APAPS 23.04: With A Little Bit Of Help From One´s Friends

 

It makes it so much easier producing this blog when one´s friends chip in with their contributions, so thanks to those who contributed pictures (Dorothy, Hazel, Tanja), statistics (Denis), and commentary (Yves).

Now, if you can remember as far back as last week´s blog, it finished with a small puzzle. Yves had sent in this picture

with the comment: 

 In our Great Series of ‘Cryptic Messages’, here is another: WHAT is the reference to the magnifying glass in the cartoon?"

I had no idea what he was getting at and asked if any of our readers had. No replies to that, apart from a follow-up picture and comment from Yves:

" Astérix, mon ami! Le village irréductible des insoumis à César. Tout le monde sait ça, n´est ce pas?"

Are any of you any the wiser' Why the polar bear and the penguins( which live in different continents in any case )?

Of course, Yves specialises in a particular form of whimsy ("whimsy" French "caprice", Portuguese "caprichosa", German "der Spleen   " and in Italian "estroso") which can make it hard to keep up with his train of thought.

However, let´s not look a gift horse in the mouth - à  cheval donné on ne regarde pas la bouche - because he has contributed this summary of Wednesday´s expedition. Over now to Yves.

 

And so, to some musings: 

The air was clear and fresh, the light was golden in the East; nothing new in itself but one can never become tired of such uplifting spirit at such an early hour. As they have done on so many previous occasions, some of the local stray cats opened one eye, muttered dark things about the sanity of Frogs and returned to their slumber. The Present Mrs. F did likewise. But I made my way to Snack Bar Martins where the Walkers were assembling with joyful cries of ‘Good morning’ and ‘How are you?’

   The Starters, symmetrically arranged by height, are: 

    Dennis, Yves, Dorothy, newcomer Daniela, Hazel, Myriam,Tanja, and JohnH.

 

At the appointed time, the bell rang at the railway crossing and John was almost treated to the sight of a Frog being tossed into the middle of next week by a speeding train! The dastardly thing was coming from the West while the intrepid Frog was peering East into the sunrise… 

Near miss

The driver was awake and alert: a short blast on his klaxon restored order without drama.

And so, the troop set off at precisely 7.00 a.m. o’clock in the morning. L’exactitude est la politesse des rois, n’est-ce pas? (Louis XVIII ?) 

A glorious morning it was, too: pleasantly tempered and rich in bright colours; the Algarve compares favourably with many places, except most areas of rural France, of course… 

As ever, the conversations and the laughter filled the echo: what is it that makes geriatrics so happy and voluble? Answers, on a post-card, to the usual address, please.

 

Some conversations were on the serious side of the page: was the clutch of eggs found last week from a bird, from Superman or from a snake as was propounded by a learned person? The ensuing discussion led to the conclusion that no local bird could lay a dozen eggs without consequential damage to their aftermath, so a snake it had to be! Further discussion established that it could only be the Algarvian Cuckoo Snake wot dun it as it is the only species that displaces other birds from their nests to claim them as their own… Given a free rein, these geriatrics can re-write Wikipedia in one walk!

(Wikipedia has yet to publish an article on the Algarvian Cuckoo Snake, but the recent edition of Portugal Resident does make reference to the Short-toed Snake Eagle which apparently has specially adapted "toes" to help it catch its favoured meal. Ed.)

 Ahead of the group, John was leading at a steady pace, soon to take us past some prickly pears, 

past the truncated Old Oak Tree 

The shortened version

and a reminder of the Oak, pre-truncation

and eventually up a small bank to a fence around a paddock with two beautiful donkeys –beauty is in the eye of the beholder but one feminish voice was heard saying that one of the animals was a ‘hottie’; she knows something that some of us are still wondering about. 

Having admired the donkeys, it was time to move along: breakfast was beckoning!

 

The Three Dees. (Degrees, Dimensions?)

Now, some inquisitive Walker asked about the economy of the country and why perfectly good orange trees were uprooted to make way for avocados: money! As simple as that! Money does grow on trees in the Algarve! ‘Yes, he ventured, but where you cannot plant trees?’ It was then explained patiently that some small businesses in dark and remote places like Monchique receive funds for new ventures such as the production of pre-fabricated nests for the growing population of Algarvian Cuckoo Snakes. The font of knowledge is bottomless…

The Statistics and the probable Track.

 

All this banter came to the predictable end when the café hove into view: the hungry Walkers settled to enjoy one of the nicest breakfasts in a long time! 

The new owners or management of Snack Bar Martin’s went the extra mile: the cherry tomatoes sizzled in olive oil and garlic complimented the crispy bacon ever so well; the eggs were firm but runny enough to dip soldiers in just as we did yesterday when we wuz young, Mavis…(Mavis ? Maggie, surely)

 and the individually presented baked beans !! Well done, that chef!

 

Rod put in his customary appearance, just checking to see that we were following the rules.

Some deliciously sweet grapes appeared, too, courtesy of Hazel and the banter continued unabated for ages: time flies when Walkers are having fun.

 

Uh ! Oh!

Ah! Ha!

Thanks, Yves, for the commentary. Next stop: by popular demand, you do the whole blog.

Well, it wasn´t all banter. There was some serious discussion. Myriam enlightened us with the pertinent facts about baked beans. Canned baked beans are not actually baked but are cooked, once they are in the can, through a steam process, like tinned sardines.. Baked beans formed part of the native American diet and are made from beans indigenous to the Americas. The dish was then adopted and adapted by the English colonists in the 17th century. H. J. Heinz began producing canned baked beans in 1886 and by the early 20th century they had gained international popularity, particularly in the United Kingdom, where they have become a common part of the Full English Breakfast, which by the way is not to be confused with the Pequeno Almoço Algarveana.

That baked beans are part of the F. E. B. is recognised by the English Breakfast Society in its publication called The English Breakfast Handbook, which you can find, I think, on Twitter/Facebook@FryUpSociety.

Although the English Breakfast Society generally favour very traditional ingredients such as devilled kidneys, pheasant legs and anchovy toast, they are prepared to admit the used of canned baked beans although they would prefer that you use home made. In Hazel´s copy of the book, the standard ingredients of the F..E.B. are defined as bacon, eggs, sausage, black pudding, bubble & squeak, baked beans, fried tomato, fried mushrooms, fried bre3ad and toast, plus a range of jams and marmalade.

Incidentally, if you are ever in London and want a true F.E.B, the author of the book, who goes by the name of Guise Bule de Missenden (I kid you not) recommends a place called the Hawksmoor Guildhall where they serve a smoked bacon chop, plum pudding,bacon, traditional sausages usiong pork, beef and mutton, bubble & squeak, grilled bone marrow and, wait for it, "home made pig trotter baked beans".

Reverting to Snack Bar Martins, Chef Marcio certainly did us proud, although his team of servers still have to learn that Yves should always get served first. But I won´t hold that against them because they served my large shandy is a chilled caneca glass.

Dorothy took these pics of the Snack Bar´s menu

APAPS 23.03: The New Slim Look, or Bring Your Own Belt

The walk was from the familiar area of São Boa Homem.

The Starters: Janet, Dorothy, newcomer Tanja, Hazel, Dennis, Maria, JohnH and Myriam.

The actual start was a bit delayed because Hazel had not brought her own belt and found that her trousers were in danger of slipping off and had to attend to a bit of jury-rigging with an old shoelace.

Up the first hill and the Rest and Be Thankful bench gave a welcome pause for some.

 

Then onward to take the view towards Silves castle.

Then Hazel overruled the Leader and demanded that we go up a steep hill, which had not been the plan at all. She seemed to enjoy it.

Janet and Myriam helped to keep the overall pace down.by lagging behind.

Then everyone slowed down to tackle the final tricky downhill.

All down safely.

The Track and the Statistics

Then it was along the road to Para e Fica for breakfast where Hazel changed into a slim line outfit that needed no extra belting..

She then set up a vegetable stall with produce from her horta.

Breakfast was then served. The tomatoes were especially delectable

Yves then turned up exactly at 10.00 hrs, with perfect timing just as his plate was placed on the table.

Our hostess had found some particularly good bacon which your blogger enjoyed so much that he forgot to take the statutory close-up photos of it. But we will return in a few weeks..

Grapes were also served, again the product of Hazel´s horta.

and Rod Frew looked in for a coffee and to check that everything was in order.

Yves being a bit below par hadn´t walked with us so we missed his special photography. But we can make up for that by publishing one of his recent shots taken somewhere in Silves. Nothing to do with the walk, of course, but worth seeing none the less.

Yves´ own comment on the picture was

"Sadly, there were no nice young lady to stand on the prow of Portugal Stone Ship in the heart of Silves… All the young ladies were otherwise engaged, married or busy mending socks…"

which I understand to be a reference to the film Titanic..am I right?

And then, subsequent to the walk, Yves sent in this picture

with the comment:-

"In our Great Series of ‘Cryptic Messages’, here is another: WHAT is the reference to the magnifying glass in the cartoon?"

"La canicule" means "heat wave" or "he dog days" but, apart from that, I haven´t the faintest idea what he is on about.

 Have you?