Adventures of a Wandering Thirtysomething

I think I’m in love…with Pico.

In the words of Stefan from SNL, “This place has everything.” Wine roads. Hiking. Idyllic towns. UNESCO World Heritage sites. Mountains. Insanely gorgeous views.

But maybe what is more striking is what Pico doesn’t have. Traffic. Tourists. People in general.  

Never have I been so enamored by a place with so little.

Our second day on the island involved hiking through the historical lava rock terraced vineyards. Each island is known for either making something or having something unique. In Pico, it’s all about the wine. Just about every house on the western side of the island grows wine, each with the telltale stacked lava walls zigzagging across their property. These walls shelter the vines from the harsh ocean winds to produce grapes used for white, red and green wines.

Knowing next to nothing about wine, and absolutely no Portuguese, I can’t offer the slightest clue of what types of varietals the wines were. From what I could gather, the wines were labeled by their terroir and not by the types of grapes used.

Our hike took us several kilometers through wooded areas and along open green hillsides where we saw the remains of centuries-old lava terraces overgrown by brush and trees interlaced with still-working vineyards where hydrangeas, succulents and other flora lined the worn dirt roads. We met several farm animals including two sheep that were so curious about who we were as we mockingly bleated in their direction that they climbed up on a rock mound to scope us out as we walked by.

Keep in mind, this was all part of the UNESCO World Heritage site and we had been hiking for hours, yet we encountered no other hikers the entire day. We had all of this history, all of this unique landscape, all of this beauty entirely to ourselves.

To cap our hike, we spent some time down at the ocean front climbing on lava rocks and snapping postcard shot after postcard shot of the rocky coastline and bright blue ocean, dreading the sun setting on a perfect day of communing with nature and history.

On every trip we take, there is usually a moment that is so beautiful it serves as a tangible reminder of why Matt and I make all the effort to travel. Pico, particularly on this day, was that moment. Its beauty, its remoteness and its solitude were pure heaven. We love this place.