The landscape, framed by the blue sea and sky, is so stunning that strollers often break stride just to enjoy the view. The hillsides are specked with small, whitewashed houses. Walls built of black lava serve as backdrop to dairy cows grazing in the verdure fields. Regimented ranks of hydrangeas, violet and white petals nodding in the breeze, hedge the narrow, twisting roads which meander over the islands. The stillness presses on the ears of city-dwellers.
Waves wash the black cliffs with white froth.
Houses boldly creep up to the sea front like a dare. Vehicles are scarce. Dairy farmers are as likely to ride clip-clopping mules laden with milk churns as cars. The Azores, Europe's westernmost outpost, are largely undeveloped. Most people live modestly from fishing or farming.