Sete Cidades (photo from my 2016 visit)

As I get ready to return to São Miguel for a May visit, I remembered that in November of 2011, after meeting the poet Gabriela Silva from the island of Flores, who had come from the Azores to give a talk at the University of Toronto to a group of students, I was so moved by listening to her that I wrote a reflection based on that encounter, and posted it, first in Portuguese and then in English  in May of 2016, the year that I started my blog.

It’s now May, 2026 and on this tenth anniversary, the time has come for a return visit to São Miguel, Açores. Chegou a hora de voltar.

Lagoa do Fogo

Miradouro de Santa Iria

Viewing Vila Franca do Campo from the Ilheu