WAGS 19.04.2023: Return to Herdade de Parra, or Chinese Take-Over

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 Driving to Para e Fica Café that morning, I was a bit apprehensive that the Europeans were about to be over-run by the Han Chinese. Hazel and Myriam´s team had been augmented by Dennis and Dorothy, very welcome newcomers to our group, while Europe looked like being represented only by Antje, Maria and me. In the event, however, Rod had managed to drag himself out of bed at an unseemly early hour (for him) to make the 9 am assembly. So the final score was:-


Mind you, it had also been a close run thing a few months ago, when Hazel´s sister-in-law and family joined the APAPS, and (if rumours are to be believed) it will get closer still when Myriam´s siblings from Vancouver land here en masse.

Anyway, we all met at Para e Fica where Maria made sure that our orders for lunch were placed with the boss lady and then we drove a few kms up the road to Herdade de Parra.

The Starters: Rod, Myriam, Dorothy, Hazel, Dennis, Maria, Antje and JohnH.

Then there was the long downhill stretch to the Ranger´s Hut where Myriam took the opportunity to give us a lesson in elementary Portuguese from one of the new official notice boards attesting to the European Union´s environmental beneficence.



The last time we had been here (15.12.2020), the doorway to the Ranger´s Hut had been guarded by a wooden donkey, but alas no longer..


Then we found its skeleton discarded and abandoned at the rear of the building..



 and Maria lost no time in restoring it  



to its former glory



We then did a fairly gentle stroll round the circular track which leads above the barragem. Water levels were no that great. This is what they were, back in December 2020



 and this is what they are now (April 2023).


Looking at these waters reminds some of us (particularly Rod)  of the old Odelouca River and of the activities in its valley, now deep under water.

There was a friend of Rod´s who ran a sort of a farm where the main activity was the production of hooch in one form or another

Mike Pease, Antje and Janet enjoying a swig of the product (18.03.2007)


The third river crossing of the Odelouca (18.03.2009)


But now back to the present....

Dennis is encouraged to eat some sweets



The usual hint for the elusive 10 point cistus took place, to no avail




and, this being a nature reserve,  a sharp eye was kept out for signs of wild life. Eventually, Hazel was successful




Back at the Ranger´s Hut, we braced ourselves for the long slog back up the hill




Some galloped along; others took a more measured approach to the challenge.

A statement of intention? More to come?

The Statistics and the Track


and The Track


This makes an interesting comparison with the track for the AWW walk which Rod led back on 18.03.2009 before the valley was flooded, when we waded the river three times

 

That one was a bit longer than 6.3 kms!

Then it was back down the road to Para e Fica for refreshments and lunch, where we were joined by Chris. Normally, table talk at these lunches is 99% basnter but, on this occasion and certainly at the north end of the table, the talk was rather more serious. Issues discussed were Portuguese citizenship possibilities for Digital Nomads and the differences between Official Languages and National Languages. Is this a portent that we are going to be more intellectual in the future? What´s your opinion?


The menu was quite a surprise. Whereas in the past it used to be a choice between two dishes, .now there were five or six to chose between.

For some of us, the star was the Queixado no Forno


Pork cheek, on the bone, cooked in the oven, excellent stuff.
 

There were Lulas Frias...



There were Favas with Rice too..



and for Myriam, Favas with Rice and Chips.


The desserts were OK too.

Fruit salad

and a chocolate mousse that moved to quickly for the camera.

and, for Antje, a traditional touch to her coffee


All very encouraging from the food point of view and, what is more, the boss lady confirmed to me that she would be delighted to do breakfasts for the APAPS again in the summer.

Now, somewhat irrelevantly, you all probably know that Paul is a lover of words, the stranger the better. Recently he entertained us on WhatsApp by telling us about the Finnish word "kalsarikannit" which apparently means "drinking at home, alone, in your underwear."

He could also have told us, but refrained from doing so, about the Finnish word "poronkusena" which is a measurement indicating the distance a reindeer can travel without having to pee - approximately 7 kilometres. Coincidentally, about 7 kms is the average distance of a WAGS walk these days. So, if we use the word "poronkusena" in future in connection with our walks, you will know that we have done our average.


 And now the closing music. A Slow Boat to China. Why not?









 


Comments

  1. Paulo a Pe23 April 2023 at 09:23

    Nice one John. It is not easy being the 'Only Blogger in the Village'. I notice the blogs are becoming highly pictorial, which is another example of "Plus ca change...." May I take anyone who reads as far back as the comments to the earliest blogs which I inaugurated in February 2006 almost exactly a month before John and Hazel arrived in the Algarve. This Blog asked the question @What For??, and indeed, over the last 17 years we have seen how the blog and the AWW/WAGS organically developed, yet never really achieved the reaction and comments that I had hoped. Perhaps it was that most of our members were dinosaurs, and while they had mastered the art of reading and looking at pictures at an early age, they were paralysed there and could not work out how to reply.
    This is the first ever: https://algarveww.blogspot.com/2006/02/what-for.html
    One picture and a few words from me - Null comments, and ergo no answers to the question!

    The second blog consisted of no pictures, a walk description and Alleluia., the first ever Blog Comment from Mike! 13 walkers 5 dogs, and in those pre GPS days a Trial of the Bamboo diagrams conducted by Janet under the supervision of myself. Despite her propensity to chat and take her eye off the diagrams, with a little prod here and there we made it, and generally deemed a success, though from records, the only ones who took to the scheme were Mike and myself.
    Here it is.
    https://algarveww.blogspot.com/2006/02/wednesday-8th-february-2006.html

    I don't intend to go on but to prove my point that not much changes the 3rd blog was a retrospective of the 2005 Christmas lunch, and consisted of 1 picture and 3 sentences!

    Voilà:- https://algarveww.blogspot.com/2006/02/2005-christmas-walk-and-lunch.html

    And back to regular blogging in the early days. the next blog was one picture with a sentence beneath.

    Soon the first account written by someone other than myself - Myriam and I were away and David Littlewood sent me a note (no Pictures) which I duly posted on the Cyberspace.
    Didn't mean to make this a complete history, but just to note after the high days and glory days of the AWW, John is reverting somewhat to the format of lots of pictures with one or two sentences. And why not. He has no help and precios little respons. The aim is the record and it is sufficient to do it visually with minimum explanation and occasional videos which we have learned how to post.
    And the future: I hope to see audio/video blogs as soon as someone figures out the technology. Or maybe podcasts, with designated weekly speakers sitting round a table with beer in hand discussing the walk and making humorous banter a priority, Volunteers?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Myriam26 April 2023 at 06:38

    Paul''s effort of all those years are, fortunately, kept alive by John!! We hope the tradition will go on. Paul' s prediction for the changes of future blogs are interesting. Anyone likes to try?

    ReplyDelete

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