Punta Delgada by the Sea

The city is open to the sea, the Infante de Henrique Road running along the harbor. And along the road there's a long and broad waterfront walkway, pleasantly punctuated by rattan-chaired coffee bars. Very civilized. The road leads right into the main town squares. The prettiest is Plaça de Gonçalo Velho Cabral. He discovered São Miguel. The huge town gates lead from the square into the city. Their three arches echoing the old arcaded façade running along the harbor road.

The town gates, the arcades, the tall bell towers, the churches, they all have the same white walls with black basalt articulation. Black and white. Like the patterned cobbled squares and narrow streets. Like the camouflaged pidgeons.
The town is chock full of black and white churches. And monasteries and convents. Their façades scrolled and twisted in baroque design. We peek inside the Cathedral, São Sebastião. Then meander into the narrow cobbled lanes. Where delivery vans are a size to big to squeeze through comfortably.

After eating Ragnhild's ("Sedna") fabulous cheesecake this evening I might have to go sideways throught the lanes.