São Miguel
The island of São Miguel is part of the Azores archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. In contrast to other islands situated west of Europe, like Madeira or the Canary Islands, the Azores are not tropical but look much more like Ireland. Cows and green grass everywhere! I had a chance to visit this beautiful piece of land back in early April and already posted some pictures in June. But there are more of them on my drive; some of them show off the beauty of the island quite well – so I thought I would give all of us (well, all of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere) a break from grim winter and put these on the internet. I wish you all a good Sylvester party and a happy New Year! See you again in January.
ecorative building façades composed of thin-glazed ceramic tiles are considered a national art form in Portugal with a long historical tradition dating back to Arabic times. In Português they are called “Azulejos”, probably stemming from the Arabic “al zulaij” meaning small polished stone. In fact, the technique was adapted from Moorish decorative art in the early 16th century and gained popularity quickly in the aspiring Portuguese architecture of the time. Still today, many houses and churches are decorated with these beautiful works of art produced over time by many tile maker workshops in different parts of the country (and in other Portuguese-speaking countries like Brazil). Probably, there are almost as many patterns as there are Bacalhau receipts, but maybe that’s slightly exaggerated 😉 Interestingly, though their use is not purely decorative, the tiles also have practical gains as they help control the temperature within the covered buildings.
Michael Hoffman Photography 