WAGS 2026 03 25: Meia Praia, or Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

-


 The Blogger´s remarks section virtually writes itself this week, such was the volume of pre-walk messages on WAGSAL. With such already-written riches, no need for him to waste his time composing stuff such as the influence of Latin on Chinese cuisine in which few people seem interested. The sequence went like this.

“I can lead a walk this Wednesday .Meet at coffee bar at Lagos station for a 10 o clock start. Lunch at Tasca Lota near Lagos station. Please let me know.”

“Hi... we are taking my sister to the Airport on Weds morning so unable to join you.. Have fun.”

“I´ll join for the walk, but probably not lunch.”

“Count X and me in please.”

“I will be with you..

“I´ve just been told that I have to be at an apartment at 11.00 so mould can be taken off the bedroom wall´s of a friend´s apartment. It´s the only time it can be done and they arrive on Thursday. Would way rather be walking with you mob.”

“Olá conte comigo obrigada.”

“Need to drive X to the ophthalmologist tomorrow at 13.00. His eyes will be dilated so won´t be able to drive. Sorry to miss you all. Enjoy your walk. It will be very pleasant, just like today! See you next week.”

“We could be back for 12.30 . X and I have appointments at Lagos clinic tomorrow”

“Sorry X. Hope to see you next time.”

“Sorry to be late but yes will be there.”

“Me too. Very disappointed. It´s been too few and far between for me. But duty calls.”

“It´s at Alvor, I am a slow driver. Need more time that 30 minutes !! Besides, one is supposed to arrive at least 15 minutes before the consultation.”

“No problem. See you.”

“Just had Red Light (sic) treatment by dermatologist on head... rather uncomfortable today and advised to keep away from present high UV. So think I had better not come. Sorry. Can arrange to do something next week.”

“Sorry. Feel better soon.”

(Names have been omitted to protect identities.)

Is it for this that Paul established WAGSAL – to escape from all the chit-chat on the main WAGS chat? AL being Active List, I seem to recall.

The Leader´s Report

On a perfect day for walking John, Hazel, Maria, Yves and Antje met at the station cafe in Lagos. Sascha (who had already walked with me) and Chris joined us for the customary pre-walk bica.


Some wore smart new boots for the occasion

The Station Hotel beginning to take shape.

Pretty much on time, we set off in the direction of the small tidal lake where we noted the absence of the grey heron. We had seen him many times before. Instead we came upon some tethered Gipsy  horses. The rope of one had wound itself around a concrete boulder and so restricted  its movement.


 Against the advice of some more cautious members of our group I managed to free the rope without coming to any harm. I am sure the horse would have happily taken an apple from me, if I had had one?

The mimosa bushes were in full blossom

Heading towards the railway we encountered 8 high-viz clad railway workers, some of them armed with clip-boards and pencils. One lifted the lid of a concrete box, looked inside while another made a tick or two on a list.

We were told by their boss that the new carriages for electrified service would arrive in ca 3 years, so old ones  would start off the service, when it starts.

Onwards and crossing the beach road we paused for several minutes to watch a couple of workmen cutting some trees at the side of Quintal da Peixe “to  avoid” the electricity lines which go over that little hamlet.


Mimosa Buds

We then headed for the fields behind Vila Galé Hotel and the small  pine wood that houses the paintballing and tree adventure facility.

There Yves´ camera ran out of power mid-shot so that his lens would not retract. JohnH´s camera had a similar battery so that was extracted from JohnH´s camera and inserted into Yves´camera so that Yves´camera lens would now retract, after which the extraction-insertion process was reversed so that JohnH´s camera could continue to work. All this took time and, of course, it all required to be photographed too.




We all thought the pines need pruning since many lower branches were dried up and dead.

This time we encountered no cows with calves so walked on until we reached the road which leads down past the Iberia Star Hotel .......

and another large hotel under construction

.....and so on to the beach where we then took the walkway back to the station and to  Tasca Lota where Chris joined us for lunch. 

The Track and the Statistics 



Ending at 13.30 on the dot.

Lunch

Tuna salad


A huge tuna steak for Yves
Robalo

A substantial Bacalhua à Brás for JohnH

Lulas




Reportedly, the best chocolate mousse in town






A good meal after a good walk. Spring was in the air with, of course, spring flowers.


 No closing music but instead, a wee poem attributed, I think, to Ogden Nash (to be recited in a Bronx accent if possible)

Spring has sprung, the grass iz riz
I wonder where da boidies iz.
The boid iz on da wing. Ain´t that absoid?
I always hoid da wing wuz on da boid.


Comments

  1. Yves28 March 2026 at 21:10

    Sorry John, no contribution from me this week... I had not realised how my battery was and even the 3 shots that I 'bagged' were compromised!
    C'est la vie, je regrette.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WAGS 2025 10 29: Autumnal Thoughts, or The Sere And The Yellow

-
Image
  These blogs have, from their very outset, adhered to two inviolable principles – the first, always to avoid politics, and the second ( as Yves will doubtless testify), never to take the mickey out of the French. However, over these past few weeks, it has become impossible to resist the temptation to override those principles. First, there has been the example of M. Le Président Micron who keeps losing his Prime Ministers and then he loses France´s Napoleonic crown jewels. But we will not dwell on him. Then there was the sight of ex-Président M. N (for Napoleon) Sarkozy, marching off to La Bastille to the strains of La Marseillaise, convicted of trying to borrow money from a dictatorial Libyan called Gaddafi. (For heaven´s sake – no British high-up would ever dream of trying such a thing!) But was that a crime? If so, it illustrates the difference between British and French law. In Britain, one can do what one likes unless there is a law against it; in France, one can only do ...
Read more

WAGS 2025.09.24: The Bensafrim Air Show

-
Image
 On the first walk of the new WAGS season, we were well entertained by the Bensafrim Air Show. Although without the variety of aircraft one can expect to see at the Farnborough or Paris Air Shows, we were treated to a non-stop flying display for nigh on 3 hours. And we spent a great part of that time in waving our cameras at the sky, with varying degrees of success, it not being at all easy to pick out a small plane in the viewfinders of miniature cameras and mobile phones. We really needed the expertise of the absent Yves, with all his airshow experience and professional camera equipment to get the best shots. The Leader´s report has found its way to the Blogger with unsurpassed speed this week so here it is, plus a few editorial insertions. "The western Algarve was all action in view of the quite serious fire between Aljezur and B. de São João...but having checked that Bensafrim was clear of smoke...blowing well to the west in fact, we, John & Hazel, Antje, Myriam, Polly...
Read more

WAGS 2026 04 08: Aquas Belas Bird Song, or Making a Bit Of a Splash

-
Image
The Walk   At the appointed hour of 09.30 am, there were only three of us. Were the others overly concerned about getting wet in some rain? The skies above Para e Fica were blue. The Acu-weather forecast was positive.  But then, five minutes later, both Lesley and Yves arrived, so we were able to have a reasonably respectable Starter pic and to set off by 10.05 am. The first part of the walk was steadily up hill. Mercifully, the pace was slow, partly because Hazel´s mobile had been playing up, not been receiving inward calls, and fixing this, which was accomplished on the hoof, thanks to a solution proposed by Maria, meant more frequent pauses than is usual, even on a WAGS walk. During these technical breaks, Lesley busied herself identifying bird calls on her mobile bird song App. She told us proudly that she had identified a Dartford Warbler. None of us were much the wiser at the time,  but subsequently Wikepaedia research informs us that Dartford is a town in Kent whe...
Read more