Who would have thought ? 2025 marks 20 years of blogging our pedestrian activities in the Algarve. Much evolution - some might say degeneration - AWW (1997), WAGS 1 (2015),WAGS 2 (2019). Sideshows: APAPS, Lagos COWS -and who knows? By next year we may morph into WADS ! The Hard Core is numerically challenged and a tad softer, but Ever Onwards !
WAGS 08.02.2023: Meia Praia, or Mad Dogs and Englishmen and All That
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One has to take weather forecasts "with a bit of salt", as they say. My weather map had Lagos bathed in sunshine from 9.30 am onwards. Antje´s forecast differed. And we both got it wrong. Read on. Here is her report.
"The weather forecast had changed several times in the morning. When Maria texted at 8 am “Are we
walking?” it was supposed to stay dry until midday so the answer
was a definite “Yes.”
So seven of us were assembled at
Lagos station café by 10 am. Hazel, Maria, Rod, John, Myriam,
Paul, and Antje plus Sascha. Chris had to opt out.
"This way" said the Leader, but nobody was listening.
It began to rain and some struggled to get dressed
Eventually, after a bit of help, Rod emerged
We were in no danger of "ciclying"
The plan was to
explore the newly erected walkway from Lagos to Meia Praia
Beach.
We started at the beginning,
opposite Sopromar shipyard and followed the walk´s curvy line until
we were stopped by an uncompleted link just before Meia Praia
station.
Then the sun came out, briefly
A Fashion Statement !
After the uncompleted gap of 2
meters, there are numerous off-shoots of the walkway leading to the
beach at intervals.
Steps and ramps
And then the walkway follows on until it reaches
the wall which separates the village from the golf course.
But the heavens opened at this point, rain-gear was unpacked again
and donned and the general consensus was to turn back now, rather
than go on to the end. So we walked back along the beach.
Paul spotted a dying gull. Don´t know why it is so blue
The beach was deserted; wonder why?
Extracting sweeties from Hazel´s backpack
Offshore, a storm threatened
But the
rains stopped when we reached our starting point.
Blue skies at last
Neither of our technical gurus managed to switch their tracking devices on, but here is a reconstruction of the track
About 5.7 kms.
Lunch was had at
Tasca da Lota, just opposite the station.
Peixe-espada
Robalo
Bacalhau á bras
Salada polvo
Secretos de porco preto
Leader AND Treasurer
"Oi, Ref ! He pushed me,."
No harm done.
A pretty uneventful
walk, trying to keep track of Sascha who disappeared at frequent
intervals into the dunes was the biggest excitement for your leader.
But we walked, we talked and enjoyed a tasty lunch together.
This, at the end of the day, is what we come for.
Antje "
Thanks for leading, Antje. Now to close, two bits of music; the second one by Burt Bacharach who died just the other day, the first Harold Arlen´s Stormy Weather.
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opposite Sopromar shipyard and followed the walk´s curvy line until
we were stopped by an uncompleted link just before Meia Praia
station.
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