WAGS 26.102022: Medronho Slow March

 Those of you with exceptionally good memories will recall that last week´s Blog attracted a long comment from Paul (of no less than 425 words, for the record) in which he intimated, inter alia, that he would be unlikely to join future WAGs walks, either to walk or to have lunch with us, because he had committed himself to a series of Wednesday morning massage sessions. He is a free agent and of mature years, so he can of course do as he wishes. But, as Paramount Chief Blogger, he will I suspect be much missed. And the very fact that he came up with a 425 word comment indicates to me, and no doubt to others, that he is at heart a frustrated Blogger who longs to have his say and deep down does not like being cut off from this outlet. One solution that springs to mind is that, rather as I did a year or two ago when I submitted a series of incidental contributions to the main Blogs called The Guinea Fowl Chronicles, Paul could do likewise and could contribute a weekly inner column to the current Blogs called, perhaps, The Massage Parlour Memoranda, giving us a blow-by-blow account of his experiences. Our publisher will surely find room for his pieces. Just a thought.

And now here is Rod´s report for last Wednesday.

 " Back to usual timescale I'm afraid!

WED WALK 26/10

For a fleeting moment Paul's  unexpected appearance  suggested he was actually going to walk...(in fact he was breaking his fast unduly early)

but a quick glance at his delicate footwear and unblemished pink knees quickly dispelled that idea. So John & Hazel; Maria; a rejuvenated Yves showing very few post-Covid symptoms; Myriam, on her positively last appearance before embarking  along with Paul, on the first of their series of winter cruises; Frank, making a most welcome return from a lengthy lay-off;  and Rod gathered at the Honey Café on a warm but cloudy morning.  

One, plus Seven

The Seven set off past the Fire Danger Level Sign which was showing «high risk»

 and so to avoid any panic Maria helpfully reduced this to «low risk»

 (hopefully this will not encourage too many passers-by to chuck their fag-ends around!) and then past the seemingly inactive but well signed Patricia's old house / restaurant...the scene of many convivial lunches in days gone by....

 and then on uphill to our by now annual visit to the Medronho Orchard.

Look, Medronhos !

Mushrooms too were found

Spot the intruder

 As usual the friendly owner was busy tending his most amazing fruit bearing shrubs and as usual a lengthy chat ensued before we scrambled on up the steepish ascent to the racetrack perimeter fence with its view of the seemingly permanently empty hotel. 

"Steepish" !!!

Hard Going for Some

The track was actually pretty busy with high powered cars which were subsequently found out to be of F1 standard doing tyre testing.  

We wandered past the apartment blocks which seemed well occupied and on past the Portimonense FC practice pitch yet again  having its lush green turf assiduously mown. By the time we arrived at the top of the hill with the large water deposit where we had the best view of the track the cars had given up for the day...get nothing for free one supposes! 

Some rudimentary cairn building was attempted.

but we have some way to go before we reach World Cup standards

The path down was somewhat indistinct but we eventually arrived at the little bridge over what was once a stream down the old valley floor before the racetrack was constructed. 

The decking boards were showing signs of wear but we all arrived at the other side. 

We wandered along the perimeter track and then up the access road past the road name signs remembering local notables...

 until we reached the side track that probably is not meant to be...the wire netting, more of a symbol rather than a deterrent, was not too difficult to scramble over. 

This track  heads some way north but completing the loop was by now going to make us exceed time limits...such as they are....so we turned off right. One turning too soon as it happened, since we headed only to a large bunch of bee hives. 

No Through Road

 Discretion being  better than valour, we back-tracked, and the next main track returned us through the old cattle farm directly north of the racetrack perimeter. This is still mainly undisturbed, somewhat surprisingly, other than  the curious hillock presumably created for car grade-testing.  Unlike previous visits nobody ventured up...a sign of the times maybe?   

Myriam ignores the open gate

And so on back to the Honey Café. Perhaps we should  have taken the longer  route as the Café was still busy with a cyclist group and we had to wait a while for sustenance.

"Put those phones away !"

 but when it did arrive it was as usual well up to expectations. 

Food at last

Toasties

or Tostas

And, just as the food was served, we were joined by Chris and Antje.

The Track and the Statistics

We still managed nearly 8k but it seems to be rather the norm now that about a third of elapsed time seems to be spent motionless...yet another WAGS  walk parameter maybe?"

Thanks to Hazel, Myriam, Rod and Yves for photographic contributions.

Those obsessed with statistics might like to ponder the following. Rod and I use the same measuring gizmo called Outdoor Active yet his statistics have several differences from mine. For example, my figures show that I climbed 158 metres, yet his figures, shown here, say that his ascent was 113 metres.

As far as I know, I followed him quite closely throughout.

One of the local notables remembered in the roads signs shown earlier was João César Acordeonista. As we sometimes have a bit of music to close these blogs, I thought I would try to finsd some of his music.

As it happens, Portimão Museum are running an exhibition in his memory at the moment. Hre is the blurb.

On August 17, at 6:00 pm, the exhibition entitled “João César, A Magia do Acordeão” opens at the Portimão Museum, a tribute by the City Council and the Executive of the Portimão Parish Council to the accordionist, born in Portimão, who began playing solo at the age of 16 and also in several musical groups, performing in collectives, ballrooms, popular parties and hotels, not only in Portimão, but also in the Algarve and a little throughout the country.

This exhibition at the Museum is a historical retrospective of the self-taught musician, accordionist, considered a music icon in the Algarve, with a large number of record editions. With this initiative, we intend to honor the musician and the man who contributed so much to honoring the name of Portimão and its citizens. João César has always collaborated with all the musical expression groups in his land. He composed music for popular marches in Lisbon, Portimão and other locations and was an accompaniment musician for Mariette Pessanha, Fernanda Baptista and Simone de Oliveira, among other artists.

João César, was born in Portimão, on April 14, 1934 and soon, in an intense and successful self-learning, would reveal his passion for the accordion, as his instrument of choice, possessing great versatility and musical complexity.

Known as the “man of a thousand songs”, João César would be, in addition to being an expert accordionist, a talented, inspired and productive composer, having always collaborated with all the musical expression groups in his land.

As a way of keeping alive the memory of this accordionist from Portimão and honouring his valuable and committed contribution, in favour of the cultural richness of the accordion, an instrument of great tradition not only in the Algarve context, but also in the national and international dimension, Portimão has held annually since 2015 , the “João César Accordion Festival”.

The exhibition can be seen in August during the Museum's special summer hours on Tuesdays, from 7:30 pm to 11:00 pm and from Wednesday to Sunday, from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. From September to November until the 24th of November, at normal hours, on Tuesdays, from 2:30 pm to 6:00 pm and from Wednesday to Sunday, from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. The Portimão Museum is closed on Mondays and has free admission on Sundays, from 10 am to 2 pm.