WAGS 2025 10 01: Meiai Praia Light And Shade

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  Antje led the walk from Lagos Railway Station. Her report with full names and pack drill has not yet arrived but, until it does, her report now follows.

The Starter photo was duly taken.

 Hazel was late for the first shot but eventually made it.
Those Present: JohnH, Maria, Rod, Antje, Chris the Official Starter, Hazel, Christel,
Usha, Lesley, and Dagmar.

Usha is Christel´s sister and Dagmar is staunch supporter of Alloa Athletic Football Club founded 1878. 


This was possibly the first WAGS walk , maybe the first of any of our walks over the years, where there were no less than FOUR German ladies in the Group. Paul will no doubt check his archives.

Antje´s Report

Nine Starters turned up for the 2nd WAGS walk of the summer schedule.
We were the regulars, John, Hazel and  Maria, Rod and Antje, Lesley plus her visitor
Dagmar as well as Christel who joins us whenever she is in Portugal plus Christel´s
sister Usha.
Together we skirted the little tidal lake behind Mike and Jyll‘s house but
when we came to the access of the walkway, Dagmar left us to walk at her own
speed while the rest of us crossed the road and headed across grass land  to the little pine wood.

By now it was warming up and the shade was appreciated  by all. We noted  thatthe  lower  branches  of the trees were all dead and some forestry work wasneeded. No caterpillar nests were obvious.

But The shade did not last long and we walked on until the path headed down to the little station and the beach walkway.

From there some stayed on the walkway while some decided to take advantage
of the shade offered by the apartment blocks and took another route back to the start.
Restaurant Bar Lota near the station was the choice for lunch and Chris was there
waiting for us, having organised a table., and Dagmar rejoined us





 


The sun was bright and the temperature was rising. So we took shelter from the sun when ever possible.

For me, the high light of the walk was when Maria took the time and trouble to explain to Cristal and her sister the subtle difference in English between "shade" and "shadow."

The English Lesson




The Track and The Statistics




The Lunch





Bacalhau á bras

Camarões

Cavalinha

Bacalhau com grão

Salada de polvo

Chiaroscuro

The point made earlier about the difference between "shade" and "shadow" is that there is no difference in Latin-based or Romance languages as there is in English. By and large, French, Italian Latin, Spanish and Portuguese just have the one word which does double-duty.eg. "umbre" or "ombre."  German, I think, has "schatten."

All this, of course, makes our choice of music this week quite interesting. I could have chosen the rather sickly Andy Williams version of "The Shadow of Your Smile" of the more cheerful Dean Martin song "The Sunshine of Your Smile." - two sides of the same coin? Or I could have chosen the Fats Waller composition "On The Sunny Side of the Street," that´s the one with the opening lyrics which go:-

"Grab your coat and get your hat.

Leave your worry on the doorstep.

Just direct your feet 

To the sunny side of the street."

But I thought that I would go instead for something a trifle rarer, and that is a recording of a piece by Johnny Hodges and Gerry Mulligan called "Shady Side." It´s a bit longer than most of my choices of music but it will serve to stop me waffling and to pass the time while we wait for Antje´s report which I will insert later when it comes. What makes "Shady Side" intriguing is that it uses the same musical chords as "On the Sunny Side of The Street" but transposes them from the major to the minor, hence the name. As Cole Porter wrote, "How strange the change, from major to minor." You may also like the tune.



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