On a warm sunny day, there is nothing better than to hop on your scooter and see where the road takes you. With about 50 km separating our starting point from the far east end of the island – the parish of Nordeste – we had a long way to go. It’s peanuts by North American standards, but this is the Azores! Anything could happen!

You could meet a cow.

The cows

You could study the large tile murals on the sides of churches.

Ribeira Grande

You could find some gravel roads.

The open road.

You could stumble upon some odd looking sunflowers.

Teddy bear sunflowers

They smell just as you’d expect.

You could learn more Portuguese and make even better guesses at the meaning of things. Igreja means church, hence Rua da Igreja is going to be the main, fanciest street in town.

Rua da Igreja, Maia

Riding by Rua da Igreja

You could stand on top of a hill and finally spot the perfect quiet beach to snorkel in. You might not feel 100% about going down a steep road towards it, but it will work out.

Parish of Maia, with its beach all exposed.

Hairpin leading to the beach.

You could be starving and end up having lunch in beautiful location overlooking nothing but corn fields and endless ocean. No other dry land ahead, all the way to Iceland.

The blue and the green.

The fish.

You could keep going seemingly forever (or until you run low on fuel).

Another twisty road.

You never run out of flowers.

When one parish ends, another soon begins.

The mountains hide behind the clouds.

You could fuel up at a Repsol gas station.

Unleaded, please.

You could climb up a hill to see if things look better from the top.

View from the top.

You could take an unmarked dirt road, reach its end, snap a photo and turn around.

The dirt is usually orange.

The skies – dramatic.

The green – limitless.

You could reach Nordeste and revel in its positively metropolitan feel. (I hear it’s like, 1300 inhabitants.)

Nordeste.

Nordeste, infrared.

A multilevel town.

A friendly local.

And just as you thought the day was over, you could find the most beautiful spot to watch the sunset.