WAGS 28.12.2016 Pt 2: Stretching The Point

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A half-dozen panoramic versions of the Lagos art works.

 

 

WAGS 28.12.2016: Now We Are Six

(With apologies to AAMilne)

John, John,
Myriam, Myriam,
Geraldine, Hazel, Marie.
Took great care of their Leader,
E-very Wed-Nes-Dee.
John, John,
Myriam, Myriam,
Said to the Leader
With glee,
"You must never go down,
To the Street Art in Town,
Without first consulting We"

And so it came to pass that the aforementioned five, met with their Leader Paul at ten in the forenoon at the Cafe do Bairro in Lagos, in eager anticipation of an unparalleled tour of the wonders of Lagos.

Start at Cafe do Bairro.  L-R: Paul, Hazel, Myriam, John and seated Geraldine and Maria.

 Rogue Paparazzi trying to hide behind a chair to snap the WAG Celebs

This was the second time I had run this tour, so some photos of the art will be similar, but hopefully this time by a better photographer, as John H had his trusty Sony and his artistic eye.
The previous event can be found  HERE which will save me posting any of my photos again.

Worth having a look at the track here, to get an idea of the scale of Lagos, the walk was about 10km. Start point is marked at Cafe do Bairro above and to the right of the centre of the photo

  This time there were twice as many participants, so if the trend continues it may have to be a ticket only event, as with the increased number of interested viewers our pace was considerably slowed. Twice we were passed by two old ladies carrying shopping baskets, and once by a fat old man on a mobility scooter!  In future, I may have to build in some extra time to account for Hazel's frequent forays into the undergrowth to liberate plastic bottle caps from redundant bottles to add to her impressive curated collection.

We actually got going a shade before 1030, having lingered over coffee at Cafe de Bairro. It was a fairly brisk morning by Algarve standards, around 11C.

    Straight to one of the more dramatic pieces on the Avenida.

Just as we arrived, a scruffy German camper pulled up and parked in front of the artist's signature before letting his new puppy out for a dump, but the photographer skilfully managed to excise that. The artist is Aryz, and the painting was done in 2014 as part of the Labaratorio de Actividades Criativas initiative entitled ARTURb IN MY WALL and was quite controversial at the time as many locals disliked the subject matter.                                             .

     Slouching past the Marina.

From here we headed for the Woodman painting, expressing perfectly a philosophy of life in the Algarve.

Again we took to the rural part of the walk near Continente at the top of Avenida da Fonte Coberta, and unfortunately the convenient tunnel was flooded so we carried on and passed Restaurante Vai e Remos to reach the vertical bus.

        This photo was the result of...........

.........this effort by Snapper John.


Some time passed, Myriam tried to blag a calendar from an Electrical shop, but as it was only 28th December they hadn't arrived yet. The ladies made friends with a bewildered alsatian who had seen his chance to see the world when his owner had left the gate open. Spikey, as we learnt his name was, safely returned to a castigation from the lady owner.  The pace was unhurried and we entered a playground where there was a chance to exercise other parts of the body.

On, on and on back towards the centre. Down to the first underpass where we couldn't resist re-enacting the picture.

The other side of the road was the very notable piece exhorting passers by to disentangle themselves from the trammels of everyday life..........

    and 'leave your shit behind'!

This was done in 2014 by a visiting Portuguese artist Mario Belem.

Further on an inspirational man, Lord Baden-Powell adorns the Scout Troop HQ.

Straight after this the second underpass was again adorned on both sides......

A 2014 piece by Pipsqueak was here!!!

A better shot than last time as the regular cars were not parked in front . By Daan Bottlek in 2016, a variation on (Maria) Newton's Cradle.

I for one was getting rather peckish by this stage, but attempts to hurry the group fell on deaf ears. We hit the most heavily painted area in Rua Lancelote de Freitas, and necessary photography was not the only reason for slow progress as Hazel and Maria found many places to windowshop.

A form of Gordian Knot by Mar, a Portuguese and a collaboration of some exotic tile designs by Add Fuel with interspaced representations of Picasso by Eime, also Portuguese, all from 2013

 A fantasy painting of eagles, greyhounds, speedboats and sharks from the fevered imagination of  Draw, a Portuguese, Onur and Wes21, both Swiss.

A wonderful depiction of a crouching woman looking at a fish near the Cultural centre by Bezt, a Polish Artist.

                             

Here I saw my opportunity and diverted to Cafe Odeon, beloved of backpackers and a long time holding the No. 1 spot for cafes in Lagos in Trip Advisor. Luckily by about 1315 hrs, which it already was, we managed to secure a tight table of 6 seats for an All Day breakfast.

                                                                                                                                                                             This is what being a WAG is all about. The Eggs Benedicts were produced, along with two   Odeon Breakfasts and two Vegetarian breakfasts, Myriam got her camomile tea John had a glass of wine (red goes with bacon and eggs, apparently) and Paul and Maria had their essential coffee.

                                                                                                                                                                                             Eggs were attacked before I remembered to take the pic!                                                                                                                                                                                                                   And all this for less than €5 per head including a decent tip.

Rejuvenated we pressed on with some more to see before we made it back to Cafe do Bairro,

A bar entrance in Central Lagos

A Guard Dog near the Benfica Footbal Club meeting bar

 

 

                                 Appropriately on the side wall of a Strip Club.  

                                                                       

and time for a last drag as we headed uphill to the City walls.

Unfortunately, the LAC offices and Exhibition were not open, which enabled us to finish our 10km sojourn in under five hours. We did note the sentiments expressed by Jorge, one of the local artists on the walls of the prison.

Right next to GNR HQ

and finally:-

a heartfelt sentiment, probably directed at Tourists from the Lacobrigensas.

Five minutes later we were eating again, back at our place with an excellent Christmas cake created and iced by Hazel. Delicious!!!

For the record, here are the stats as culled from my Garmin GPS.

“One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.” 
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,

WAGS 2016 12 21: Questions of Orthodoxy and of Orthography

 

“What is truth? said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer.”

                                                                       (Francis Bacon 1561 – 1626)

Well, he wouldn´t have found it either had he been a member of WAGS. But, if he had been, he might well have been provoked to enforce the draconian Roman laws about advertising standards on our Leader; for this is what the circular email for 21st December said:- 

“Café Oriq on Silves - Porto de Lagos road about 1km towards Silves from roundabout on Portimao-Monchique road at Porto de Lagos. 10.00. (should be open for coffee by then). Walk within normal  WAGS limits.” (My underlining.)

As PaulAdeV points out, the reality which we encountered, of 45 degree climbs, pushing through gorse,  traversing multiple fences etc., etc., fell well beyond WAGS norms.

The Starters, all of whom managed to finish.

There were also four canine companions – Misty, Inky, Jess and Shadow. Apologies if the names are incorrect.

The Track  courtesy of Rod´s AlpineQuest app.

Distance: shall we say 6 km. Moving time: 1 hr 42 mins. Average moving speed: 3.4 kph.

The Leader´s Report

“A hasty contribution; heavy domestic activity precludes more!

“A  good selection of WAGS turned out on a splendid day....Paul, Myriam, John, Hazel, Geraldine, Maria, Ingrid, Tony, Peter and Rod .....and there immediately  ensued an argument as to whether our meeting establishment was called Cafe Oriq, as spelt by the leader  who of course knew best, or Cafe Ourique. The correct " Oriq" was incontrovertibly proven by the faded name painted on an ancient anfora in the forecourt. (More on this later: Ed.)

“Having resolved that, our leader then led everyone up the garden path behind the cafe. This was quite pretty until it lived up to the description by abruptly ending in a steep ascent through scrubby cistus. Moans and groans of course and mutters that this was not WAGS territory. A more acceptable path was reached at the top and although we were obliged to climb over, under or through assorted fences which no longer seemed to serve  much purpose, we stuck to tracks thereafter. There were plenty of all-round views towards Monchique, Portimao, the Arade estuary and down onto the large Edp substation out of general sight down in a wide hollow, as well as plenty of ups and downs to maintain some  level of respiration. A shortish walk in territory not visited for a decade but perhaps enough bearing in mind other seasonal activities.”

A fair summary I suppose, although it does seem to spare Paul´s blushes. Paul is one who takes justifiable pride in the perfection of his gear and kit but, on this occasion, barely 30 seconds into the walk, one of his poles telescoped shut under his weight and wouldn´t re-extend, and it was only thanks to Ingrid who, experienced walker that she is, always has spares for any emergency, that they could nip back to the car park to collect a replacement stick. While the rest of us hung around for 5 minutes or so, a local horse regarded us quizzically:-

Then we were off, along that beguiling garden path, only to be faced by an almost impenetrable hillside. However, Rod and Hazel between them found a way up and the rest of us followed with degrees of difficulty. Some strange concrete drain sumps with stout iron grid covers were sunk into the hilltop for no discernible reason.

 

We admired the EDP installation while we caught our breaths and then broke into the large private estate. The fences were in a rather dilapidated state; perhaps the owners have other things on their minds at present.

Various other barriers were negotiated without too much trouble………...

 

Myriam hamming it up of course for the benefit of the cameras:-

Good views as the Leader´s report says, over a remarkably rugged bit of landscape,

and to the north over the Odelouca valley.

Going down into the valley, Hazel found some mushrooms

Passing by Casa das Corujas brought back memories for some.

 Pictures of the Odelouca bridge were taken.

 

It did all end happily though and the tostas were good, as Paul remarks.

The debate about Oriq/Orique then reignited in a gentle sort of way,with learned contributions by Ingrid and Rod.

The restaurant itself bears no name on its frontage, but a little investigation did reveal that the operating licence pasted to its front door uses the words “Restaurante Ourique”, as indeed do its faturas simplificadas.

However, the ancient ânfora clearly shows “Oriq”. Maria pragmatically pointed out that it would have been clearer to paint the four letter version on the surface of the pottery than the longer one.

The longer official version, or the romantic abreviation? Take your pick.

Post-Scriptum

Perhaps we could have gone to the left. Ah well, next time.