WAGS 27.12.2017: Twixmas Beach Walk

I haven't been able to track down the etymology of 'Twixmas' - perhaps a question for Nigel Rees and his 'Quote - Unquote' Newsletter, whose January 2018 Edition just arrived in my Inbox.  Should any subscriber to this blog wish to find many fascinating facts about words phrases and usage, I can refer them to the site  HERE   where they will be able to decide.

    Anyway, I am sitting here with time on my hands, waiting for the Chief Photographers contribution with his shiny new Sony Christmas present, and some delay is entirely legitimate given that he has been detailed as Chef du Jour and has to feed 12 Hungry Hope's tonight.

  ' Tant pis, tant mieux!' an interesting translation of which I just found in the above mentioned Newsletter  " My Aunt, having relieved herself, felt a good deal better "!

   And so I have time for an epigram on hiking footwear.  Rod had hit on a new way of increasing the calories burnt by WAGS, without resorting to uphill and downhill clambers - make them walk on soft sand where one step equals at least the effort of two normal steps. We proceeded along the savagely banked soft sand of Praia Grande on a falling tide without the benefit of caffeine at the start to bolster morale. After about 4 km of this we turned inland on to firmer terrain, and I was wondering why I was feeling so abnormally tired after only 4km. Soft sand alone did not account for it, nor the headwind on our outward leg. And then I had my Eureka moment.

     All summer long I had been wearing lightweight Salomon Speedtrak walking shoes, but on this occasion, with the impending rain and lack of topographical info in Rod's calling circular, I had thought it prudent to sport my Salomon 4D GTX Goretex walking boots. My legs were tired, and as I plodded my thoughts gelled, enough to make me conduct a little experiment when I reached home.

Used for the Twixmas Walk: Salomon 4D GTX Goretex boots weighing in at 768 grams each

  Normal summer WAGS footwear: Salomon Speedtrak weighing in at 315 grams.


Simple mathematics will suffice to show that I had an additional 453 grams ON EACH FOOT.  (As the mathematically educated will know,  One Imperial pound is just in between 453 and 454 grams) So each time I am lifting a foot to take a pace, I am hoisting an additional 453 grams or 1 lb.
    On this walk, my Withings Fitness watch informed me that I had taken 14,041 steps, which doing the maths means that during the walk I lifted an additional 6360.6 kg or 14022.7lbs or 1001.6 stones.
   Is it any wonder that my legs were more tired than usual, even allowing for the recent seasonal excesses.
On top of this (see what I did there?) I was wearing my winter weight Tilley Hat, which weighs in at 149 grams as opposed to the latest stone grey technical TTCH1 model which is a mere 96 grams. 
   On such weight differences, Formula 1 races are won and lost.   And don't even start me on the penalty of carrying a wet-weather poncho, a winter weight gilet and an additional fleece jumper.

(At this point, having successfully negotiated his Communist Themed Fusion Dinner for 12, the photos arrived! 2003 hrs)

The Walk

The start was to be at the cafe Massa Fina in Praia do Vale. Happily we all made it there in good time despite it not being a regular starting point, only to find the cafe closed, and according to Rod no other viable source of caffeine within a comfortable distance. The Baristas of Praia do Vale clearly make enough in the season to afford themselves a leisurely break over Twixmas.

John produced his new mini Gorilla pod and Sony BionZX camera and we were able at last to get a start photo with all participants at the same time!

Splendid colour and clarity from the new camera, Myriam manages to appear the shortest in the group, but she assures me she is NOT!
L-R  Myriam, Tony, Geraldine, Hazel, Rod, Paul and John (4 out of 7 sporting Tilleys)

 Tony makes a point!

A short way along the beach we came across a rock feature which provided amusement for some......

Taken with Myriam's OnePlus 3

Taken with John's new Sony.

Myriam pulling the plug on the beach.

Soft sand for 4 km. (taken with Paul's OnePlus 5)

Some horses appeared at the top of the beach, but luckily were not bothered by Tony's dogs!

Soon we reached the turn round point where Rod remembered a river cutting us off from Armacao de Pera, but this didn't exist at beach level though the 'salgados' behind must be draining somewhere.
  We went back through some scrubby former terrain which was littered with rubbish.

and soon some much easier walking on a well made and robust boardwalk.

Further on the boardwalk became less well built but still a relief after the soft sand!

and then Rod decided we needed some more sand, and chose a path he remembered in front of some luxury houses. where it was clear the owners were discouraging pedestrians, as the paths had reverted to the dunes.

Shortly we hit the road and went to try Pedras Amarelas for our post walk snack, but as it was past 1 pm by then, the restaurant was quite full and only serving lunches.  We repaired to Massa Fina, our starting point, and debated whether a 10.59 km walk merited a luxury Italian lunch. It did. as the first 5 km on soft sand was worth double the distance.

Our track.

Honour satisfied! Ignore the total time and overall average as I forgot to take the picture until after lunch! 2 hrs 50 for 10.59 km is not bad.

The lunch was befitting a WAGS end of year event.

Tony and dogs had another engagement before this pic was taken.

Myriam went for a calzone, but it was more like a scarpone da montagne

Hazel and Geraldine chose the Pizza Supreme......

...while I went for the bacon-rich Pizza Massa Fina. The food took some time to come but the crusts were certainly fine and served hot.

Rod who was saving himself for yet another gourmet dinner had a modest pair of crostini. 

John went for a spaghetti dish, for which I have no name. Anyone?

Should anyone wish to improve their skills to John's level then I can commend enrolling on a course such as THIS

The pizzas were prepared in this hi-tech pizza oven which also kept the room warm.

We lingered a while and finally took a finisher photo (without Tony, nor John's Gorilla pod) feeling pleasantly replete and less tired.

The final walk of 2017, and lets hope 2018 brings some pleasant walks and equally pleasant refreshments.

‘Comrades, you should analyse your responsibility. Your stomachs will feel much more comfortable if you move your bowels and break wind’ – a thought of Mao Zedong from a speech at the Lushan Conference (23 July 1959).

WAGS 20.12.2017 Secret Christmas Lunch

As with most things WAGS, this was completely unannounced and unplanned, as we do favour a bit of spontaneity at Christmas - not for us dredging through accounts of funds gathered, booking expensive venues and agonising over a number of choices before the day.
    Unfortunately Rod dropped out of the walk at the last minute as he is still determined to achieve 50 years of undetected crime, and going off and enjoying himself was going to put that in jeopardy, as there were a number of unfulfilled tasks assigned to him.
    However, Chris made a comeback of sorts after his Indian safari accompanied by Antje and Sasha; Frank also made the effort with Shelly. and Peter turned up dogless, leaving Sonia attending to the garden.
   And so we were six; only 5 of which could be snapped at one time! We drove to Atalaia rather than lead the dogs along Avenida da Republica from the Cafe de Bairro which was our rendezvous.

Starters lined up in the parking lot opposite the Atalaia Restaurant: L-R Antje, Myriam, Peter, Chris/Paul, Frank.
Sasha and Shelley

Chris opted for Plan B, which was to drive to the start of the coastal path above Porto de Mos and walk West along the coast. Meanwhile we were going to lope slightly more vigorously up behind the Boa Vista Golf Course to the Luz Trig Point via the Eagles Nest, and then meet him somewhere along the coastal path.

     A fairly uneventful walk. Sasha didn't avail herself of the Bar de Animais, but Shelley showed some interest.
         

 Some bouncing dogs in a Quinta along the road to the Eagles Nest.

Unfortunately by the time the shutter clicked, only the tall one was left in view!

Luckily we entered the access path to the cliff tops before lunch as it seems to be getting more narrow.

At the trig point it was one magnificent view.........

......after another!

Chris hadn't met us yet so a friendly Dutch couple obliged with the photo, and helpfully informed us we could get back to Lagos if we carried on along the cliffs!!

Chris met us a bit further on, cunningly, before he had to make the last small ascent of the path, and looked well and in good shape.

Back where the path descended to Porto de Mos, Chris went to pick up his car and drive to our appointed lunch venue, Sergio's at Pedra Alcada, and Frank went with him as he wanted to get back to Joan, who has unfortunately not been too well since a fall in Dubai. We wish her a full recovery.

The track.   (Click to enlarge)

The stats: Honour just about satisfied!

Now to the business end of the walk. Chris made it in time to secure a table for 5, just before a deluge of local tradesmen, as apparently most other cafes in the vicinity were closed. 

Myriam obliged with the photo though it was too crowded for her to climb to her usual vantage point.

We ate very well exploring the 3 standard pratos do dia......

Shepherd's Pie ( Paul, Peter)

Tuna Quiche (Real man Chris)......

.....and Stuffed Pepper (Myriam and Antje)

Some people always enjoy a good stuffing at Christmas!!

with beers and coffees we did very well at Euros 6:50 a head, probably the most economical Christmas lunch since the AWW began at 20 years ago prices!!

It was very nice to revert to a 'soft' walk, well within criteria after the last couple, and the general opinion was we had done enough to earn the lunch.

Lets see what the New Year brings for the WAGS. Best wishes for a Healthy , Happy and Prosperous New Year 2018 to all those who joined us during the past season - and of course to the Other Lot and the Hybrids.

"The weary yeare his race now having run, The new begins his compast course anew; with shew of morning mylde he hath begun, betokening peace and plenty to ensew."

• Edmund Spenser

WAGS 13.12.2017: A Guest Conductor Behind Silves

AM I ALONE IN THINKING that one must deprecate the current British classical music scene for its adoption of the gimmick of orchestras having “guest” conductors? In the good old days of the BBC Third Programme, which many of us (I am sure) fondly remember, one had John Barbirolli and his Hallé Orchestra, Thomas Beecham and his London Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, and the much under-appreciated Malcolm Sargent and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Not a “guest” conductor in sight. And Sargent, too, was never in front of his orchestra without their ever-present leader, Paul Beard.
But now, on BBC Radio 3, the orchestras are bombarded with ordinary guest conductors, principal guest conductors, trainee guest conductors, and even guest leaders. What is going on? The poor orchestras don´t have a chance of getting a stable government; they don´t know who is in charge. I ask you – would the Grenadiers Guards want to train for Trooping of the Colour before the Queen (God bless her!) under the direction of a “guest” Regimental Sergeant Major from the Catering Corps? Would the Red Arrows happily loop the loop under the leadership of some transitory RyanAir First Officer? I doubt it.
But then, perhaps it doesn´t matter very much, because virtually the only  music these BBC Radio 3 programmes put on these days is Shostakovich  -why is the BBC fixated on Shostakovich? - and, with stuff like that, which band needs consistent direction, or indeed any direction at all.
These gloomy thoughts came to mind as we were led up and over and around the back hills of Silves by a self-proclaimed “guest conductor”. How would  this turn out? The individual in question certainly had form – of sorts. Half WAG, half AWW, dubious of loyalty, he had been known to lose 19 AWWs in his own backyard. What on earth are the WAGS coming to? Will they be inviting Ju… St…. as guest leader on some of their walks next? Heavens forfend!
And, actually, it´s not even certain that this week´s jaunt can truly be called a WAGS walk. After all, look who turned up.


Present: Jill, Rod, Maria, Ingrid,Terry, Hazel, Jim, Geraldine and JohnH. 
Of these, only Rod and Jim are fully paid-up, regular WAGS; the rest but casuals, part-timers, birds of passage. Maybe the founder and arbiter will give a ruling on this.

Anyway, off we went up into the hills behind Café Elias, a little bit after the appointed hour of 10 am, because the conductor had first to nip round to Café Retiro dos Pescadores to book lunch. About halfway up the hill we came across an artifact hewn out of Silves´s best red gres or sandstone. Terry tried to lift it up so as to pop it in his rucksack, it probably being worth a bob or two.

But it was a bit too heavy and he decided to leave it there for another time. No-one very sure what it was. A neolithic bidet was the best guess on offer.
At the top of the hill, we circled round to visit one of Rod´s longer-term projects, the potential restoration of , to misquote Fats Waller, a Cottage with Country Views.

We paused to visit the old ruin –(the building, not him there in the window) - and could appreciate its potential.


The view to the east.
Then, a bit of down hill and up hill stuff.  It could be seen that some serious ground clearing has been taking place, making fire breaks, particularly underneath the electricity cables.

We then swung  around almost back to the start before heading westwards away from the hills and down the long valley in the Encherim direction. The recent rains had of course resulted in some substantial puddles which, what with attendant brambles,  took a bit of negotiating.


A little bit further on, we came to Beco da Roupa or Lingerie Lane where we were delighted to see that the same piece of  lace which was discovered on an APAPS walk two or three years ago still survived, even if very much faded from its original splendour (although the manufacturer´s label and its washing instructions seems to be impervious to sun, wind and rain).


This was how it looked two years ago (from the Archive).
Oddly enough, the area where this bit of path goes is actually marked on Google Maps as Roupa Branca. I wonder why. Perhaps there remain some local devotees of an ancient cult involving summertime stripteasing shenanigans……..maybe best left to the imagination.
We didn´t follow the path all the way through to Encherim but left the valley and made for the road, where we passed an organic winery run by a Dutchman. Rod does not recommend his Jaape wines.
Very soon, however,  we could leave the tarmac and make our way leisurely eastwards along the canal in the direction of home.


Java had got quite attached to Ingrid
Later at Retiro dos Pesadores we had, variously, tostas, bean soup and chicken stew – very adequate, the tostas being particularly good value, finely sliced and in three portions.
To sum up, all in all, the guest conductor didn´t do too badly. It seems that the walk statistics were comfortably within WAGS norms, and there were no cock-ups.
And now , to answer the question I started out with
 YES, I PROBABLY AM ALONE IN THINKING ABOUT THIS. 
Who else listens to BBC Radio 3 these days when it´s little but blasted Shostakovitch?
But skip that; let´s click here and get cheered up by some thoughts about cottages with country views, courtesy of Fats:
https://youtu.be/xYoJCK_lwVg