We flew to Sao Miguel Island in the Azores, from Lisbon. Like several airlines, TAP Portugal and SATA airlines allow for a free stopover. This means the airline allows you to add a stop to your destination. It is often offered to encourage tourism in the airline’s hub city. Some places offer promotions to encourage stopovers. We participated in Icelandair’s incentives in 2010. 
We decided to stay in Porta Delgada for 3 days, which is the largest city in Sao Miguel. We arrived on a morning flight and quickly picked up our SIXT car rental via an Expedia.ca booking. When in Europe you often get a standard transmission so be warned!!  All went smoothly. The airport is tiny! We were able to drive straight up to Furnas to view the Caldeiras and geysers within an hour of landing on Sao Miguel.
The weather in the Azores changes quickly. We experienced sun, clouds, and fog and luckily, very little rain.  The roads are windy and can bottleneck near popular viewpoints. The viewpoints are called Miradouras on maps. They are clearly labelled but parking can be limited. The narrow roads are lined with volcanic stone walls and hydrangeas. The island was never intended for cars and cows seem to be everywhere.
We checked into the Hotel Gaivota, booked through Expedia. We had an amazing 5th-floor harbour view suite with a wrap-around balcony and a huge double soaking tub! This was the best room we had in our month of travels. It included breakfast each day and we were able to walk to all events.

Ŵhale Watching
The next day, we enjoyed our dolphin and whale-watching tour from Moby Dick Tours. Even better was that the boat was docked a 5-minute walk from our hotel. They are a family-run business, and they worked hard to ensure lots of sightings. We saw many common dolphins playing at the bow and at least 3 sei whales a kind of baleen fin whale- one was a calf.  Many varieties of whales migrate past the Azores, so the end of April is an excellent time to visit to spot them.

Miradouras
On our last day on the island, we drove through the west and north parts of the island and stopped at the suggested miradouras (scenic viewpoints). We marvelled at the narrowness of the roads in the countryside and in towns. The cows are close enough to look in your car, from the hillside above.
In town, the buildings touch the curbs! Some towns have worked hard to restore their buildings and oceanside parks. We ate lunch at the beautiful oceanside Pedras de Mar Resort to take in the ocean views.  The narrow, winding roads do take additional time to travel. There are several hikes and a few tea plantations too. They are known for their little bananas, pineapples and tea! 
Good Food and Wine
We ate a variety of traditional meals from family-run restaurants. We enjoyed the best service from the Restaurante Nacional and appreciated the simple fare and friendliness of the Ponta Delgada residents.
We happened to be there for the 50th anniversary of Freedom Day. It is a national holiday that celebrates democratic values and the end of the dictatorship in 1974.
We used our eSIM purchased from Airalo which we activated in Faro. It was great to be able to navigate using Google Maps with the car rental. We could receive WhatsApp communications with my home SIM card and we had data with the eSIM. It was a convenient way to confirm tours and navigate when we had our car rental.
Our 8th airport and 5th airline in a month was a quiet place to wait for our flight home to Toronto. The Ponta Delgado airport is small and easy to navigate. It was impossible to get lost!