Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Twelve Mile Circle

  • Praia da Vitória

    Terceira, The Azores (Açores), Portugal (March 2001) The town of Praia da Vitória (“Victory Beach”) formed around a natural harbor on Terceira’s eastern coastline (map). It was named in tribute to a victory over Spanish forces that took place in 1581 when the Portuguese thwarted an invasion by releasing cattle onto a nearby beach. This…

  • Miscellaneous Scenery of São Miguel

    São Miguel, The Azores (Açores), Portugal (March 2001) This page focuses on miscellaneous scenery throughout São Miguel. We took lots of photographs as we drove throughout the central and eastern portions of the island. However there weren’t enough photos to justify an individual page for each of the locations shown below. Caloura The picturesque town…

  • Furnas Fumaroles

    São Miguel, The Azores (Açores), Portugal (March 2001) Furnas (map) is reputed to be one of the most active geothermal areas in Europe. It is like a miniature version of Yellowstone in Wyoming. However, visitors generally don’t have to deal with swarms of tourists. Steam and heat scorch the earth, leaving behind a barren landscape…

  • Furnas Scenery

    São Miguel, The Azores (Açores), Portugal (March 2001) Furnas is a Portuguese word that is similar to its English cognate “Furnace.” In this case it applies to a town and a region in a broad interior valley on the eastern side of São Miguel. Furnas rests in a caldera basin surrounded by mountains on all…

  • Vila Franca do Campo

    São Miguel, The Azores (Açores), Portugal (March 2001) Vila Franca do Campo sits about midway along São Miguel’s southern coast (map). It served as the first capital city of São Miguel until it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1552. Now the capital is located in Ponta Delgada. Vila Franca do Campo has a wonderfully…

  • Logoa do Fogo

    São Miguel, The Azores (Açores), Portugal (March 2001) Lagoa do Fogo, or “Lake of Fire” floods the bottom of a caldera in São Miguel’s middle interior (map). However, this isn’t some ancient formation. A volcano created this caldera within the period of human habitation. It happened in 1563 and it could happen again. A well…

  • Ponta Delgada Streets

    São Miguel, The Azores (Açores), Portugal (March 2001) Most of the Azores seemed rather quiet and sparsely populated. Typically we encountered villages set amongst rolling farmland. However, Ponta Delgada on São Miguel’s southwestern coast, came closest to be being a city (map). Its population approached nearly seventy thousand people. So it served as both the…

  • Ponta Delgada Scenes

    São Miguel, The Azores (Açores), Portugal (March 2001) Ponta Delgada is the capital of the Azores and its most populous city. It hugs São Miguel’s southwestern coast (map). These old “City Gates” or Portas da Cidade probably personifies Ponta Delgada more than any other image. They dated back to the 18th Century. Back then the…

  • Whaling Industry Museum

    Pico, The Azores (Açores), Portugal (March 2001) The last whaling factory in the Azores operated at São Roque do Pico, from the cais (dock) along the waterfront. Whalers killed and harvested their prey in local waters. Then they delivered carcasses to the dock, where workers extracted oil and processed flesh and teeth. During its heyday,…

  • São Roque do Pico

    Pico, The Azores (Açores), Portugal (March 2001) São Roque do Pico (map) appeared in the distance from the cross-island road. This photograph gives a good perspective of the steep descent from the interior. Then, down below, towns could be observed on the relatively flat coastal plain. Of course, this placement also offered excellent oceanfront access.…

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  2. Hi Mr. Howder — Just going from memory, I recall that your “rule” for counting a nation/state/county is “if I’m…

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