AWW: Walk the hills and glens of political metaphors - 06 November 2019

AWW: Walk the hills and glens of political metaphors - 06 November 2019

The participants: John (cycling John...ed), Jim (cycling Jim...alas only for the very early stages), Tony, Sara, Sue,  Frank (eventually!), Geoff & Sue, Isobel, Martin, Terry, Alan, Jim & Gill, and finally and a warm welcome to newbies, Brenda and Don.

Walk preparation is always important and not without risk. In the walk invitation we lauded ourselves on our skills as international trade negotiators for having achieved agreement for the 09.00hrs early opening of the Belo Horizonte cafe. To be sure to be sure we passed by the cafe on Tuesday afternoon as a confirmatory courtesy.

On this occasion we engaged with the elderly proprietor, not the son with whom we had made the agreement. Communications were testing and the outcome rather negative - he insisted he spoke no English, that the cafe opened only at noon and that an early opening at 09.00hrs on Wednesday would not be possible.

A further difficulty was that none of the customers in the cafe responded to an English language assistance request.

We were leaving with our tales and tails between our legs when we found someone outside who had a little English... Eventually after multiple translation explanations and pleadings we left with some hope - the father seemed to indicate that if the son had made a commitment to open at 09.00hrs then that would be up to him but father would not be present at such an hour as he had his own morning routines! The best we could hope for was that the message would be passed on to the son.

So when we arrived at 09.00hrs we were delighted to see the open door and the son behind the counter with a welcoming smile, even if he turned out not to be the fastest barista in town (15 coffees in 30+ minutes!) and on our return in the afternoon, father's serving of refreshments matched the son's earlier pace!

I must end this matter by thanking the Belo Horizonte family simply for being open and serving our needs - the coffee was excellent, the beer and wines chilled to perfection and we all need to learn from them about the pace of life!

Where art thou Frank!

Talking about pace of life, I must digress to Frank's dramatic arrival. A reconciliation of numbers at 09.18hrs revealed that all bar Frank were accounted for (albeit not all had yet been served coffee!).

Sue (M) remarked that this was most unlike Frank. Sue didn't have Frank's number but she did have Lorna's so she called and Lorna confirmed that Frank had set off at 08.10hrs. Just as this call ended, Sue's phone rang and it was David Littlewood to say that Frank had just called him asking to pass on a message (because he didn't have a number for any of us) to say that he was stuck in roadworks and wouldn't make it so we should go without him. We would have left then but some still awaited coffee! 

Then Lorna phoned Sue to say that Frank was on his way again and would join us shortly. While this conversation was taking place, our walk leader for the day commented that he had just seen a Lewis Hamilton protege flying past Belo Horizonte driving a car that looked remarkably like one last seen driven by Frank. However it was travelling at such a speed that before anyone else viewed it, it had disappeared over the horizon, all four wheels by this time off the ground... WHOOSH...!

At 09.35 with most of the party now nearing coffee completion, the walk leader called Lorna and asked her to pass on a message to Frank for him to go directly to Pincho where we would meet up with him. Lorna replied that cafe Pincho was indeed Frank's stated destination - so now the problem was solved - the Lewis Hamilton mirage was in fact Frank! 

The main group now set off in an environmental friendly and sedate car share convoy to Pincho and halfway there, were met by the flying Scotsman and Grand Prix trainee, going at speed in the opposite direction and as you would expect, Frank executed a perfect doughnut turn and fell into convoy formation!

The final point on this digression is that Frank generously apologised for being late and contributed a self imposed fine of 20 euros to the AWW events kitty. (Perhaps a welcome/dangerous precedent!)

I did make Frank aware that I would have to mention his late arrival in the walk report but that I would try to keep it to an absolute minimum and I hope that he agrees that I have succeeded in that respect.

After such an exciting start to proceedings, I am almost out of breath and the walk itself seems almost mundane! 

Blue sky departure 

It was a bright sunny day, a chilly breeze at times and patchy cloud developing. 

Jim (that's cycling Jim, not leading Jim..ed) dropped out very early feeling under the weather and we all hope he is on the mend.

Off we go

Approaching summit of hill one

Heather and Mad dronya! 

Everyone seemed  to enjoy the variety of vistas, to the coast, to the Monchique hills and across a depleted barragem. We ticked off, a trig point, and signs for BICA and VALE DE LOBO.

Trig or treat?

A colourful garden in the middle of nowhere 

Cabbage & beans patch in the middle of nowhere

Home of BICA!

Lunch ( only 10 mins allowed.....ed) 

The real thing! ( and no sign of Ken, Miriam nor Bica, believed AWOL recceing their own walk...ed)

Too shallow for a swim!

We love flat walks! 

There was no trace of Boris, no political debate and we did not encounter any political party canvassing, which was a bit of a surprise given that it was such a pleasant day. The most interesting encounter of the day, witnessed only by a few, was that of a little shrew who appeared to be scurrying off to a Wednesday flea market! (captured on camera by John)

The totals for the day, just short of 22kms, elevation gain just over 600m and time taken 5.5hrs. No one mentioned any walk shortening and only in the latter stages was there any evidence of fatigue slowing. Some even opined that the hills were less intimidating than the walk invitation implied! Beware what you wish for in future!

A beer at the end - so cold the bottle stuck to the hand!

The feet have a tale to tell and what a wonderful sleep we all had last night!

A great day out, enjoyed by and thanks to all.

Jim and Gill