The Azores: Sete Cidades / by Cynthia Catera

Sete Cidades might just be one of the most magical places on Earth. With its hydrangea-lined roads, rolling hills, and cattle grazing peacefully along the horizon, it’s a place where you can breathe a little easier-move a little slower-take it all-and repeat as many times needed. We were lucky enough to see a stunning rainbow as we were driving through the hilly valley on our way back into town (after I had gotten sick for 2 hours on the whale and dolphin tour). We made friends with Tiger Lilly and her 4 kittens atop of the mountain, visiting her daily with food and water and soaking in the sunset views with our 1 euro bottle of wine. Our view from the casa in the AM was equally as stunning, watching the clouds float on by while encompassed in white linens. We came across an abandoned hotel, all in concrete with its exoskeleton still in tacked-nature reclaiming it for its own with overgrown branches and moss-still water sitting in crevasses, voices echoing within and its body badly tatted with graffiti. Like a zombie apocalypse, it was left to fend for itself.