WAGS 2019 05 29: Poço Frito: The Magnificent Seven at Café Martins

This turned out to be one of those walks where all the drama takes place at the start.

1. The Café was closed. On arrival at 09.30 we were greeted by a brief note on the door.

                                                      In Mourning
2. Yves arrived sans ses chaussures de marche, i.e. bootless. Only he can explain why. Instead he sported a pair of dazzlingly white new tennis shoes which had TerryA salivating at the thought of what deep red muddy patches might do to the virgin canvas.
                         

3. There was a minor earth tremor just as the Starter photo was being taken.
                                           

                   Never mind the blurring; we know who you are.......

4. One minute after we had set off, Yves was seen consulting a diagram (or map?)  – a real vote of confidence in the Leader, I must say.

5. The very first track we went up turns out now to be fenced off by a brand new building site in the Caravela urbanisation, and we had to scramble our way round it. Regrettably, no deep red muddy patches were to be found.

                           
                                 Hey, that´s my track you´ve just fenced off !

6 . And seven minutes after we had set off, Yves (yes, him again) sat himself down on a rock and demanded that Ingrid provide him with a pair of socks  to go inside his pair of dazzlingly white new tennis shoes – in order to protect his delicate feet from potential blisters, so he said. Ingrid –our newly crowned Full Leading WAG – duly obliged, bless her.

After all that, well -  not very much of note. We walked. We paused in the shade. It got hot. We walked some more. We paused in the shade again. It got hotter.
In the middle of nowhere, we passed a newly cleared and electrified site for a wooden cabin.  A good place for a WAGS club house was the suggestion.
                                              

At the Casa Estrela crossroads, the idea of taking coffee at Casa Esperança was mooted but, that establishment being too far off, we headed in the direction of Casa Frew which was a bit nearer, but there was no sign of life there. Luckily however, Rod´s little local bar just across the road opened its doors especially  for us on request and some of us had refreshments inside while the landlady gave us all the latest local gossip. And a cosy little place it is too.

                                  Room for about eight drinkers in the snug.

It was then that Ingrid mentioned, using that certain tone of voice that demands attention  – (she is after all a Full Leading WAG) – that “it is getting very hot”.

The Leader took the hint (thank goodness –or otherwise there could have been hell, not to mention a fine, to pay), called a referendum and, as a result, abandoned a planned further 2 kilometres circuit through Torre e Cercas, and cut the walk short. If he had not listened to the people´s vote, WAGS distance parameters could have been shattered and there might even have been a rebellion. As it was, we now had a gentle stroll back, across the tarmac at Tinhosas and over the flat land towards Caravela. On the way down to the café and the cars,  we passed that under-completion villa which Hazel and Maria had inspected  back in January (WAGS 2019 01 16: Poço Frito – Just A Stroll In The Park). It now has a working piscina and a Jean Paul Belmondo type Frenchman who was busy with a BBQ on his terrace. A long conversation in French then took place across the fence. Work still to be done  but habitable, apparently.
  

There being no chance of a prato de dia of feijoado e couve at Poço Frito, so it was off along the road to  Poço Barreto to chance our luck at Café Sustelo. There, the service was prompt and the food was. I suppose, adequate. The bifana was judged to be slightly too greasy,

 and the tosta mista, a somewhat squashed papo seco version of this classic fare, not a patch on the previous week´s masterpiece at Café Bravo. 

Ah well ! You take it as it comes.
The Track

The Magnificent Seven Starters

Yves, Ingrid, Jill, TerryA, Maria, Dina, JohnH.

The Statistics

Total Distance: 11.4 kms. Total Time: 3 hrs 12 mins.
Moving Time: 2 hrs 30 mins. Stopped Time: 42 mins.
Average Moving Speed: 4.6 kph. Ascent: 249 metres.