Capelinhos: Older than Dirt

Ruth: Gord, at 61, can now measure his age in geologic time. At this far corner of Faial we spent the day exploring the new land formed by volcanic eruptions that started in September 1957, shortly after he was born. Gord is indeed older than dirt, or at least some dirt.

Wandering around the Capelinhos peninsula where there used to be ocean was pretty neat. The partially buried lighthouse now sits way back from the new shore line. The ash coated moonscape was littered with volcanic bombs. It must have been terrifying when these projectiles were crashing down on your house.

The underground museum

While I fight off a cold and rest my achy old back there is lots of time for painting.

Gordon: We spent a couple of hours in the excellent museum at Capelinhos. Although it is located just in front of the lighthouse, and is connected to it, the museum is almost invisible because it has been constructed underground. We were shown several films and a holographic simulation of the various stages of the 13 month eruptive period at Capelinhos.

A bar graph on the wall indicates that the museum sees its fewest visitors in February. This was certainly our experience, as the well-staffed facility appeared to be open for perhaps five visitors this morning. I do enjoy the consistently high level of public services and infrastructure in Portugal. Today, as an expression of our appreciation, we consumed all of the fresh pastries available in the museum coffee shop.