Summer arrives and Faial is blue. And it is this azulão that has long given it fame, name and brand. The blue island, which we already know owes everything to hydrangeas. And these are now on the way to their splendour, a spectacle, at the moment, “especially in the high areas of the island”, Pedro Rosa told me a few minutes ago, who presides over the local Sustainable Tourism Association and with whom I went for a walk around the island. It’s a curious case in the Azores, that of the invasive plant that ends up becoming a brand image. Not in vain, it is a dilemma, even a political one: formally a powerful invader, yes, but desired by some. By the way, the hydrangea dilemma is even give something to talk in the archipelago and decisions should be made soon, between combating the invasion and exception.
But here what interests us most is our Faial, the island that is truly hydrangea blue for two months. And the rest of the year? That’s what we discovered (a little) on this island that already has a tourist summer more than certain, but that wants to use other blues and other colors to attract visits in the low season. Faial, much more than blue? Yes, definitely, much more than summer. Rain or shine.
The one with the four seasons? We have. Rain until the fields vibrate in the sun? We have. Breathtaking landscapes, trails, bays, forests, cliffs, beaches? Now this! Sea city, art and history, center of the world over the centuries? Even by sailboat, submarine cable or seaplane. Full tables, hospitable people and eager to chat? Because of who you are, there is no shortage of film sets here, much less world-class stories.
Through the lunar gray of the land of the Capelinhos volcano, along the trails and verdant forests in spring tones (the autumn ones seem to be spectacular too) that Fred took us to, along the black sand beaches, through the bays. For the stories of men and whales told by Carla, for the stories of solitary trips around the world told by that adventurer called Genuíno, for the stories of a century of Peter told in the third generation by José Azevedo, for the stories of resistance to running step by Mário Leal, who made Faial the epicenter of the trail, for the whales and dolphins and the sea in general according to Pedro, for the foods from Aldina, for the harmonizations of Mariana and Franz, for the abundance of Rumar or Muralhas, for the surprises of Príncipe, I don’t know. There are many conversations we have to have, whether it’s Nuno’s cheeses, Joana’s ice creams or Cinzia’s vineyards. reborn from the ashes (it’s poetic because it’s like that). There are mysteries in Faial, there are many worlds; the suspense remains, that this was just explore territoryluckily with the help of Daniel Rocha’s scintillating photographs.
As for the colors, and so as not to think that this is all a cabal to remove the blue from Faial – especially since there is that Atlantic blue, that heavenly blue – all year round, allow me to quote Antónia Reis, a woman from Porto who happened to move to Faial because she loved Pedro Rosa, who I already mentioned at the beginning of this letter. She told me, that she was once a music teacher and has a keen sensitivity to arts and artists, that one day she went on a trip to the continent and, upon arriving in Faial, she realized something: that the blue of Faial is what is blue, bright navy blue, a blue-blue. Something else shines in Faial. We will have to revisit this blue. And open your eyes to all the other colors.
I hope you didn’t realize that Faial swept me off my feet. To hide this a little more, let me paraphrase Miguel Esteves Cardoso, who won’t mind at all: “I open Faial and I am filled with fear: this is not an island. It is a labyrinth. It is a secret. We are not allowed to see this!”. Fortunately, in this case, we are. Even invited to enter the secret. By the way, in fact, Miguel’s original sentence is about figs, which is what he writes about this week in Fugas. But, we already know, this is all connected and when this man writes about figswrites about the world.
