Saliring in the Rain

 

Saliring in the Rain.

Just Saliring in the rain.

What a glorious feeling.

We’re in Salir again!!

16^th December, 2020.

Our usual bubble of five met up at the A Vila cafe. Not our preferred one but our Tapas bar is closed temporarily for staff holidays so we began our walk from here. A short      walk, a not so short blog and lots of photos, as requested, by our coordinator.                

Sue, Tony, Me, (Jan), Julie with camera and Martin, not Rafa our furry friend he had a sore paw. But, I  think he knew what the weather forecast held and decided that a warm bed at home was more pleasing!

So, here we met in Salir outside A Vila...... alas, no room at the inn but a shining star arrived from the East bearing flasks of cheer. Warm Alentejo spiced wine appeared from the boot of the car and served to put us in the spirit otherwise known as Vin chaud, Gluehwein or a good old fashioned Mulled wine along with Mint and Chocolate Christmas cookies. We had dithered about walking due to the inclement weather forecast but I was clearly outnumbered and told, by Tony that it was character building!!! We had decided earlier when we discussed the Christmas walk/lunch that a shorter walk would be preferable. We would be back to the restaurant around 12.30 in plenty of time to give Martin and Tony enough time to beautify themselves. When our “cockles of our ‘eart’ was sufficiently warmed we set off.

Off we trundled around the village in the direction of the castle, heading for the A124 Alte/Barranco do Velho road. Here, we crossed to the opposite side and followed the tarmac for a short time which led us onto a back road leading us through small hamlets. From here we are given a clear view of the the castle, the “Blot on the Landscape” which is Salir’s famous water tower landmark and the church. This Blot can be seen from many high points as far as Barranco do Velho. However, it is an essential Blot on the Landscape for the Salir residents.  

It is not the only Blot! We have a newly erected sculpture which proudly rears up for 10 meters and painted red in the middle of a 10 metre wide roundabout on the A124. A lizard!!!  Namely, Godzilla which is completely out of all proportion.  It makes you think that Loule concelho has more money than sense!! Due to the weather being particularly kind, I, deviated the route up towards a small lake which today was murky. At this point, our in house horticulturist, Tony noticed some spectacular fungi. Edible or magical?? 

We meandered our way around the hamlets finding ourselves behind the village swimming pool and keeping straight on to Pe da Serra another delightful hamlet. We continued for some time following this trail leading into another hamlet, Alcaria.  Enduring tarmac for a few hundred meters, we thankfully took a turn to the right heading towards a fonte. Despite the heavy rain the crossing of the small waterway was uneventful.

The weather was still in our favour and we were only around 7 kms from the start, so I decided, yet again, to take a detour to lengthen the trail and visit one of our friends in Almaraginho  (a small hamlet, west of Salir) who was delighted to see five of her ‘wet’    friends. After, having a little chat and to see her much grown puppy, Sydney we left for the last few kms                                                                                                               

   Passing many Noras, on the way back to Salir and, in one, Tony had noticed several Carp swimming happily around.  You could see the golden fish on the surface and in deeper     layers. The water was clear as crystal and I was told that the water was very fresh and safe to drink due to the presence of Carp. Sue then told us of the history of carp. In    previous years, if you owned a sisterna your were given free Carp by the Freguesia to    place into the water, in order, that they would eat the larva of the mosquito. Therefore does carp = fresh water = fewer mosquitos?  Interesting, if indeed!                               

             

Up and up, the only real hill of the day and as we reached the village I suggested that we could extend the walk by going up around the castle. I was voted out by Martin and his hunger. So, straight to the restaurant we went. We all decided upon Fish and Chips, wine and coffees and it was delicious. 

As we said our goodbyes to make our way to the cars, we heard loud music and bells, lo and behold from behind us the village Bombeiros truck trundled up the high street and surprised us with their Christmas joy. The driver, as Santa along with his fiery elfs gave us a spectacular display of their musical performance.  Just wonderful. What an end to a Christmas lunch.

Thank you, to Julie for the lovely Christmas chocolate coins, Sue for the crackers, Tony and Martin for the entertainment and their photography and the late entrance of our additional diner.

I/we are sure that we take some delight, in hearing about the much needed vaccine role out and hopefully we look forward to ending this annus horribilis on a high and look forward to meeting up with all of you in 2021.  From our bubbly, bubble may, I take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and most welcoming New Year. Keep safe.  

Length of walk:                  9.47 kms                

General walking speed:     4.9 kms per hour 

https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/salir-62333440