WAGS 10 11 2021:Asparagus Alert, or Once More Unto the Breach Again

 

It is with a certain amount of trepidation that I write this blog because, not only do I have to do the blog, but I have also been delegated the task of writing the Leader´s Report for inclusion in the blog. This is because, although our Leader for the day has many, indeed very many, estimable qualities, there is one thing she does not do, indeed she downright refuses to do, and that is to write Leader`s Reports. How then do I try to capture the essence of her Leadership style and to describe her walk yet perhaps inadvertently upset her by casting aspersions (Cast not your aspersions on my asparaguses) on her choice of route? If I mention that the total ascent for the day was only 30 metres, will that provoke some Gallic expostulation? Well, I shall have to duck any bullets that come my way. Here goes.

Walk Report 10th November 2021

10^th of November - a date to remember because a lot of things happened that day, as shall be related.

The first was that Ingrid reappeared. She had finally agreed to lead a walk, having been persuaded by Paul to emerge from her self-imposed seclusion these past many months. Not that she had been inactive, she was at pains to assure us – in fact she had kept walking through the summer, but very much The Cat Who Walked by herself.

But certainly very good to see her again.

She had summoned us to gather at the Mexilhoeira Grande railway station for a start at the exceptionally civilised hour of 10.30 hrs. The majority got there by car but Yves had elected to come from Algoz on a train due to arrive at 10.28 hrs which it did at precisely 10.41 hrs.

Rod who had somehow arrived on the wrong side of the tracks from the station building itself and phoned us to tell us he was there, which we could see for ourselves from the station building, was therefore on the right side of the tracks to be the first to greet him as he alighted .

Actual walkers were few in number. Paul and Myriam, although there to see us off, were medically disinclined to walk. TerryA was somewhere to the west, Maria was absent for undisclosed reasons, and the Whittles were still in the throes of house moving.

                                 Starters: Yves, JohnH, Hazel, Ingrid the Leader, Janet, and Rod

Myriam obliged by taking the Starter photo and then waved us off.

And we set of along the Caminho da Espargueira. I am not quite sure why the area is called Espargueira, because there are no especially noticeable signs of agricultural activity in the area. We walked past an establishment called Viveiros da Espargueira (substantially funded by the EU) but that, despite its name, is concerned with the aquaculture of robalo and dourada, not vegetables. 

And then very soon we found ourselves walking beside the expanse of salt marshes where the veggies are unlikely to grow.

There was plenty of (distant) bird life, butYves got frustrated by the birds flying off just when he was about to film them. More by luck than skill, JohnH did manage to capture this shot of a grey heron (Ardea cinerea).

A fairly leisurely stroll (the Leader was in a charitable mood) then brought us to a left turn onto a newly rehabilitated dyke across the marsh where there was a brand new plaque commemorating said rehabilitation, unveiled by Isilda Gomes, Mayor of Portimão, among other dignitaries.

I took this photo at 11.35 hrs but I failed to spot that the date on the plaque was 10 November 2021, that very day. If I had, I might have commented that she must have got up pretty early that morning to have done the ceremony. Not sure what Sérgio Faias does in his Docapesca administration – Google translate is baffled by the word. Does anyone know what it means?

The restored dyke stretched far out before us and off along it we went.

Yves, having remembered on this occasion to bring his camera, took some artistic pictures as is his wont.

At one point along the track Rod and I were accosted by a German twitcher (birdwatching fanatic) lady who demanded to know if we had seen a Black Stork (Ciconia nigra). (I hope that I am allowed to use the word nigra in this context.) We had to say no we hadn´t, not even knowing if such a thing existed. Black cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) were of no interest to her. 

Very shortly after that we came to that point where, back in March 2020, a few of us walking along the same dyke had found our route interrupted by a sizeable breach where tidal storms had swept part of the dyke completely away.

From the archive

The repaired section over the inlet/outlet

Now the breach is repaired and the whole circuit can be made again. But Rod did point out that the restored bit of the dyke over the tidal inlet/outlet is still very narrow and that it must be vulnerable to future storms.

On we went circling the marsh, the sea to our right sparkling in the sun and the gatherers busy digging for their amêiojoas

We made our way back to where we has seen the new commemorative plaque which was now surrounded by a crowd of well-dressed and be-suited officials. Obviously, Isilda Gomes had not woken up especially early after all. Quick as a flash Yves, brandishing his camera and the Accréditation Presse he had been issued with by L´Équipe, nipped in and photographed the celebs and the actual inauguration, 

What a historic moment ! 10^th of November again.

Excitement for the day over, it was now just a matter of our tackling that fearsome 30 metre ascent and heading for home.

En route we stopped briefly to look at the A Rocha notice board. 

A Rocha is an environmental protection organization providing conservation and bird-watching activities. And there on its list of birds spotted during the week was the Black Stork ( Ciconia nigra). 

Surprisingly, no Black Cormorants; how could they miss them?

A Black Stork

The Track and the Statistics

It looks as if we were walking on water but we didn´t.

A pleasant and interesting walk. Well done the Leader. Let´s hope that she will lead another  walk soon, perhaps in the Carrapateira area.

Back at the railway station, Ingrid the Leader and Janet made their excuses and departed  homewards while the remaining four of us set off for Café Tassbem in nearby Figueira where Paul and Myriam had managed to arrange a table for us.

By the time we got there, there were only three portions of the prato de dia (feijão e polvo con arroz I believe) remaining and these were all snaffled up by Paul, Myriam and Hazel, leaving Rod, Yves and JohnH to chose between bifanas or tostas.

Some critical comment on the restorative and curative properties of the beans and octopus were made.

Yves chose a bifana and, in accordance with WAGS tradition, once again got served first.

 How does he do it? Is he in some sort of secret café frequenters fraternity which gives its members priority food service on the exchange of a surreptitious password, nod, or wink?

Rod and John went for tostas. Now the last time some of us ate here, the tostas were very reasonably sized.

From the archive

Now they are enormous. More than a mere lunch´s worth. 

If there is a criticism to be made of those tostas it would be that the bread was insufficiently toasted. I prefer my toast rather more browned, as I was able to do later that evening with the half-portion I smuggled home.

Then there was the matter of how would Yves catch his train home. He didn´t know exactly when it was due, Where we sat, we were some distance away from Mexilhoeira Grande station. Then Rod offered to drive him to either Silves Gare or Poço Baretto. Offer accepted. The last we heard was that, in the end, Rod drove him all the way home to Algoz. That´s service for you.

So that was the 10th November for the WAGS. And what else was happening in the wider world on 10th November? Well, there was welcome  headline news for those of you gourmets who enjoyed last year´s WAGS blogs about the World Scotch Pie Championship competition. The Championship is back.

The judging of the 2022 competition was held on 10th November in Cumbernauld, Scotland. The not-so-good news is that the winner won´t be announced until 18th January 2022 so, till then, you will just have to contain your impatience.

But if, in the mean time, you would like to learn more about what makes the perfect scotch pie, why not search this link

https://worldchampionshipscotchpieawards.org/judging.php

there you can watch an absolutely fascinating 15 minute video on what the pie judges look for in the perfect pie. Apparently the most important thing is to avoid a soggy bottom (to your pie.)

   Post publication Note.

   John asked me to publish this blog on Sunday afternoon, and perhaps add some music but Strictly and the Brazilian F1 GP got in the way. Of course by Monday (today) matters requiring my urgent attention arose and so I was glad to see that John had become impatient and gone ahead  at 1318 hrs, anyway. However during my late morning patrol round Lagos, I saw a Whatsapp  from Rod about my over-authoritativeness, which reminded me, so here I am at 1500 hrs adding music and a few comments.

Possibly one of the most annoying songs ever written, but please listen to the end and tell me what happens if you make it!

Anyway The Camino da Espargueira  which is an entry point to the newly rehabilitated Dique da Espargueira caught my attention. Portuguese is a bit of a minefield when it comes to words with minor differences beginning with 'espa'. or 'espr' Not only are there many variations pertaining to the tasty vegetable from Waitrose, 'espargira, espargiria,  but also others such as 'espadera', 'espargida', 'emparceiro' ,' esparteiro' 'esparguete', 'esparguta' or 'esparida'. Thank goodness English is less confusing! The one I liked was 'Fazer espargatas' which was to 'do the splits' Perhspd one of our Portuguese speakers can demonstrate.

        in the midst of these ruminations about waitresses doing the splits in their espadrilles while they shovelled spaghetti along this dyke facing swordsmen, Myriam crushed me with 'Perhaps they used to grow asparagus here a long time ago. So that settles it.

Beware the Dreamers of the Day - Such men are dangerous!

As for DocaPesca it is an organisation that monitors local commercial fishing , with a weigh station and various official inspectors and has Docks or wharves/offices in Portimao, Alvor and Lagos at least, You can read all about it online.

         Next weeks walk is to be led by Rod from Cafe Oriq.   No description available to date except 'departure at 10.00' Please inform Rod of your attendance on WAGSAL or if challenged by smart tech, a primitive personal email will do it.

Paul