The nine islands of the Azores are divided into three groups. The western group of Flores and Corvo are separated by 120 miles from the five central islands which in turn are 80 miles from the eastern group of São Miguel and Santa Maria. All the islands are steep-to and most of the harbours were, until recently, nothing more than a stone jetty for loading ships in a rocky bay. São Miguel is the largest and most populous island and the capital, Ponta Delgada is located there. The other island of the Eastern Group is little Santa Maria, once the location of a big war-time USAF base, it still has a major North Atlantic Air Traffic Control Centre, beautiful beaches and a big summer music festival. The five islands of the Central Group are, from east to west, Terceira, so named because it was the third of the islands to be discovered and home of an American air force base at Lajes; São Jorge surrounded by high cliffs and sparsely populated, great hiking country; Graciosa, a small agricultural island; Pico, the second-largest island dominated by the volcano of the same name, the highest point in Portugal at 2,351 metres (7,713 feet) and finally our own island, Faial, of which more in the next paragraph. The Western Group consists of Flores and Corvo, the most isolated of the Azores. Flores has spectacular scenery and Corvo is the tiniest of the islands with a permanent population of less than 400 In spite of being part of the same group, each island has its own very definite character and our island, Faial, is no exception. The oh-so-green terraced fields rise most of the way up to the 3,000 ft crater in the center. In a group with few natural harbours Faial had the best of a bad lot in Porto Pim at the south end of Horta. In the 19th century American whaling ships stopped here in large numbers on their way to the southern whaling grounds and took on many skilled Azorean seamen as crew. The new harbour wall was built in the 1880's enclosing part of the bay to the east of Horta making it into a proper commercial port. Cable companies established relay stations here and built big mansions for the managers; the relay stations went with the coming of satellites, but the mansions remain. Yachtsmen have stopped in the harbour for over 100 years and for more than 75 of them they have been welcomed by three generations of the Azevedo family at the Café Sport. From a couple of yachts per year in the 20's and 30's more than 1,000 now stop at the 20 year old Horta Marina each year. Horta has been a coaling port too, and a refueling stop for transatlantic fliers including the Pan-Am Clippers of the late 30's. All these visitors make Faial the most cosmopolitan island in the group; the people are well used to, and welcome, foreigners. We live in Cascalho near the northern tip of the island just down the road from the Dairy Co- op that processes all the milk produced on the island. They make UHT long-life milk, cheese and butter. The tourist business is slowly increasing with many guest houses opening up on the island. We don't have miles of golden beaches but we have whale-watching, diving, fishing, hiking and as much tranquility as you´ll find anywhere in the world today. Just what the doctor ordered!

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