Antiques and Tea

The weather has been far from fabulous lately, and since Sao Miguel really is an outdoor destination, this has made my trip less than perfect. There are, however, a few spots that are fun to visit while it’s raining out.

The Museu M.J. Melo is set up to resemble a small village in times past. Every room encompasses a different type of shop, ranging from a newspaper’s printing room with various printing presses, to a carpenter’s workshop, to a clothing store filled with hats circa the 1920’s, corsets and gloves. For only two Euros a guided tour is provided through the antiques village and guests are made privy to the manner in which local artisans create their work.

There is a room with two looms, one of which was in the middle of producing placemats to be sold in the gift shop. The lady working there told us that threading the machine is one of the most time consuming parts of the job since the fibres have to be laced through a series of strings before the weaving may begin. For decorative affects, recycled fabric is torn into strips and woven into designs. The craftworks make rare and durable bedspreads, rugs, bags, and kitchen cloths, pot-holders et cetera. My mother bought me an assortment of objects for my home, and another bag (I had one from my last visit, which I still receive compliments on).

Another craft made at the museum are miniature sculptures of flowers and rosettes made of washed and dried fish scales, onion skins, and fig tree pulp. A lady was working on fig tree pulp rosettes and explained the process. After the bark is removed from the branch of the fig tree twigs, a razor blade is used to cut paper-thin discs from one end. Depending on how the disc is cut, it could become a leaf or a petal. Leaves are sculpted with a tool resembling a pin, which adds details such as leaf veins. Another fig tree branch is cut so that only the centre remains on the outer side (so that the branch looks like a spoon protruding from a can, only with the spoon sticking straight up). The petals are then glued on using special glue and a pair of tweezers. The work is done in stages, and is thus difficult to determine just how long the process takes. I imagine it is quite tedious work…at least for someone as un-crafty as myself! These works of art are also sold in the gift shop.

Another rainy day destination is the two tea factories on the island, Chá Port Formoso, and Chá Gorreana. The Port Formoso factory includes a video in various languages that tells the history of tea on the island and a guided tour of the machines used today and in the past while the Gorreana factory includes a self-guided tour. Both offer free samples of tea and you are welcome to wander into the field of tea bushes.

Originally tea was brought to Sao Miguel from Brazil as a decorative plant, but during the downfall of the orange trade in the 1800’s, experts were brought from China to teach the Azoreans about tea production. Tea has since thrived here, as there are no natural predators or diseases that can affect the plants here. This also means that the tea is pesticide free. The tea produced in the Azores is the only loose leaf tea grown in Europe. Seventy-five percent of the tea produced is sold in the region, but requests for tea are growing in the US, Canada, and mainland Europe. It’s undeniably the best tea I’ve ever had.