It was here that I made my second mistake of the day, which I realized
immediately after laying eyes on the enormous orange cauldron in
which I would be soaking. My bathing suit was white, and thanks
to the high iron content of the water, it would soon turn a shade of
streaming rust. Truth be told, it was worth the ruined bathing suit.
The hot springs
of Furnas in
São Miguel’s
Terra Nostra
Botanical Park.
Volcanic in nature, the islands straddle
three major tectonic junctions and saw
eruptions as recently as the late 1950s,
prompting a sudden influx of immigration
to the northeastern United States. There
is more geothermal activity in the Azores
than you can shake a stick at, and where
there is geothermal activity, there are hot
springs. One can happily spend their days
hopping from one hot spring to the next.
There are even hot springs in the ocean,
but in order to have a soak in them, you
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west virginia executive
have to time your visit with the low tide.
I showed up just as the tide was tumbling
back in, but the surreally turquoise waters
made up for the near miss.
Not to be deterred by my ill-timed ocean
visit, I ventured on to the famous hot
springs of Furnas in São Miguel’s Terra
Nostra Botanical Park. The gardens were
magnificent, filled with trees that are practically—if not literally—living fossils. It
was here that I made my second mistake
of the day, which I realized immediately
after laying eyes on the enormous orange
cauldron in which I would be soaking.
My bathing suit was white, and thanks
to the high iron content of the water,
it would soon turn a shade of streaming rust. Truth be told, it was worth the
ruined bathing suit. The water was warm
for the mild afternoon, and the springs
were never crowded. I stayed until well
after dark, floating on my back under the
mid-Atlantic stars.