WAGS 15.01.2020: Three's a quorum at Bishopville.

There was never going to be a large turnout for this week. First, John H a very recent member of the Octogenarian Society, had chosen this occasion to prove he had still got it, by leading the TransWAGS and the AWW on an 18km  tour of his 'hood.  Naturally the John H Groupies went with him, reducing our potential cast by a large percentage, being Hazel, Geraldine, Maria, Yves and Dina. (I could have made up a couple of those!!)
    And so, at 7 pm on Tuesday evening we only had 3 confirmed WAGS to step into the breach, while those in (insert location here) lay abed etc.....
  At 7:10 pm Whatsapp time, Peter took pity on our attempts to form a quorum, and signed up.

    At the authorised 7 minutes past the appointed hour we arrived at Cafe ZigZag, but no sign of Peter. We waited a while, and then came the phone call. Peter had been in Vila do Bispo for almost half an hour, but had decided to go to the top square near the church for reasons of his own. Soon redirected, the 4 of us set off west along a paved track from the village.

A 'Just after the Start' Photo: Rod, Myriam and Peter

   Without the best Blog Snapper in the Algarve, we forgot the starter pic until about 200 m. after leaving Cafe Zig Zag, and not having the wireless magic, only 3 of the starters appeared.
A sudden brainwave produced the idea that as there were only 4 of us, we might be able to get us all in a 'Selfie' despite my lack of expertise and arthritic fingers!

The result was not exactly as I had hoped as the concentration required to complete the manoeuvre did not allow me to assume my usual debonair and insouciant Tilley-wearer expression.

     Sadly, Peter's cunning plan to get himself on the team sheet with minimum effort was quickly brought into play, as we began a long slight uphill slope to the west, and he retired winded.  Let us hope he recovers in time for the next starter Photo!!

    Still any number greater than 1 is a sufficient quorum for a Wags walk and we set off, only pausing to play for blog padding pix at the wayside Nora where once there was a geocache by Team Caracache.

      Rod decided to investigate the gloomy interior of the well which is still in use by local farmers, as can be seen by the profusion of rubber pipes plumbed into its depths and ropes for hauling buckets to the surface..

A bit cramped in there...

We made good progress along broad tracks towards the Ermida de Santo Antonio, whose origins trace back to the Infante Dom Henrique, but the current version was restored in 1890, clearly by a local builder rather than Sir Christopher Wren.

Each year the local villagers of Monte de Sto. Antonio open the church up for one day on the Good Saint's expiry day, June 13th.  Of course much bigger celebrations are held in Lisbon, as Saint Antonio has somehow inveigled his way into the Portuguese consciousness as the Patron saint of Lisbon, but he is an imposter, as the real Patron saint of Lisbon was our very own St. Vincent.  It was probably because the Lisbonenses thought it more congenial to march down Avenida de Liberdade in mid-June rather than on the real Saint's day of January 22nd.

Santo Antonio has his day - 13th June 2014.

Shortly after this and having already walked 1 hour and 35 minutes we came to a junction where I made an executive decision to curtail the walk slightly, to allow time for our chief reason for trekking out to Vila do Bispo, which was to assess and review our options for our St Vincent's Dinner on January 22nd.

   I had selected our intended walk by virtually walking it on Google Earth and transferring the track to my trusty Garmin. Indeed with the widely separated waypoints it had come in at almost 11 km so it was going to be more when we walked. The intended and actual tracks can be seen in this screenshot.

The actual walk is the red line, which is partly obscured in the south by the blue line of the intended track.  When I saw the comparison at home, it seems that the full walk might have been over 12 km.

Some local lean, leggy  racing pigs, which can outstrip an amorous wild boar, in the vicinity of Monte de Sto Antonio.

Leaving us in no doubt where we were!

We could not approach this structure as it was fenced on the side we passed, but it looks of ancient archaeological interest, and may be something to do with the menirs and lay lines in this area which point to the site of the Ermida.

Approaching Vila do Bispo at the end of our walk. Myriam was so bored with Rod and my conversation , that she approached and made friends with this local.

We made it back to Cafe Zigzag at 1250 pm, having satisfied the WAGS honour, and pioneered a new walk. Average speed was good and at some stage we had apparently broken into a canter at 7.2 km/hr. We had also apparently climbed 120m.

We wanted to visit Eira do Mel (Slow Food) to check on the possibilities for our dinner next week, but despite the placard outside announcing it was open at 1230pm, the door was still resolutely locked at 1250 pm. Slow opening too!!

   A quick snack was called for and we tested the prowess of the Chef at ZigZag, by Rod ordering a Tosta Mista, which he tore into before I could extract my camera.....

........Myriam went for the prato do dia, which appeared to be some chicken with a garish orange pasta........

and I contented myself with a sub-size bifana.

Not bad for a quick snack.  By the time we had finished Eira do Mel was actually open and we made our enquiries of the extremely busy lady front of house, who had to refer all our requests to her husband, the temperamental chef, who made Gordon Ramsey seem like a choir boy, and had a wall festooned with certificates testifying to his Chef-iness.

We also visited O Palheiro and O Convivio to seek alternative quotes for dinner, but ultimately Eira do Mel seemed to have the better ambience and food for our tastes.

The ViewRanger track which came in at only 8.57 km

and the detailed Stats because I know you enjoy them! You may have to click to enlarge for better visibility.

 A good day's sport with barely any rain, and a useful recce. Three is definitely not a crowd and I hope some more WAGS can overcome their S.A.D and rejoin us in the near future.

Since last week John finished with a motto for the WAGS,  Solvitur ambulando, I propose an anthem to suit our purposes:-   'Gaudeamus igitur' - well at least the first couple of lines. here is the Great Mario Lanza singing the song from 'The Student Prince'.

GAUDEAMUS IGITUR

A great Anthem for walking and life if you are a young student and don't listen too closely or understand the words, but for those who were not classical scholars, perhaps I had better include them.

To show my feminist sensitive side may I say that I thoroughly concur with the 5th verse, especially the reference to mature women!!

Here is a note from Wikipedia on the provenance of the song.

"De Brevitate Vitae" (Latin for "On the Shortness of Life"), more commonly known as "Gaudeamus Igitur" ("So Let Us Rejoice") or just "Gaudeamus", is a popular academic commercium song in many European countries, mainly sung or performed at university and high-school graduation ceremonies. Despite its use as a formal graduation hymn, it is a jocular, light-hearted composition that pokes fun at university life. The song is thought to originate in a Latin manuscript from 1287. It is in the tradition of carpe diem ("seize the day") with its exhortations to enjoy life. It was known as a beer-drinking song in many early universities and is the official song of many schools, colleges, universities, institutions, student societies and is the official anthem of the International University Sports Federation.

What is good enough for the IUSF is good enough for the WAGS.