One of the glories of traveling is getting to see odd and quirky airports over the course of one’s travels. A great many of the airports one sees as a traveler are massive monstrosities of multiple terminals and labyrinthine paths through security lines and service areas, but sometimes one winds up at a small and cozy airport that reminds us of the pleasures of travels and being able to interact with one’s fellow travelers. Ponta Delgada is one of those little gems of an airport that offer friendly and quirky aspects of the travel experience that are well worth describing in at least some detail as my limited time here allows.

One of the advantages that Ponta Delgada has over other airports is that it is set in a beautiful location, a verdant island full of buildings with red-tile roofs. When one lands at the airport and taxis into one’s gate, there is also the experience of deplaning through a stairwell with an opaque domelike roof over it that allows one to see the Azorean sky and the small airport building as one deplanes and then hikes over the tarmac to enter either the domestic or international or crew arrival doors. Once through the international arrival doors, one has a small and fast-moving set of lines, with a small line devoted to EU-EEU-and Swiss nationals and a larger line for everyone else. The staff is friendly and multi-lingual, and the passport control goes extremely quickly, reminding me far more of how Memphis was for me to enter than the horrors that one sometimes encounters in larger airports.

Once one leaves the passport control area, there is a place where one can go for those who are arriving to pass to baggage claim and exit the airport, and then another way one goes for transfers, which is the one I took. This deposits one in a small courtyard that has a drinks and tapas shop that i am looking at but have not gotten anything at, the Cockpit, as well as a large duty-free shopping area, a small set of bathrooms, and most interestingly of all, a free water fountain where one can refill one’s water bottle if one so chooses. There are plenty of tables to sit at and acceptable wi-fi to be found as well. On the other side of glass doors from this are the small gates themselves for the planes that serve this airport. I would have more to say, but it is nearly time for me to get on my next flight, so I must leave others to describe this place in more detail, if they choose.