As usual, despite the promotional addendums to the last blog, the call this week fell on stony ground.
It went like this:- The call circular-
COWS Official walk 2. Wednesday 7th August, I will lead a walk for the bold insomniacs (??) from Bar Quim. Boardwalk starting at 8am..only the first 20 to arrive will be enrolled! The format, walk out, - swim ' walk back, remains the same. Brekker to be discussed.. If you are late call me on WhatsApp or mobile 939389796
Looking East
I even included a couple of alluring pics taken on the recce the previous day to demonstrate the deserted beach early with no TV crews nor paparazzi to embarrass the less confident COWS
Looking West
Actually there were more replies than expected
Lesley, who the previous week had intimated that she might join the walk, had clearly read the blog and/or been apprised of the pioneering nature of the walks and replied.
"I won't be able to make it, though a swim sounds mighty appealing! My volunteer day had been changed from Monday to Wednesday this week."
Sonja, a notorious night bird, chimed in:-
" I wish I could wake up early enough to join you"
Myriam took this one and replied:-
" You can join us for breakfast!"
No answer came the stern reply!
Several others had unbreakable alibis, but at least Antje replied :-
"Have a swim for both of us"
Lesley added
"And me 😉"
and Maria finished with a rather insincere/facetious/mocking
"Sorry I'd love to go but not possible. Enjoy.😎
And so - at the appointed hour Myriam and I briefly visited the Bar Quim Car Park, more in hope than expectation, and then set off towards the mole.
I tried a starter selfie, but as I make no claims to digital dexterity, it failed to come out. For the sake of those who are curious, instead I submit a photo of us taken on my recent birthday cruise.
We reached the eastern end of out walk without incident and met almost no one, I feel moved to imclude a photo to demonstrate you do not need to be Brad Pitt (nor indeed Bella Hadid) to go on a COWS walk.
Selfie concentration
An accidentally arty but discrete pic of Myriam
At then end of the beach there was a very large rope stuck in the rocks of the mole -
I am sure there is s well know phrase or saying there! There were also a couple of logs around.
On the way back there was a fresh fish!
I wanted to take it back for Jasper, but SWMBO put her foot down (and crushed it into the sand!!)
For the record, I did have a swim for Antje, Chris and Lesley, but it turned out to be at least 2C colder than the previous Sunday so I didn't linger.
After the walk which measured the usual 4.5 km and took under 2 hours, we decided to visit Christina at Gato and I had one of Lagos' top TMs, while Myriam contented herself with a croissant. The coffee was excellent too, and Myriam liked her tea cup.
And there you have it. If there is another blank Wednesday in the calendar
then we will renact the whole thing, hopefully with a little more support'
Remember " It is better to have played and blushed than never to have played at all!!"
I will leave you with a nostalgic look at how things were before wokes, PC, diversity warriors and LGBT took over the world
I thought I would let you in gently to the first official COWS Blog. A view from our roof terrace at about 6 am as we prepared for the beach walk, At least as I prepared as Myriam was still sleeping the sleep of the innocent (and hardworking). The aim was to set off from Bar Quim at about 8am after the sun had warmed the air yet the proxiity to the 17C Atlantic kept the shore reasonable cool.
First a word of explanation for the unwary and incurious to avoid any embarrassing errors.
The acronym COWS represents Clothing Optional Walking Society. Coined by me in 2022, while I was still walking and well before my knee op in 2022, it was a moment of enlightenment for me, realising that it was not only cooler, but also extremely liberating and closer to nature to go naturist in suitable environments such as home and early mornigs on Meia Praia when few were up and about.
I preached, but for most elderly people with ingrained sensibilities and who haven't had their filters blocked by PD or some other incaoacity, it fell upon already deaf ears!!
And so I walked daily, Myriam joined me for a dip occasionally and Chris and Antje dabble acording to their own timetable.
Anyway, when I spotted a gap in the Geriatric Wednesday walking activities, occasioned by annual stand down for the WAGS, and APAPS being on hold during John and Hazel's 50th Anniversary trip to Edinburgh., I decided to offer a stopgap. Lagos COWS walks are invariably governed by Nature, both in attire and tides and temperature.The latter two meaning that the temperature has to be comfortable for unclothed walking if you opt to do so, and the tide has to give a reasonable chance of walking on firm flat sand. The walks start at or near Bar Quim and heads East along the unpopulated area of the beach to the Mole where we may have a dip and then back to Bar Quim. There is no significance to the name of the Bar as it is a Portuguese abbreviation of Bar (Joa)Quim The bar is run by the capable, efficient but sometimes grumpy Louisa and her family whom we have known fo over 25 years. Total distance is only 5km tops, and we like to return before the beach is populated by tourists and families. For obvious reasons there are no personal photos but just very few items of interest should there be such.
The Beach - later when tide had receded
As I was fairly confident that there would be no other takers, I set off at about 0815, Myriam was a little late as she had back trouble, both in separating it from her mattress and from overwork in the lifting department. Eventually, as the tide was fairly high and the beach was soft and sloping steeply, she decided to go solo on the boardwalk without exercising the option.
My walk was fairly uneventful and apart from finding pieces of what seemed to be a very large decomposing ray,spread over about 400 metres of beach.
I returned to Bar Quim to meet Myriam.
The first clue to the identity of the fish: a 23 cm quill or spike - not from a sea porcupine
More debris from the suspect
A fleshy outer membane.
Fully textiled and back at Bar Quim for the post walk coffee with an acquaintance.
After this we repaired to EveryDay People, a newish place where they have a breakfast called EP Brekky.
This is ovo estrelado, salsicha, chilli crocante em bolo de caco, although it looks very much as if someone slipped a slice of cheese in there too.
They also do an interesting sandwich called a Brek Bahn Mi which is described as 'Sanduiche Vietnamita com barriga de Porco, ovo estrelado, cenoura e rabanete, baguete, which is also very tasty.
The coffee is very different from the traditional Portuguese cafe coffee, being pure arabica and lightly roasted,
And from there I repaired to my Komoder Victoria II Massage chair, dialled in the Olympics,
and spent a happy day studying the limits to which the human body could be pushed.
Not enough walking for Myriam however. At 7 pm she met 3 friends to join the previousy advertised evening walk near Lagoa. Lucky for her she had lingered in bed in the morning, as she didnt return until after midnight - or so I am told!! The walk itself was apparently only about 5 km, but the travel and social side, plus some evening shopping filled out the time..
Myriam and friends with free T-shirt.
I hope this short blog serves to alleviate concerns about the interim walks, but we shall see if anyone else turns up next Wednesday!!!
And now a couple of learned opinions culled from the Interweb:-
Have you ever stopped and wondered why we wear clothes? If you think about it, it’s an odd custom. Before exposing ourselves to the public, we choose to hang colored material from our shoulders and hips and then cinch everything together with a strip of cowhide. It’s true that this whole business provides some consolation on a frosty morning, but let’s be realistic, shall we? It’s summer. And summer means sultry. And sultry means sweat. And sweat means my clothes play the sponge more than anything else. I don’t know about you, but I’ve got better things to do with my hot months than spend them in the arms of a soggy carpet.
Milton called our clothes “these troublesome disguises.” Far better for him was that “first naked glory” that Adam and Eve enjoyed, that verse of a moment when our parents were unclothed and unabashed (Genesis 2:25). But living as we do on the far side of the bitten fruit, east of Eden, our tenderer parts find themselves squirreled away under cotton and denim. And we’re left to wonder, Is this the way it’s supposed to be? Wouldn’t it be better to cast off these duds and trot around in the buff? Adam and Eve did it. Why can’t we?
Opinions differ, but most people realise that the human body is not inherently indecent. The majority of us have been culturally conditioned to believe that being naked in public is somehow shameful. But there’s really no reason to impose our own sense of shame on others who do not share it. If you feel your body is not “good enough” for other people to see, that’s OK, but remember it’s a choice that everyone can make for themselves. Of course, people can behave indecently whether naked or clothed. When considering questions of decency, what matters is how we behave towards other people, rather than how we choose to dress.
I would rather take part here than in UK or anywhere North of the Algarve!
I had always wanted a Citroen 2CV since I first had a Citroen Ami 8 in the early 70's. I had a magic and memory filled trip round Europe in that car, and after I had long retired and gone through the speed and sportscar stage, my sights set on this wonderful calassic piece of engineering.
The search, in earnest began in 2020, when I asked my motoring friends to look out for a good cheap project car for me to restore. I saw many abandoned and uncared for cars selling at inflated prices until eventually I cane across this car. History was a bit sketchy - First registered in Switzerland in 1984, imported by an agent in Portimao in 1986, sold on to the previous owner in 1994. At some stage he died (probably in 2012 when it had its last IPO inspection) and it was apparently left standing until I found it for sale in October 2022.
A bit bruised and dented with enough rust showing to make me believe there was a lot more hidden from view. I paid less than the vendor wanted but more than I wanted to pay, but I guess that is always the way!
And sure enough there was plenty of rust:-
No alternative but to go for a total bare metal rebuild using new panels as required. An arduous task.
Welded, sandblasted and rust proofed!
Rubbing down the shell
Progress
Taking shape
At about this time I nmade the decision not to repaint in the original or even a classical 2CV style eg Dolly or Charleston. About a year or so earlier I had met a street artist in Lagos wh had been commissioned to paint a large mural for a town centre restaurant. I had seen other examples of his work for the LAC (Laboratorio de Actividades Criativas) at various sites round the town. I kept in contact with him as I have long been interested in art and street art, where fabulously talented artists are invited to decorate structures and buildings (and sometimes when they are not invited. His name was Tarso Silva and he was a Brazilian 'cracker' who had made his home for a time in Lagos, but was currently painting for an exhibition in Berlin.
I had mentioned cars to him before, and he had told me he had a great interest in American Classic cars and was in fact restoring one himself in Berlin. I offered him the commission and gave him a brief of 'Sun, Sea and Sand' to reflect the environment in Lagos.
This was a rough draft but in order to comply with Portuguese licensing regulations it had to be more than 50% of one colour I asked him to cut out the trees and increase the blue of the sea, and brighten the sun and the sand.
Tarso flew in to Faro and after arriving in Lagos took two days to create the car, to sign it and another two days to ensure that the creation was varnished to protect the paintwork.
I was very happy with the result and to ensure compliance I had the new roof in blue and he had painted the bonnet and boot also in blue.
Surfer 2CV
Duly signed before it was all put together.
The engine was also problematical and took several tries and many spare parts to get it runing as it should. Still some minor tweaking to be done, but registered and initial IPO test passed, and on the road.
Roman, Myriam and The Team (except Tarso)
The Happy Owners
And that is as it is today, not exactly a classic apart from running gear, suspension and chassis, but now with the original artwork it must surely be a Future Classic in the same style as the Alexander Calder BMW and other artistic endeavours.
This was first posted in the WAGS 2021 Blog of the same date, and John published a separate Part 2 for the walk itself. After some thought I decided to move this here as it has less relevance now we are walking again..
First I have no idea of what John will come up with for this weeks Organic Blog Post, as the walk hasn't happened yet as I write. It is Tuesday morning and flushed with energy after a visit to my Osteopath, I thought I would get a headstart on the week.
On the blog for 12th May, I raised the question of siphons, particularly the one at Encherim, and our man in Silves replied about his visit to both ends of the 'syphon' (sic). Indeed this raised another point- which is the correct or which is the most popular spelling of the word. I could enter into a long discussion of the point, but I didn't start off to delve into this, so I will content myself by giving a link to an explanation and you can take that as homework!! If you want to - not compulsory!
The word siphon (from Ancient Greek: σίφων, "pipe, tube", also spelled syphon) is used to refer to a wide variety of devices that involve the flow of liquids through tubes. In a narrower sense, the word refers particularly to a tube in an inverted "U" shape, which causes a liquid to flow upward, above the surface of a reservoir, with no pump, but powered by the fall of the liquid as it flows down the tube under the pull of gravity, then discharging at a level lower than the surface of the reservoir from which it came.
There are two leading theories about how siphons cause liquid to flow uphill, against gravity, without being pumped, and powered only by gravity. The traditional theory for centuries was that gravity pulling the liquid down on the exit side of the siphon resulted in reduced pressure at the top of the siphon. Then atmospheric pressure was able to push the liquid from the upper reservoir, up into the reduced pressure at the top of the siphon, like in a barometer or drinking straw, and then over. However, it has been demonstrated that siphons can operate in a vacuum and to heights exceeding the barometric height of the liquid. Consequently, the cohesion tension theory of siphon operation has been advocated, where the liquid is pulled over the siphon in a way similar to the chain model. It need not be one theory or the other that is correct, but rather both theories may be correct in different circumstances of ambient pressure. The atmospheric pressure with gravity theory obviously cannot explain siphons in vacuum, where there is no significant atmospheric pressure. But the cohesion tension with gravity theory cannot explain CO2 gas siphons, siphons working despite bubbles, and the flying droplet siphon, where gases do not exert significant pulling forces, and liquids not in contact cannot exert a cohesive tension force.
Enough of that!
Siphons:- the etymology of the word can be traced back to Steve Jobs as a shortcut word to represent a S(mart) IPhon(e)
No of course it can't - that was an aside to check if I still have your attention or are you scrolling madly to see if there are any pictures of yourself in the Walking or Sauntering segment!
During my idle reading while researching siphons, I came across a linked subject close to my heart - Coffee.
I haven't walked with the WAGS for some time, but I have turned up for the pre and post coffee and scran, and even had my attendance mentioned. Well the link between coffee and siphons dates from the early C19, a good 100 years after the word 'scran' entered the Scotch language! In 1830, the siphon coffee maker was invented by a man called Loeff of Berlin,
The earliest known patent for a siphon coffee brewer was filed by Loeff of Berlin in the 1830s, but it was a French woman, Marie Fanny Amelne Massot of Lyons, France – better known as Mme. Vassieux, the name she used on her patent applications – who designed and patented the first commercially successful vacuum brewer in 1840. Mme. Vassieux’ coffee brewer featured two glass “balloons” held by a frame. It was an ornate delight for the eyes, capped with a metal crown and featuring a spigot for serving from the bottom vessel.
The design makes it clear that the coffee maker was meant for display in a dining room or drawing room, not for making coffee in the kitchen. And for those who love little tidbits of history, there’s also a strong possibility that Mme. Vassieux was a courtesan who held court in one of the salons beloved by the French nobility and men of wealth. She had the leisure to develop her design, and the connections to have it manufactured in fairly large numbers .
Designs became ornate but all had a similar basic functionality. Now we would call brewing coffee an 'immersive' experience akin to the Chinese and Japanese tea ceremonies. And to a certain extent, appreciating and drinking wine. I cant do better than play this short video of an early automatic siphon brewing. It has a very relaxing background track which I believe is Satie's Gymnopedie No, 1.
Who says coffee doesn't make you sleepy?
A Diversion
Most of my working life, I cared more for the gratification of the moment rather than the preparation or analysis of whatever I had received or benefitted from an action.
Life was super busy, frenetic at times but as with most memories I try to remember the good stuff and exclude times that I may have been disappointed or hurt.
That was how my generation handled life: an ambitious and natural progression from a carefree 'Live now pay- later ' youth .
Suddenly, on retirement from that world at the age of 48 years 11 months and a few days, I was in a different environment, a different country with (to me) different values and customs. I had, what I felt was unlimited time for self indulgence and an appreciation of the things that I had accumulated. I never ever felt the need to get involved in a 3rd career, and the days were long and pleasant, and regrettably mostly unproductive. However as you all now things come along to fill the time you have for them and you rarely if ever find the true peace of sitting alone and contemplating your navel.
Things like recipes for good food, wine and the arts. Sex, Drugs and Rock'n'Roll was not how it might have been. I had the time and means to smell the roses. Explore, Indulge - and do things of my own volition without having to follow the beat of another Drum.
To cut to the chase, I began a search for the Holy Grail. For example , until then I drank wine for the effect rather than the experience. Now I could join a Wine Society and be guided to those pleasures of the palate and the nose. I could revel in seeing the wine being made and the stages and detail that went into the ultimate presentation to the oenophile. The ceremony surrounding wine became a strangely calming ritual. I went to places where I could enjoy not only the wine but the staging and production of a special environment. The cork, the nose, the palate, the pairing with wonderful foods - all the senses yearned for gratification. This Wednesday I enquired of our greatest local wine lover and acknowledged expert, whether he had ever enjoyed unscrewing a bottle of wine. Strangely, I felt, he had no great objection to this crass Australian habit. I too had done that in my free-drinking youth, but as I matured, like a good wine, I appreciated the ceremony surrounding the opening of a good wine, possibly decanting, letting it breath and letting the flavours mix gently with oxygen to be savoured slowly. I became a wine lover rather than a wine guzzler, and felt it suited me like a garment from Sam the Tailor in Hong Kong. I also liked the Chinese Tea ceremonies we went to in Macao and China for their history and procedures.
But then, the misspent youth caught me up. There is always a price to pay, and for me I decided to give up drinking in 2010. Both the pleasurable sipping, tasting, swirling and (sometimes) spitting AND the Quaffing, Gargling and liver bashing.
Now nature abhors a vacuum, and being teetotal left a significant space in my daily routine (and added a couple of hours to each day!) What was to fill that gap? I toyed with pretending to enjoy non-alcoholic drinks such as beer and wine, and on occasion even went so far as to shake up a non-alcoholic G & T, using Seedlips (then) £25 a bottle, alcohol-free aromatics.
Now there are even more available.
I had always enjoyed coffee. My first encounter must have been at my Grandmothers House in the early '50s with Camp Coffee. I didn't know any better then! ]Yet now an updated bottle of 241cc will set you back the same as a bottle of Seedlip gin. And how has PC changed the labelling since the early days.
The Sikh has somehow morphed from being a manservant to the Gordon Highlander Officer, to being a companion soldier and coffee drinker!
Anyway it was pretty foul then, and I certainly wouldn't lash out £30 for a 240cc bottle of chicory and coffee now.
The history was:-
Camp Coffee was created in 1885 by Campbell Paterson (1851-1927) of R. Paterson & Son in Glasgow. The company specialised in cordials, and their best-selling product was a raspberry cordial often added to whisky or brandy to create a drink known as "Cuddle-me-Dearie". The coffee essence was developed by Campbell Paterson for domestic use, to avoid the complex and then expensive equipment required for coffee drinking.
Legend has it (mainly due to the picture on the label) that Camp Coffee was originally developed as an instant coffee for military use. The label is classical in tone, drawing on the romance of the British Raj. It includes a drawing of a seated Gordon Highlander (supposedly Major General Sir Hector MacDonald) being served by a Sikh soldier holding a tray with a bottle of essence and jug of hot water. They are in front of a tent, at the apex of which flies a flag bearing the drink's slogan, "Ready Aye Ready". That was also the motto of the 59th Scinde Rifles (Frontier Force) of the British Indian Army. In this context, the Scots word 'aye' has the meaning of 'always' rather than 'yes' and indicates, in the case of the drink, that it is 'always ready' to be made.
The original label, by William Victor Wrigglesworth, depicted a Sikh servant waiting on a seated Scottish soldier. A feature of this label was that the server carried a tray on which there was a bottle of Camp Coffee, which carried the same label showing a bottle of Camp Coffee and so on into infinity. A later version of the label, introduced in the mid-20th century, removed the tray from the picture, thus removing the infinite bottles element (the Droste effect), and was seen as an attempt to avoid the connotation that the Sikh was a servant, although he was still shown waiting while the kilted Scottish soldier sipped his coffee. The current version, introduced in 2006, depicts the Sikh as a soldier, now sitting beside the Scottish soldier, and with a cup and saucer of his own.
Regarding the highlighted red text above, we have come full circle passing via Instant Nescafe powder, freeze dried coffee granules, drip coffee, percolated coffee, to grind your own beans huge coffee espresso makers with dials whistles and steam, and the commercial , modernising into Nespresso capsule coffee makers , and the ultimate easy quality coffee - the Vertuo, currently my favourite.
A small taste of what is available. Minimalism plays a part too. Not too much above a mug with some coffee powder comes this minimalistic machine.
Onwards and upwards to the commercial machines.
You see these noisy leviathans in even the smallest coffee shops . How many people notice them mindfully? The newest ones are coloured and well, just modern looking, but many long established cafe/restaurants have spectacular older, even vintage models. The top ones are very expensive, built to last and have chrome, brass, and lacquer on their external organs. Take some time to admire them. Are they clean and hygienic looking or are there coffee grounds everywhere, and strange growling and grinding noises emanating along with the dark liquid that oozes into the espresso cups?
Some La Marzocca machines cost around €20,000
Baristas have to be drawn from the X-Box and GameBoy exponents.
Barista is now a respectable profession. I don't mean the holiday jobbers who press the button in Starbucks or McDonalds.
Check this vlog out:-
But beyond and above are the true Cafficionados. These concern themselves with the bean, the grind, the weight per shot, the time to expose the grind to the pressured water or steam. In fact almost as many variables as a fine wine. Some of these are YouTube Vloggers by profession in the modern age, and they not only analyse the coffees, but also road test the machines, describe the chemical processes that take place in steaming milk and a myriad other delights that you have never come across.
My personal favourite is James Hoffman. an earnest professorial type who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of all things coffee related. A joy to watch his concentration and passion.
Crema explained!
But all this is far from the water supply siphon, where we started. Siphon coffee is making a comeback. Last time I was in Sydney several years ago, I noticed a growing trend in the hip cafe scene where 'Drip coffee' was becoming widely available. I felt it was a retrograde step, as my new love, capsule coffee was in my opinion a consistent cleaner and more tasty experience. The prices of 'Drip coffee' were of the same figure as 'cafe de maquina', and i think as a trend it was quite short lived. More recently, Siphon coffee cafes have been slowly arriving in both UK and North America. Maybe someone will try in Portugal, but I think the majority will be hard to shift from their customary bicas
However at home I suspect that siphon coffee will be the next new thing in the 2020's. It is all in the ceremony, something that we crave. If you are in a hurry and don't have the required palate ie. you just want the 'hit' then the instant coffee is there for you. A Nespresso type machine is as quick, cleaner and far more rewarding in terms of taste. Then to revert to the home Espresso machine, the time and procedure slow you down but you get a good feeling by executing the 'shot' more perfectly than before. The siphon is similar with the added glow of using an old-fashioned natural device to produce something that itself is a pleasure to behold. But it needs time. It is not for the rush and hustle of those with young families or demanding jobs. It is for those that yearn for the old and simple ways, without pressure and interruptions. It is for The Retired!
Reach for your Holy Grail and be satisfied - for now!
Came across this in a circular,and it struck a chord. A quick fix is my dream -something for very little. No reason why we need to spend a lot of valuable time getting results.
Ever since we had commemorated the 20th Anniversary of the AWW in 2016, Rod had been mulling the idea of a 20th Anniversary of the First continuous crossing of our Algarve Way, and inviting as many participants of that event (7) and of the reverse direction crossing in 1999 (5 core walkers + others). The idea slowly gathered steam, and we decided to offer a joint celebration with Almargem, who had been onboard and contributed greatly since Maurice Clyde had first begun pioneering the route, in about 1996. Almargem had done an enormous amount of work, and their final route known as Via Algarviana, differed quite considerably from our first two crossings, (which differed from each other due to lack of navigational precision in the 1990's) as they had political and legal considerations to take into account, as well as maintaining good relationships with the Camaras whose boundaries the route traverses.
The original 1998 Alcoutim to Cape St Vincent Crossers: Ian Angus, Maurice Clyde, Ian Cooper, Rod Frew, Mark Harman, Tony Webster and Myriam Lo
Of the original 7 crossers, 3 that still were fit made it to the reunion. Two were deceased and one in a hospice. Ian Angus was prevented from travelling by his wife's illness.
Maurice's widow Esme was invited but sadly slipped and injured her back a couple of weeks before the event and could not travel. Ian Cooper's widow, Judy did come to the lunch as a welcome guest, as did Ginny Harman.
Of the 1999 Cape St Vincent to Alcoutim Crossers, only 3 of the core walkers who completed the route made it to the ceremony, Myriam, myself and a Spanish walker, Paco from the Club de Senderismo, Dos Hermanas. Other walkers who did the full Monty were Maurice of course, and Neil McCabe a friend from Hong Kong days currently living in France. Lindsey completed 8 of the 9 walking days, Simone Child did more than half, Maria also, Francisco, who had also walked some of the first crossing also did a couple of days as did Mercedes, another member of the Spanish Club, and David Silva, a Portuguese walker who occasionally slowed down to walk with us..
Myriam and Maurice were the only two to complete the crossing in both directions in 2 consecutive years.
Early Start: Lindsey, Paul, Myriam, Neil, Mercedes, Simone, Maurice. Paco must have taken this photo, in the era before Gorilla pods and self timers..
Neil, Paul, Lindsey, David, Simone, Maurice and Paco. Myriam must have taken this one.
The full story of how the Via Algarviana/Algarve Way came about, was meticulously set out by Rod in a planned Press Release. This can be viewed HERE
And so after several meetings with Almargem, and much strategic planning, a Memorial Plaque to Maurice, magically appeared, just the afternoon before the event, beside a bridge on the Algarve Way on the M502 about 1.5 km north of Silves cemetery. For those sufficiently interested to visit, the exact coordinates are N37 12.445" and W008 26.126"
Saturday 13th October was the appointed day for the ceremony, and we were joined by Luis Raposo, President of Almargem and his son, Miguel ; Luisa Luis, a Vereador of Silves Camara; some other members of Almargem, Nicola' Christina and Edgar, and of course support from members of AWW who had known Maurice. Also Paco and his family from Dos Hermanas, near Seville. It was particularly nice to see Vitor, Dina's husband on his first outing for a long time, Hedley and Joy who came over specially from UK, and also Gita and Thyl. Other AWWs were John and Hazel, and Maria.
Early arrivals for the ceremony, including two walkers from Russia (with green T shirts), who were attempting the full crossing, and were on the long leg to Monchique, when Rod, who had met them the day before, collared them for this photo.
The unveiling of Maurice's Plaque, Luisa, Paul (behind) Rod, Luis Raposo, Myriam, Tony, Francisco and Paco.
The 20 who took part in the walk after the unveiling. You will notice that some of the most elegant walkers are sporting a unique 'Designed by Paul', Via Algarviana/Algarve Way T-shirt.
Here it is from the Designer's Sketch Pad:-
The route was a relatively token, almost 7 km, out and back, improvised by Rod with a view to getting to the restaurant on time.
No absorbing stats available, thanks to the recalcitrance of modern technology, but it actually measured out at about 6.84 km in 2 hours.
We passed some pretty grim post-apocalyptic scenery on the way.
It did brighten up for a while - or is that the Google Photo Editor?
Maria, Gita, Tony and another old stick - an Algarve Way waymark post.
Almost back to the cars - the windmill on the hill in the background.
Once back at the cars, the survivors of both crossings who were present posed for a candid shot!
Paul, Paco, Myriam, Tony, Rod, Francisco and Shadow
Soon after this we set off for the Recanto dos Mouros in Silves, where Rod had arranged a top class meal for 32 of us. The 20 walkers were joined by those that couldn't make the walk for one reason or another, including Judy Cooper, Hazel, Terry and Jill, Hedley and Joy, Chris and Antje, Mike and Jyll, Susan and Charles, and Ginny.
Jyll Myriam and Mike
Rod and Judy Cooper
Red wine makes you philosophical! Tony, Vitor, and Francisco.
Paco's daughter Carmen, and Grandson Gonzalo
Mariluz, Paco, Edgar, Christina, Nicola and Rod
Maria, Dina Joy and Paul (even without the benefit of alcohol)
Hedley and Hazel
Antje and Chris
We did have a splendid meal, Feijoada de Buzios, Ensopada de Javali and Ensopada de Borrego, desserts, coffee and wine for the intemperate. After the meal Rod made his usual brief and to-the-point speech, thanking Almargem for all their influence and perseverance in legitimising the route, and a short account of the notable crossings on foot, on horseback and on bicycle together with the coincidence that we had met the two walkers from Russia in process of crossing. He was followed by Luis Raposo who reiterated that Almargem would never have done this by themselves and thanked the AWW for all their work in getting the project started and pushing Almargem to carry out their role. Much mention was made of Maurice's role in bringing the two organisations together.
I managed to restrain myself from jumping up and saying that we should do it all again. That would have been confusing ambition with ability!
“I love to walk. Walking is a spiritual journey and a reflection of living. Each of us must determine which path to take and how far to walk; we must find our own way, what is right for one may not be for another. There is no single right way to deal with late stage cancer, to live life or approach death, or to walk an old mission trail.”
As a curio, Myriam unearthed from her efficient and comprehensive filing system, Official Certificates of participation produced by Hedley for each walker on the two crossings. I wonder who else still has theirs, - framed or otherwise!
On the second one on the bottom right you will see a logo which reads (vertically) OCDAW. This acronym was coined by Maurice some time in 1996 when his group morphed from Algarve Walkers to Os Caminheiros do Algarve/Walkers, which is a bit of a linguistic mishmash. He even had a circular badge made with these initials which Myriam still has somewhere. Happily this sobriquet was soon dropped when the group formally split into the Algarve Wednesday Walkers, (AWW) and the Algarve Saturday Strollers (don't even think acronym there!) although it was used in correspondence with Almargem until 1999.
