Flores Island is an island of the Western group (Grupo Ocidental) of the Azores. It has an area of 143 km², a population of approximately 3907 inhabitants, and, together with Corvo Island of the western archipelago, lies within the North American Plate. It has the westernmont point of Portugal in Monchique Islet and, if considered part of Europe (though it sits on the North American Plate), it is the westernmost point of the continent as well. It has been referred to as the Ilha Amarelo Torrado (English: Yellow/Auburn Island) by marketing and due to the association with poet Raul Brandão, but it is well known for its abundance of flowers, hence its Portuguese name of Flores.
The trip that Max planned for us kept our relative travel inexperience in mind. It gave us sufficient variety in terms of locales and points of interest to make the trip navigable yet interesting and at the same time, comfortable and relatively stress-free. As a long experienced traveller himself, he chose our hotel locations well so as to have many points of interest in each of our destinations well accessible. We were able to see and experience many points of interest in each city we found ourselves in without having to depend on taxi or transit services. We walked a great deal as was our choice. Intercity travel had some challenges but this was entirely out of Max’s control. We were able to get to where we needed to be without significant disruption. Overall, Max’s experience as a seasoned traveller himself served us in good stead. We had a well thought out itinerary and had a wonderful experience.
