M40間諜米格魯的秘密日誌

Praia de Almoxarife is just a short drive away from Horta. There are also 2-3 buses per day from Horta to Almoxarife (except for the weekends). It is a well-equipped beach, with showers, toilets, life guards, a small library on the beach and several restaurants nearby. To our surprise, the beach of Almoxarife is a certified blue-flag beach!! (There are several blue-flag beaches on the island of Faial, by the way)
The view of the pretty little town of Almoxarife and its blue-flagged black sand beach from the top of the drive down the hill towards the ocean.

There are not too many guidebooks about the Azores. Of the few that are still in print, some of them offer somewhat misleading information concerning the availability of beaches suitable for families with children. One of them stated that the Azores are not suitable for swimming due to the lack of sandy beaches.
Which, in my opinion, is not quite a correct statement. If your concept of sandy beaches comes directly from postcard impressions of long, white soft sandy beaches of the Caribbeans, then beaches of the Azores are not for you. There are plenty of secluded coves and sandy beaches here in the Azores, but they are not of soft, white sand, but coarse, black volcanic sand beaches.
Yet these black volcanic sand beaches have a unique beauty of their own:

Usually we take Illy to a professional dog groomer once a week to have a bath, but it turns out to be quite costly, so we decided to do it ourselves and reduce the frequency of her visit to the groomer to once a month instead.
But the problem of bathing a shiba inu at home is, how to ensure that all of her thick furs are dry?? The first few attempts at blow-dry end up with a semi-dry shiba - we had to dry her up in the sun, not sure if she would suffer from a sunstroke by being there for more than half an hour - until someone told us to try out the following tip:
Get a big box and put her inside. Illy was a bit confused about what she was supposed to be doing in this box. As it turned out, the only box which was big enough at home for this maneuver is this one from a TV home-shopping channel: it looks like we had just opened a gift box and found a Shiba Inu delivered to our doorstep!

現在出國(特別是去歐洲)最好隨身攜帶你的台灣身分證,以備查詢,因為越來越多的歐洲機場櫃檯地勤和移民官員,要求看台灣身分證正本,以確認你的確是台灣公民+你持用的不是變造或者偽造的台灣護照.
因為許多的歐洲人,出國時隨身都會有第二證件證明他們的國籍;他們的護照也跟台灣一樣,載有他們的身分證字號,一旦有需要就可以把身分證拿出來與護照相比對.所以歐洲機場櫃檯地勤和移民官員理所當然的認為外國觀光客也會隨身攜帶自己的身分證以備不時之需.

2年前有一次當我要從土耳其一個小港口坐船到希臘,在土耳其證照查驗關那裡等蓋出境章時,也是被要求出示我的台灣身分證,以證明我就是我本人.雖然我的護照已經蓋滿了希臘與土耳其的出入境章,那個官員還是堅持要看身分證.問他為什麼之前出土耳其境不用出示台灣身分證,現在卻要?他說這是新措施,以防止有人使用變造
或者偽造的台灣護照偷渡進入歐盟或者申根區.幸好我有隨身帶著我的身分證,否則那次就無法出境了.

Istanbul has a very comprehensive and efficient public transports system comprising of:
1. Scheduled ferry services along both shores of the Bosphorus

A scheduled IDO (Istanbul Deniz Otobusleri A.S./ Istanbul Sea Bus Corportation) ferry service that runs between Kadikoy on the Asian side to Karakoy on the Golden Horn.

Of all the cities I have lived in so far, Zurich actually ranks up there as one of my favourite cities of all time. I like living in Zurich, because it has the advantages of several other major cities:
a) Zurich is a very cosmopolitan place similar to London, with a highly diverse population profile, but is much more resident-friendly than London and certainly offers much better natural sceneries right on its doorsteps. And houses in Zurich are much better built and insulated than those in London.
 
The Limmat flows through the centre of Zurich into Lake Zurich. Along the Limmat there are exclusive boutiques, cafes, restaurants and shops. Elegant life style in Zurich comes at a hefty price tag, however: eating out is extremely expensive in Zurich. Be prepared to cook at home yourself most of the time unless someone pays for all your expenses. 

常常有在看這個部落格的讀者們應該會發現一個現象,那就是我很少推薦土耳其熱門觀光區的'廉價'旅館.原因其實很簡單:因為近年來我自己本身很少住青年旅舍或是廉價統鋪旅館(之前發生過好幾次烏龍事件,所以後來就慢慢地避而遠之了...),因此實在沒有什麼'廉價'旅館可供推薦給其他人 ...
事實上我算是相當重視住宿旅館品質那種人,尤其是旅館衛浴設施的整潔度和房間的通風度(因為對灰塵過敏),所以在選擇住宿時,只要價格不會貴的太過份(也就是與那一區的物價/房價相比還算合理),我會把房間舒適度,服務品質和地點列為最主要條件,價格倒是其次.因為我出門的目的是去玩,不是去因塵埃過敏而感冒咳嗽打噴嚏的.如果是非常有特色或歷史意義的旅館(或是由富有歷史特色之建築物所改建成的旅館),就算貴一點也不要緊,畢竟老建築物的改建與維修費用都不便宜,而歷史是無價的.花個50歐元住在一間有上百年歷史的精致小旅館真的不能算貴.加上我覺得自助旅行,應該要以安全為上,在個人經濟能力允許範圍之內,選擇設備較好的正規旅館,這樣一來如果不幸發生什麼意外事件,對自己的人身安全與權益也比較有保障.而且住宿的地點也很重要:尤其是獨自一人旅遊者,千萬要注意不要住在比較復雜的區域,別為了省幾塊錢而因小失大.
雖然土耳其的平均國民所得要比歐洲大多數的國家來得低許多,但是土耳其的日常生活費用,其實要比德國,西班牙等已開發國家來得高.這是因為土耳其的經濟通貨膨脹壓力非常的高(每年的通貨膨脹率為8-13%),加上能源費用超貴的原故:土耳其的國內油價,電價,水價等等都要比西歐國家來得貴,而且他們的國營電力公司效率不高,停電跳電是家常便飯.之所以土耳其會給人'低消費'的印象,主要是因為土耳其的人工要比歐洲大多數的國家來得便宜許多;許多土耳其的企業不是靠高品質或者高效率來競爭,而是靠雇用大量廉價勞工來降低營運成本.

Horta is named after Joss van Hurtere, a Flemish nobleman who founded a small settlement on Faial and which later came to be known after the transliteration of his name. The town is actually much prettier than I thought, and its surroundings and public infrastructure certainly are kept in a much better state than many of the towns on Mainland Portugal.The town is set amidst picturesque settings: with green hills in the background, blue oceans and the impressive sight of the volcano of Pico rising high up above the horizon into the clouds.

The promenade of Horta's marina.

To be honest, Madalena on the island of Pico gives one the feeling that it is just a point of transit; most people simply consider it a place of arrival/departure. As a result, the whole town has a somewhat 'irrelevant' feel to it. Apart from the  harbour (to catch a ferry to other Azorean islands), a few cafes and shops in the town's main streets, there is almost nothing which calls for serious attention.
The old harbour of Madalena. Basically there is nothing much to do in this town, except for getting off and on the ferries. There are a few cafes where you can spend your time looking at the sea while waiting for the ferries, but that's it actually. It is a bit boring a place to visit, even for a short day-trip. You certainly need a car if you want to explore the beauty of the Pico island.

It is very easy to cross over from Faial to Pico by ferry. Daily services by Transmacor (http://www.transmacro.pt ) depart from Horta to the habrour town of Madalena (on the island of Pico). As of August 2009, there are 6 sailings per day by conventional ferry. One way ticket costs 3.40 euro; children under the age of four can travel for free.
In addition, on certain days there are also a high speed catamaran that sails between Horta - Madalena (Pico Island) - Sao Roque (Pico Island) - Velas (Sao Jorge island). One way ticket between Horta and Madalena with the catamaran is 4.10 euro.