderate, lazy and downright HURTFUL. Of course it is EASY to blurt out “been there, done that!” – but where is the humanity in such a trite remark? Even if you HAVE “been there, done that” – do you really think these words will comfort the friend who confided enough in you to tell you the difficulties she is having? I REPEAT: if you can’t say anything kind, nice or sympathetic, then don’t say anything at all. If you truly have “been there” then at least give the person HOPE that there is light at the end of the tunnel – that these ARE rough years, but that things will get better and to not give up hope. Give them advice such as “try to be as NEUTRAL as possible so as not to engage your teen into an argument”. “Don’t take any of the insults personally” – sometimes teens HAVE to resort to emotional outbursts in order to show their need to express their independence. Let your friend know that you are there 24/7 if she ever needs to TALK to you. I have a friend whose son passed away. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain she must be feeling day after day. In the “order of life” we all expect that WE will die first, not our children. Such a loss must be almost impossible to HEAL. Don’t be callous if a friend TRUSTS you enough to tell you such a thing – don’t say “oh, you’ll get over it” – she WON’T!! Just let her know you are praying for her (if indeed you are praying for her – be HONEST!) or at least thinking of her daily in your thoughts. AND if you have a friend who has an illness that has no cure, one that is going to progressively get worse….DON’T say “get well soon!” – you know that’s not going to happen so why give such an inhumane, flippant reply?? Again – either pray for them, put them in your daily thoughts (if you are not a person who turns to prayer) and wish them a pain-free day or week, and do so SINCERELY, from the heart. If you have a friend who has just (finally) broken up with an abusive boyfriend or husband – whatever you do – don’t say “I told you he was no good!” – what kind of human being says such things callously? Would YOU like someone to tell you such things?? Instead – let that person know that you appreciate her trust in you –that you appreciate that she confided in you….and then take it from there as a true friend. Let her know you ARE THERE 24/7 if she wants to TALK. Let her know she made the right (albeit sometimes difficult) decision to break up as abusers only get more abusive. Invite her out for a coffee and let her pour her heart out. Let her know you “stand by her” if she is afraid. There are so many POSITIVE ways we can help others. It is just too easy to criticize. If your sentence starts with “Well, why do you let….” or “What did you expect….?”…..then whatever follows from your lips is probably going to be hurtful, harmful and useless as far as a friend goes. Real friends pick you UP from the ground instead of telling you all the reasons you fell down. The next time someone trusts you enough to confide in them as a friend – BE that friend that they need.

Queen Victoria may "Rise Again" in Colombo.....

Oh please, a 7-year “curse”????? Suddenly amidst the fact that my original blog brought to light the “end result” of the once beautiful Queen Victoria statue in Gordon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka….might have sparked some to actually try to RESTORE this once elegant statue, see: http://onlinenewsunitedkingdom.com/world/2013/10/03/queen-vic-statue-facelift-in-colombo/ But, now “they” are saying her presence brought 7 years of “bad luck” – no, I’m sure that the 35-PLUS year Sri Lankan “Civil War” had NOTHING AT ALL to do with any of that “bad luck”. I once heard a GROWN college professor from Sri Lanka (who should’ve known better) blame the entire Civil War in Sri Lanka on the British – who “like all Colonial rulers…..set one side of ethnic group (Tamils) against the other (Sinhalese) for their benefit” – oh please!!! Yes, and while you are playing the BLAME GAME be sure to blame the Belgians for the genocide between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes in Rwanda…..but NEVER, NEVER own up to your own immaturity and inadequacy in failing to be “all-inclusive” of all local ethnic tribes – THAT, my friend, would be too responsible, too adult-like, so it is much, much easier to blame all your countries’ woes on the “evil, Colonial power” than to own up to anything YOU might’ve done as a people. And if you are so, so anti-Colonial, then why not burn down all the tea plantations in Sri Lanka. After all, they were started by those EVIL Colonialists (although not one single tea plantation in Sri Lanka today is owned by a British citizen)….so whatever they produced must’ve been evil as well, right?? And now poor ol’ Queen Victoria who never even visited Sri Lanka is being blamed for a 7-year curse??? That is the most childish excuse I’ve ever heard in my life. I am glad to see her being restored (after you let her remain in rubble so long): 2 October 2013 Last updated at 21:17 ET By Charles Haviland BBC News, Colombo The statue of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch will be given more prominence A statue of Queen Victoria in Sri Lanka’s main city, Colombo, has been taken off its plinth for renovation ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held there next month.

The statue was moved from its original location seven years ago and placed in an inconspicuous position (that's ONE way of saying it was DUMPED!). But the authorities say it will now be given more prominence. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote She’s been brought temporarily down to earth – the seven-year curse has ended” End Quote Colombo commentator The statue of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch dates from 1897, the year of her Diamond Jubilee. It was placed in gardens adjoining the residence of the governor-general of what was then the British colony of Ceylon. The building – in Colombo’s Fort district – became the presidential palace in 1972. But the palace has barely been used by Sri Lanka’s presidents. Local reports say one reason is that the statue was widely considered to bring bad luck. There are also structural issues – the one president who did live there reportedly had to move his bed when it rained because of a leaking roof. In 2006 the Queen Victoria statue was relocated to a new site near the back entrance to the National Museum but not facing any public thoroughfare. After the renovation works, it is to be placed near that site but looking across a busy road into the city’s main park – once called Victoria Park but renamed Viharamahadevi Park, after a Sri Lankan queen, in 1958. The Commonwealth gathering will be the first that Queen Elizabeth has not attended. She is sending the Prince of Wales instead, with Buckingham Palace saying she is making fewer overseas trips because of her age. The meeting has attracted controversy because of Sri Lanka’s human rights record, with the Canadian prime minister saying he is unlikely to attend. Those that do attend will have an improved view of Queen Victoria. “She’s been brought temporarily down to earth,” a local political commentator said on condition of anonymity. “The seven-year curse has ended.” Yes, the “7-year” imaginary curse has ended. Read my original blog on this statue: Saturday, February 26, 2011 I will probably get in trouble for this..... http://oldlankagal.blogspot.com/2011_02_01_archive.html There was a time the statue brought grace, elegance and beauty to Colombo

It is NEVER ENOUGH.......

In my next life I would like to come back as a dentist or dental hygienist. Why??? So I can tell people how miserably they've failed (in spite of multi-daily brushing, flossing, even using periodontal brushes) and tell them they need to take better care of their teeth. Let's face it - if modern dentistry really "worked" (I know my husband and I have ALWAYS flossed, brushed, used periodontal brushes) then none of us would have dental problems if we "followed orders" - and most of us do. Modern dentistry is a complete failure. There is no "miraculous way" to keep teeth from building up tartar or from having to get a root canal procedure. At best, modern dentistry is just a "warning sign" on a highway....doesn't mean you won't have an accident - it's just to warn you that you probably WILL have an accident. It's also the only "medical" field where one (as a dentist) can sit back and judge people (instead of admitting they really don't have a cure for dental decay) "oh, you didn't floss enough!" "oh, you didn't brush enough!" "oh, you didn't use those periodontal insert brushes enough!" - it's the only "medical" profession where the patient is ALWAYS to blame....even if they stringently follow every rule the dentist gives them....it is always "never enough" and consequently - the patient either gets a decay or an infection and then the dentist can go back and say that the patient wasn't trying hard enough. It's a very self-righteous profession and judgmental one. In spite of the hundreds of years passing since dentistry became a medical profession - there isn't one single "break-thru" cure to keep teeth from decaying. I have a family member whose entire upper teeth were covered in porcelain years ago - she is FANATICAL about brushing, flossing, using periodontal brushes in-between teeth. In a period of 24 hrs. I have seen her floss or brush maybe 50% of that time in a day. YET - she told me she had to go for a root canal. WHY??? How much more could she have CLEANED her own teeth?? She was a fanatic and still is about cleaning her teeth. But dentists will never tell you "in spite of all I tell you to do - there is NO CURE for decay in teeth, so you're eventually going to either have a root canal or tooth extraction or both!" One of our friends TOLD the dental hygienist "Really, so if I do ALL the things you tell me I must do: brush 3 times daily, floss 3 times daily, use periodontal brushes in-between teeth 3 times daily, then my teeth will never have problems?" "Well, er, no that doesn't they'll never have problems, just that they will be less likely to have problems". "Really? So then why come to you at all?" "Because we help keep your teeth clean!" "Any you are admitting then that no matter how hard I try to clean my teeth I cannot CLEAN them properly, so that's why I come to you?" It is the one medical profession whose first words start (blaming the patient, always) as "You DIDN'T......." or "You SHOULD HAVE....." Why don't dentists just admit that there is no cure for tooth decay. Cleaning helps, but only postpones the inevitable. We humans weren't meant to live beyond age 40 in olden times - and now we have 60, 70, even 80-year old teeth and they (dentists) don't have a clue how to help us.

WHY Maldives (Maldive Islands) have such a heroin problem.....

Why would a nation like the Maldives have a HEROIN problem amid its residents? Why do you think??? This nation USED to be a FISHING nation - whereby grandfathers, fathers & sons (and wives helped to clean the fish) were FISHERMEN. Sometime in the early 1970's Maldives developed "paradise islands" whereby tourists from Europe and all over the world could come - relax, swim, get massages and ENJOY an idyllic tourist life for weeks. VERY few Maldivians were invited to work in this new TOURIST business. MONEY (from tourism) FLOWED into the capital Malé at unbelievable rates - suddenly - with the sharing of tourist funds, EVERYONE was RICH - but BORED - fishing came to a halt - why should anyone FISH for a living when they received tourist money for doing nothing? I visited the Maldives in 1971 - there were NO HOTELS at that time - everyone was engaged in fishing business and very modest (as a Muslim nation) in attire. There were no fancy restaurants/hotels at all - the people were quite "simple" and I mean that in a very GOOD way. NOW??? They (Maldivians) have plenty of money, and nothing at all to do, so they have turned to "brown sugar" (heroin) which comes in by the tons from Sri Lanka and India. There are so FEW rehab places - thus, heroin HITS Maldives, but locals have nowhere to turn to QUIT the habit. It is hard to know WHOM to blame - was it the Prime Minister who developed outer islands for TOURISM? Was it the TOURISTS themselves?? I don't know the answer, but I do know that is EXTREMELY sad to watch what was once an innocent fishing nation turn into a country of heroin addicts who have little or none rehab places: Looking down from the airplane window, the island nation off the coast of India looks idyllic. But don’t let the pristine beaches and turquoise sea fool you. The Maldives have a dark side to them that not many visiting honeymooners get to see. Most of the tourists that arrive at Ibrahim Nasir International airport take a direct boat or private plane to their resort. But to see the other side of the Maldives, all they need to do is take a ten minute boat trip to the country's capital, Male. If the heat allows, you can take a walk around the island in less than an hour. However most locals prefer to use a scooter to get round the island, which is packed with high-rise buildings. Cars only worsen the congestion. Tourists understandably opt for the luxurious resorts for a relaxing holiday. Male has very little to offer them. Brown sugar Even for the locals, the Maldivian capital has few recreational activities to offer. Out of sheer boredom a lot of them resort to drugs. Heroin, or brown sugar as it’s referred to locally, is their drug of choice. According to a UN report, 40 percent of people under the age of 30 use heroin. Once addicted, the tightly-knit community and scarce rehabilitation facilities make it very difficult to beat the addiction. Although cannabis has been around for centuries, heroin was first introduced to the Maldives in the 1970s, when it was imported by Sri Lankan labourers. People knew nothing of the drug and its effects. So when dealers looking for steady customers started handing it out for free, Maldivians got hooked easily. There are now an estimated 30,000 addicts in the Maldives. In densely-populated Male there is an addict in almost every family. Heroin, like the water and idyllic beaches, can be found anywhere in the archipelago. Staying clean Until recently Shiuna Khaleel was a heroin addict “I couldn’t do anything without drugs. I couldn’t wake up, couldn’t have breakfast without vomiting. I had to get high first, that’s how it controlled me” It was her boyfriend that first introduced her to drugs. Against her parents' wishes she married him a few years later. Their relationship revolved around getting high. “My life would have turned out very differently if I had known about the effects of heroin. But the knowledge wasn’t there in the community at that time,” Says Shiuna now. The lack of knowledge is still the main reason why so many youngsters get addicted in the Maldives. Parents live in denial or don’t know how to recognize the signs of addiction. “Recently we are seeing that very young kids, as young as 12 or 13, are peddling heroin in the streets,” says Azmy Achmed. He is the programme coordinator of Journey, an NGO founded by former addicts to reach out to other recovering or active users. Though the group of under aged users is growing, they're hard to reach for Achmed’s NGO. According to the country's strict Islamic laws, children under 18 can’t receive education on sexual health issues or drug use. “Religious scholars don’t believe we should talk to them about these issues, their minds are closed. That’s why we have to adapt our strategies and reach out to the parents instead,” says Azmy Achmed. Rehabilitation and relapse Despite the large number of addicts on the islands, there is only one rehab facility in the Maldives. And like many things here, it has its own island. After a gruelling rehab programme, ex-addicts are sent back to Male without any aftercare. Back home it’s almost impossible to stay away from friends and creditors from their time as an addict. This makes staying clean extremely difficult. “I myself have relapsed eight times,” says Azmy with a faint smile. And he is no exception. “If you just go out to get groceries you’ll bump into an old friend who will offer you drugs. You have to be very strong to stay clean here” After ending her marriage to her addicted husband, Shiuna too went through the painful cycle of rehabilitation and relapse. It took her ten attempts, but now she’s successfully taking part in Journey’s methadone programme. “I was 33 years old, had no husband and couldn’t take care of my own two children. I was done with feeling like a failure,” she says.

How could I possibly have forgotten these photos of Azores???

There were TOO many "cool" things we saw in Azores - one was a statue to a dog (the Azorean cattle dog) - this was in Vila Franca do Campo - forgot to take photo ourselves so sorry if we stole another photo:

Also we didn't take a "decent" photo of a local flower called "roca de velha" which is indigenous to the islands:

AND how could we forget a photo of GRILLED octopus (mmmmmmmm! can still taste it!!!)

AND - even more FLORA:

THEN - there were the tiles over the houses - so special - each house had a display of tiles over it's door to represent a particular "saint" or patron - it was so, so beautiful, really:

And then there is the "GHOST HOTEL" - a hotel built about 3 decades ago but the builders did not realize the hotel would be perpetually "in the clouds" and thus it would RAIN every single day. They went bankrupt and it is so, so EERY to pass by this ghost hotel in Sao Miguel:

How pleasant....a place relatively untouched by time......

Sure there is the natural beauty - hills and valleys so green they look almost "painted", the beautiful coastline visible almost from any drive....there is such beauty in the Azores. And there is also beauty in seeing row upon row of hydrangeas blooming everywhere. But one of the most pleasant surprises is being able to "step back in time" almost 50 years. Yes, they all have smartphones, Internet, TV, etc.....but in the evenings Azoreans come out to chit-chat with their neighbours, sometimes for hours. Families also go to parks to take in the evening air or chat. It is so common to see families picnicking for their evening meal even on weeknights......picnic spots are plentiful, clean and USED often. Their music is beautiful - some folkloric, some "fado" style (a very unique Portuguese style of "telling a story", usually a sad tale, in song) and even their modern music is delightfully cheery like old Beatles songs, only more romantic. The absence of LOCKS also painted a picture of the honesty of the people. So many greenhouses of pineapples had no locks and there didn't seem to be much crime. We saw the police (a man and woman in one car) come out only ONCE in the "big city" of Ponta Delgada.....whatever the "crime" was, it wasn't very serious as they wrote something in a notebook and left a few minutes later. There is a FEELING one has there that is difficult to describe. Firstly, you realize that you are in the middle of the HUGE Atlantic Ocean and even Sao Miguel's closest island (Santa Maria) cannot be seen unless one goes out to sea about 10-15 kilometers. You realize you are just THERE and that the REST of the WORLD is far, far away.....you don't hear about any wars, terrorism, drug cartels - you are just THERE on this beautiful island where people make time to enjoy their families. You forget all about politics, greed, and other feelings....you are just THERE in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. You cannot leave except by plane, and you don't want to leave anyway....you could stay there in that peaceful place forever, with only the sound of waves splashing on the rocks to disturb the peace, or at night the cry of a tern that sounds almost like a human baby crying. But in the morning comes the sweet, melodic singing of a songbird and it is a sweet way to start a day. You feel that you have stepped in the past by about 50 years and it's a very GOOD feeling. Schools all look like.....schools.....they are not surrounded by huge fences like prisons and the kids all walk to school. They look happy. We FORGET that 50 years ago our schools were happy places.....certainly not places where a crazed gunman would attack. What strikes one most is that poverty doesn't seem to exist. Oh, I'm sure some have more than others, but we didn't see a single homeless person, nor any beggar - why this is so, we're not sure. There are other small islands in the world where people are dying of starvation, so we don't think it's because it's a small island. Could it be that there is an absence of greed? People have smiles on their faces. The airport at Ponta Delgada reminds me of "aerodromes" when I was a kid.....open, very few "guards" - an openness and friendliness that few airports have nowadays. We pass a cafe in Ponta Delgada where there is a television showing "news of the world" - a fire in Venezuela, a car accident in Colombia.....all these places seem too far away and "unreal". Because we are not THERE. We are HERE....here in the middle of the HUGE Atlantic Ocean surrounded by sea, waves, whales, dolphins. Even the sharks, we were told by a marine biologist, are relatively harmless....why WOULDN'T they be??? After all, this is the Azores.

Hritek Roshan, Arjun Rampal, Akshay Kumar Look-Alikes found in the Azores

OK, OK - at first it was just a strange "coincidence" that a MILKMAN in the Azores looked exactly like Bollywood star Hritek Roshan:

What are the chances of meeting a duplicate of Hritek Roshan???

Then it was the pizza guy - in the Parque Atlantico of Punta Delgada.....he looked like a really YOUNG Arjun Rampal!!!

But the really WEIRD coincidence was when we boarded our SATA Airlines flight to fly from Ponta Delgada to Boston. All 3 of us (my sis isn't "into" Bollywood, so she said nothing) said (when a flight attendant came down the aisle) "We KNOW this guy!! Where do we know him from? He looks SO FAMILIAR!!!! Why do we know a flight attendant from SATA??" The facial expressions, the smile, the profile - then one of us said "Akshay Kumar!!!" and sure enough it was his DOUBLE: So now we wonder.....does Hritek Roshan realize he has a DOUBLE in Furnas, Sao Miguel, Azores? Does the milkman in Furnas know he is an exact replica of a Bollywood star named Hritek Roshan? Does Arjun Rampal know he has a DOUBLE in Punta Delgada, Azores selling pizza?? And does the young man selling pizza in Punta Delgada realize he is a mirror-image of a Bollywood star named Arjun Rampal? Does Akshay Kumar know he has an identical TWIN working as a flight attendant on SATA Azorean Airlines?? And does the flight attendant on SATA know he could pass (even his speech and mannerisms are the same) for a Bollywood star Akshay Kumar?? Amazing world we live in!!

Best video I could find on Azores.....

This is a video I obviously "stole" from another poster - but it's the best video I've ever seen about the Azores. If you can't "fall in love" with the place after this video - you'd better check your pulse to see if you can still feel/enjoy life/etc. http://vimeo.com/50650237

Azores oh how we love YOU!!!

Dear Azores - we LOVE you with all our hearts and it IS our WISH (all 3 of us) that should we die/perish - we want our ashes to PLEASE be sent to the Azores and set free anywhere there - we LOVE the land, the PEOPLE - all are special and we will keep returning to the Azores until the day we perish. If you want to hear a really great "fado" singer - look up Paolo Linhares (from Azores) and also from USA (but Azorean)- Chico Aviles. Actually we DON'T really want to be here - we WANT to return to Azores as often as we can - and God willing - if we win the LOTTO - we want to buy a house there and RETIRE there!! - I think they have the right idea about elders - at age 60 one qualifies to be a SENIOR and qualifies for free government doctors/hospital/dentists.....why CAN'T this be possible in such "civilized" nations as USA??

Azores and the Azoreans.....

Dear friends.....in my lifetime, I have traveled to over 32 places on this planet earth - am not counting the "little trips" to Pittsburgh, Maine - am counting: Alaska, Hawaii, Canada (a LOT of places in Canada!!), Bahamas, Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Guam, Philippines, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Nepal, India, "Kashmir", Sri Lanka (of course!), Maldive Islands, Morocco, Gibraltar, Spain, Luxembourg, Austria, Germany, Italy, Greece, what was then "Yugoslavia" (Bosnia, Herzogovinia, Slovenia, etc.).....and THEN we went to the Azores this August. I have to tell you, dear friends, that the Azores are the MOST BEAUTIFUL place we've ever been in our lifetime. Not only is the scenery almost idyllic and surreal in its beauty, but we especially loved the Azorean people. There is, by the way, a "look" about them that distinguishes them from many other Europeans...and it's a complimentary "look" - they look capable, sturdy, HAPPY, efficient, polite - they have a "look" of people who have been making things run in their islands for centuries and making them run WELL!!! And then there is the Azorean personality - you will NEVER, EVER find on this earth better people than the Azoreans. They don't rush up to you - it's not their way (they respect your privacy far too much) - but if you ever approach them to ask directions, curious questions or to recommend a restaurant - they will not only draw you a diagram (to make sure you understand) but sometimes will even jump in their car/truck and ask you to FOLLOW them! We love these people with all our hearts and have never seen better people in all this world. Mahatma Gandhi once said "one can judge a nation by the way they treat their animals" - then Azores is WAY UP THERE!!! - we saw person upon person walking their pet - looking at the pet lovingly in their eyes. They not only walked their pets, they TALKED to them and every village seemed to have a store of pets for buying pet food, "chews", collars or other things for pets. There is a Humane Society there and may fliers suggested that people ADOPT rather than "shop" (i.e., buy pets). We never met a single person in Azores who was curt or rude. ALL were helpful, kind and courteous. Many, MANY photos will follow this post (we took over 700 photos, so we'll have to edit - that will take time). Will we RETURN - you KNOW we will!!!! We photographed one church in Vila Franca do Campo that had Jewish "menorahs" outside - having read the history of the islands, sometimes many Jews (during Spanish Inquisition) fled to the Azores (although a part of what was then Catholic Portugal) because the locals were so tolerant of all faiths. Yes, I can see that well....because locals ARE accepting and tolerant of all. Cannot even begin to tell you what it was like to see dolphins and sperm whales in the wild - where they were MEANT to be....rather than forming "stupid tricks" for even MORE STUPID humans paying to see such tricks. It was great to see them in the wild. We're not bird-watchers but at night we had a symphony of terns who cry out like babies. In the morning we were greeted by sweet songbirds (MUST find out their names!!) - who sang to us (more likely to their mates!) for almost hours. There were hydrangeas growing like weeds, birds of paradise, tree ferns and greenhouses full of pineapples. The pineapples in Azores are indeed SPECIAL - they let them grow naturally for 2-1/2 years, and must move them in 3 stages to their final growing destination. They use no pesticides - all is organic. I tell you that we have never tasted SWEETER pineapple in our lives. God willing - we are going to return NEXT year and God willing - if we win the Lotto - we would go there even more often. Can you believe that JUST before we left we read DREADFUL things about SATA (the Azorean airline) - we half-expected the airline hosts and hostesses to SLAP us along the way after what we read - but SATA is a really GREAT airline - their safety record is TOPS and everyone WE met (from ground agents to hosts/hostesses) were courteous and nice to us. Oh, and their pilots are so, so skilled - those runways are short but they take off and land really, really well. Do you know what I LOVE about the Azoreans (besides them being polite, nice, kind and helpful?) - their INNOCENCE!!! Every time we landed on SATA airlines - EVERYONE in the plane CLAPPED - of course the pilot can't hear that, but it is (the clapping) a sign of a far more innocent time. I CAN remember going to a cinema in another country and hearing an audience CLAP when it was a good film. I think Americans lost a bit of their innocence when they stopped clapping (for films and good landings). And of course - we tried local "lapas" (pronounced "lapash") - they WERE delicious albeit a bit on the rubbery side but we were glad to have tried them. The LAST night we were there - we were recommended to a really lovely restaurant called Cais 20 in San Roque (VERY much pronounced as in FRENCH!!!) - Nando had a kebab of "pulpo" (octopus) w/ shrimp (JUMBO!!) over veggies. I chose the monkfish kebab w/ shrimp over veggies - we shared - the seafood was GRILLED and so, so delicious and fresh!!! PROMISE that photos will come. As far as we are concerned - Azores are the BEST place on this planet, also one of the cleanest places I've ever seen!!!