WAGS 15 05 2024: Once More Unto The Breach, or Alvor Revisited

 Before we go on to this week´s walk, let´s catch up with those WAGS temporally dispersed across the globe. First, there was Dina, in Bergen which the last time I had heard of it was in Norway:

Then there was Rod equally far north in, I think, Skye and the Scottish Isles, showing camera skills which he could usefully bring on our domestic walks from time to time: his pictures will bring back memories to those who have walked in Skye in days gone bye.

Not sure which hill this is. Can´t be Suilven. Perhaps Preshal Beg. Maybe Rod will tell us. Looks pretty steep whichever it is.

and then this beast on St Kilda.

And finally Myriam:

standing tall in Truro.

And now to the walk; we are lucky to have two contributors who were on it. Hazel and Yves. It was indeed Hazel who once more stepped in to lead. Here is her Leader´s Report.

  It was a cool windy morning when we all met at the swimming sport club in Alvor.  Promptly at 9.30am we started our walk.  A kind stranger offered to take our Starter Photo and we insisted that Yves, being the only male walker, be seated in the middle of four women.  

The Starters: Tanja, Antje, Yves Maria, and Hazel.

That done, we commenced our walk up the dirt track, turning left onto the boardwalk.  We saw some beautiful dogs, enjoying their walk with their owners.  We continued along the board walk; we didn´t meet any friends but half way we had to stop at the beach restaurant bar to ask permission to use their toilet facilities.  The worker kindly let us, much to our appreciation.  At that stop I suggested to Antje that instead of drinking our coffee at the starting point, we should instead stop at mid point to have coffee so we can justify the use of toilet!  Think about it! (Pit stop knowledge always comes in useful.)

So we continued along the boardwalk to the end of the beach where the rocks and caves are.  I remember being there many years back when Rod led us there and I wanted to revisit and see the rocks etc for myself. 

 It is a private and lovely part of the beach.  Tanja said that is her favourite beach of all the beaches in the Algarve!  

He will never get in there.

After several photos and shoes securely tied and attached to our rucksacks, we walked back along the beach. 

 It was nice to feel the sand and water on our feet.  

There were lots of shells to collect.  It is great to be a child again!  I looked for unusual coloured shells to put in my garden.  Here is proof of it.

My intention was to walk to the breakwater but it was a long way away and some of us were getting tired of walking on sand, definitely harder work for the legs as I felt it the next day.  So we walked back to the board walk and for a short time were on it and then joined the main dirt track to walk towards the breakwater but stopped short, and decided to turn back. A small section of the boardwalk was closed off due to repairs, but we managed to join the main section of the boardwalk that finally took us all back to the beginning and so to the club coffee bar.  There we all had our usual order of sandwiches, bifanas and drinks with the help of Maria taking all the orders.  Lesley joined us for lunch as she had finished the matriculation paper work on her car.

Despite it being a short walk, we managed to clocked 8.2 km, stared at 9.30 and finished at 12.15.

And now for Yves´ idiosyncratic and masculine take on proceedings. He had also remembered to bring his camera.

When I arrived at almost the right time and near to the meeting place, JohnH´s blue car was parked quite peacefully under a tree and for a moment, I thought that he had driven it there… It soon became clear that some wily Oriental lady had filched his keys and made off with it. .

 This morning was a bit of a mixed bag: cool but pleasant, ever-changing light and colours, slow but steady (as befits our age), filled with femine-ish promise yet laden with feminine and feminist threats…

Be that as it may, someone had to keep up the flag for We Mens! Not ‘wee men’ as was overheard.

The boardwalk was busy but not unduly so and it was quite easy to dodge the odd bicycle without a bell and the many dogs who insisted on making friends with us: a large and heavy Labrador, a German shepherd and a Belgian shepherd who did not talk to each other but kept eyeing a rather large poodle on an adjacent path; last but not least a couple of wee Lassies: rrrather nice, too!

There was a lot to catch up with and the banter was even better than usual, if that is possible; now, here is a question that men of  ‘sagesse’ and sagacity may answer: how, By what trick or device CAN four wimmin ALL talk at once AND hear / pretend to ignore what the others are saying? The phenomenon has been observed before but being the only manly individual in the group this morning, it was truly pushed into sharp relief… over to the rest of you, Aristotle is baffuled on this point.

Tanja too was adept with her camera and took these shots of Yves in action.

and the result of his work:-

The boat did not stop to give them a lift

Once back at the pool café, the normal mayhem ensued with 3 out of the 4 bosses took the orders for the group; the 4^th slipped out for a moment, as was her wont… Incredible as it sounds, in due course and after Henry Kissinger’s-style to-ing and fro-ing (no, me neither ) some food appeared, nice it was, too! The beer was foul (memo to chaps: avoid Cristal: insipid, gassy and rather too fluid for mid/long term retention! Locate a loo if you must drink some of it!).

 The time came to say ‘good-bye’ too soon: an e-mail had flooded in from the girlie dealing with my tax-return and I had to dash to the Bank before the Sequestration Gang from Finanças got there! 

Still, a happy, chatty, silly morning: why change things?

The Track.

None recorded.

The Lunch

No photos were taken; apparently they were all too hungry to remember normal protocol but here is a genuine archive photo of one of the café´s bifanas.

Thanks to all for the pictures and to Hazel and Yves for their reports and to Hazel for leading yet again..

Stop Press

The following may be of interest to those who may be anticipating the possible resumption of the summer breakfast walks. A recent edition of UK´s Daily Telegraph has reported that the English Breakfast Society, who we have hitherto looked up to as upholding the traditions of the Full English Breakfast, has now said that masala beans, chorizo and bao buns can now legitimately be part of the Full English. As one correspondent to the paper wrote:-

"A stated aim of this illustrious society is to restore the tradition of the English breakfast to it s former glory. It is now clearly failing to do so."

Paul, who is in touch with the founder of the EBS will no doubt be taking this up with him. I, for one, can assure you that, if indeed I do resume the breakfast walks, I will not be asking any of our chosen venues to provide masala beans, chorizo or bao buns. I am quite happy to have a bao bun for a Chinese breakfast, preferably served with strong Malaysian kopi-oh heavily sweetened with condensed milk, but not as part of a F.E.B. Any way, enough of that.

Closing Music

Given the earlier pictures and thoughts of walking in Skye, here is something that fits in quite with with our theme of walking tunes. It is a Scottish military march tune with added words. For those whose knowledge of the Gaelic is a bit rusty, a cromak or crummack is a shepherd´s crook or along stick with a curved head.

CB (ret) Hon. Note. 

The continued cull of male members {not anatomically ) of the WAGS is of grave concern. Not least i didnt get a mention 

in the preamble though how John imagined that Myriam got to pose in front of Truro cathedral without  her trusty chaperone i am not sure.

      Anyway a bumper blog wonderfully photographed and eritten

However, perhaps Kipling had it right.