Diane, With such a brief stop on Faial, your most efficient use of time might be to ARRANGE IN ADVANCE for a bilingual driver/tour guide to show you around the island. Can the travel agent booking your cruise help you with this as well? Or if not, perhaps a concierge on shipboard can, during the cruise. Explain that you want particular emphasis on seeing Feteira, Horta and Flamengos, and tell the driver your family surnames from each of those towns. It's been 8 years since I used a driver/tour guide on Faial, but back then the standard charge was 20 Euros/hour; it may well be more now, but at least that gives you a ball-park figure. You'll also likely want to tip your guide (20 Euros extra, perhaps).
>From comments others have left here, I gather that the Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Regional (Horta public library and archives) no longer permits hands-on examination of old baptismal, marriage and death registries (I was last there in late spring 2008, when it was still allowed). While the new Horta public library (early spring 2008) is lovely, be aware that most of the staff (although wonderful folks) speak no English. Hope you enjoy your stop on Faial. Be sure to get a gin-&-tonic or Coke-with-lemon-slice at Peter Café Sport, which they'll even allow you to take outside to drink so you can enjoy the scenery! Katharine. -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership."
