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Newsletter December 2005
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by: Nigel Anteney Hoare |
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This Newsletter starts on a sombre note as this year is
the 250th anniversary of a disastrous earthquake that hit Portugal in
November 1755.
Whilst there was no accurate measuring facility available then, best
scientific estimates give a possible reading of 8,5 on the Richter Scale.
It began at about 9:30 on that November 1st and was centered in the
Atlantic about 200 km WSW of Cape St. Vincent - more or less where we
experienced a largish tremor earlier this year. The total duration of the
tremors lasted ten minutes and comprised of three distinct jolts. Effects
from the earthquake were far reaching. The worst damage occurred here in
the south-west however Lisbon suffered badly with a devastating fire that
followed the ‘quake destroying a large part of the city. Severe shaking
was also felt in North Africa with loss of life in Fez, Morocco. Moderate
damage was done in Algiers and in southwest Spain. Movement was also felt
in France, Switzerland, and Northern Italy.
What many who know of the earthquake may not realise is that a very
strong tsunami followed causing heavy destruction all along the coast of
Portugal, southwest Spain, and western Morocco. This is of still very
topical following the events of Boxing Day 2004 in Thailand and Indonesia.
It was reported that the wave that hit the Algarve coast was between 12
and 15 metres high although in some places the waves crested at more than
30 metres. Whilst the wave caused damage in Lisbon and Spain the
destruction was greatest in the Algarve where the tsunami destroyed some
coastal fortresses and, in the lower levels, razed houses. Almost all the
coastal towns and villages of Algarve were heavily damaged, except Faro,
which was protected by its sand banks. In Lagos, the waves reached the top
of the city walls. For these coastal regions, the destructive effects of
the tsunami were more disastrous than those of the earthquake. For a vivid
eye witness description of the effects in Lisbon go to;
www.soc.soton.ac.uk/CHD/classroom@sea/portugal/quake_davy.html
Of course in 1755 the coastal area of the Algarve would have been largely
unpopulated and here I plagiarise the history of Carvoeiro which can be
seen on the
website in which - to quote;
“In "História
do Reino do Algarve" (History of the kingdom of the Algarve) from
about the year 1600, Henrique Fernandes Sarrão wrote: "A league to the
south of this place of Estombar, is the fishing village of Carvoeiro on
the coast; and half a league farther over, in the direction of the
sunrise, there is a watch-tower which is called the Alfanzina tower"
Thus it looks likely that there may have been a few fishermen and other
inhabitants in or near Carvoeiro that saw and suffered this huge wave.
Modern scientists shudder to contemplate the effect if the same thing
occurred at say 4pm on any August day now. Let’s hope we never suffer any
such tragedy.
The end of October and beginning of November is the time of São
Martinho - roast chestnuts and “água pé”. Água Pé is a strange brew which
seems to be the result of mixing water with the remains of the grape
skins, pips and stalks that have been used to make the current years wine.
One old rhyme says “Pelo São Martinho mata o teu porco e bebe o teu vinho”
or “For St Martinho kill your pig and drink your wine”. Indeed in rural
areas this is the time when country folk will start making preparation to
slay the pig that has been fattened all year to lay down as legs of salted
presunto and smoked chouriço. If you come across one of these “mata porco”
celebrations, as long as you have a strong stomach, you will become
involved in what is one of the big “festas” of the year.
It is also the time for the Feira Todos os Santos in Silves – the fair
that the local people joke spans two months, the 30th and 31st October and
the 1st and 2nd of November. The 31st is known to most of us as Halloween
with witches and broomsticks etc but is of course the "Hallowed Even"
prior to All Saints Day which is in turn followed by All Soul's Day (known
as the "Day of the Dead"). This is always on November 2 (November 3rd if
the 2nd falls on a Sunday!) and a day when most Portuguese people will
visit cemeteries placing flowers on the graves of their loved ones. The
day comes from the ancient Festival of the Dead, which celebrated the
Pagan belief that the souls of the dead would return for a meal with the
family. Candles in the window would guide the lost souls back home, and
another place was set at the table. Children would come through the
village, asking for food to be offered symbolically to the dead, this then
donated to feed the hungry.
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The All Saints fair in Silves used to be a grand, almost
mediaeval, affair strung out all along the road toward the football ground
and over the open land by the river. It has shrunk in recent years and
this year, because of the works on the beautification of the riverside,
was confined to a miserable muddy site near the cemetery (fitting
perhaps!) made worse by the heavy rains that fell at the end of October.
We went to Silves on Saturday 29th and the fair was not even set up at
that stage. We resolved to wait until it moved to Portimão the following
weekend.
On the Sunday we drove very early through torrential rain to Lisbon to see
our children back to their UK boarding school after half term. The Monarch
flight to Stansted from Lisbon chosen in preference to the exorbitant
price of EasyJet from Faro – the price deliberately increased just because
it was half term (moan over!)The 1st is a bank holiday and I noticed
that the little new church at Vale d’el Rei was really busy with
worshippers. The church was built I understand from the legacy of the old
priest who died. It seems unusual for a new church to be built nowadays.
To see it full of the local people was a grand sight. We took the
opportunity of the day off to have some lunch at the new Algarve Club
Atlantico/Alfanzina restaurant LA BELLA VITA – very good indeed!
It was much cooler now at night - clear sunny days and dew in morning
with the lovely sweet smell of wood smoke as people started to light up
their wood burners and open fires.
On the Wednesday it was back up to Lisbon on business for a couple of days
and the chance to try some very fine food at some of the capitals best
restaurants, Bica do Sapato, Alcantara Café and the newish "Eleven"
located in the Parque Amalia Rodrigues near the prison. Very nice indeed
and so glad that I wasn’t paying!
At the other end of the spectrum my unquenchable quest for cheap food
goes on. Our neighbouring parish of Ferragudo scores well this month with
a Euro 7,95 dinner during November offered by the RESTAURANTE ARADE in the
main square. This gives you a glass of wine or beer, farmers vegetable
soup, a choice of 6 main dishes and coffee. We gave it a try and enjoyed
at very much. Mind you with the various add ons, more wine, pudding,
coffees and brandies it came to about 15 euro a
head! I understand that ANDREW his wife and staff will be offering more
similar winter monthly offers. They will even give you a free lift home
within the Ferragudo/Sesmarais area!!
It is good to see these bargain initiatives springing up and perhaps this
is the lead all Algarve businesses should follow – less greed and value
for money - over to you Gambrinus :-)
An interesting article appeared in the Portuguese press which said that
since 2001, 30,000 immigrants have settled in the Algarve.
This has pushed the population above 410,000. This influx has been
counterbalanced the fact that over the last few years deaths have out
performed births. Only last year did we get into positive ground with 88
more births than deaths. It seems that the Algarve is being swallowed up
by newcomers.
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| Around this time the ongoing drainage work in the area hit
the square with a vengeance. The view of the sea from the square was
blotted out with security fencing and poor old GRAND CAFÉ was more or less
put out of business. I am not sure what they are doing but one day an
enormous drill or auger turned up and began drilling . I missed a photo of
that but did take some to show what is going on.
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| A few places were closing down either for a break or clean
up. SULLYS was closed for about 10
days from the 21st whilst the old wrecked place above it seems to have
been more or less renovated. The CAFÉ FINO was having a clean up, and most
amazingly the Chinese opposite the taxi rank was closed for a month. Is
this the first Chinese ever to close its doors voluntarily?! |
Off we went to take a look at the fair in Portimão. We went with Ken Sale
and his lady Jan. Ken is now based in Suffolk but lived around this way
for quite a while back in the 80's and some readers may recall him. We ate
first in the restaurant PALAIO in Portimão and then on to the fair. Not
bad with a few nice things on offer but not the atmosphere it used to
have.
Saturday the 12th saw the annual childrens charity night dinner, quiz and
auction at O ANTÓNIOS. Very well organised as always and a complete sell
out with Simon Perry a star on the quiz. I understand they raised 3,740
Euros to help the charity ACCA which assists orphanages. António put on a
feast for about 9 Euros a head and all the rest of the ticket money (€18)
went to charity.
After the meal it was off for a pub crawl to
BAR HAVANA,
THE ANGEL, ROUND UP and back to HAVANA . Eeeeeek!! Craig and Jenny are
closing for first two weeks of December for a well earned break in
Florida. I thought about offering to keep the place open!!
Further on the charity front, many local ex-patriates have been busy
filling shoe boxes with gifts to try and brighten Christmas for the kids
at the Alvor orphanage which relies solely on voluntary contributions and
fund raising to keep going.
On Sunday we went to a birthday dinner at my daughter and son in laws
house. My 3rd grandson had hit 14 and we were royally entertained along
with about 20 others to a fine feast including a massive fish caldeirada.
My daughter has lived here for the best part of 25 years and married a
local lad back in 1988. She has integrated completely to the Portuguese
lifestyle and I was told by her husband that she
cooks some Portuguese dishes better than the locals! If you ever get
invited to any of these type of celebrations do go along. The local people
are always pleased to show foreigners how they celebrate and you will
invariably have a great time. Don't bank on driving home!
The weekend of 19th/20th saw us in the UK having got a cheap EasyJet out
of Faro to Stansted. We enjoyed beautiful clear blue skies and sunny but
cold days there whilst receiving reports of torrential rain in the
Algarve. You may have read that the final day of the much publicised World
Cup of Golf was a washout and called off. When we returned on Monday we
could see the effects. Large lakes had formed in Lagoa behind Mestre Maco
and the village looked very damp indeed. CHARLIES BAR had a notice in the
window - "Warm and dry inside"!! Being late back on the Monday we ate at
LANTERNA VELHA. Frank told us he was closing as usual for December and
January.
It was interesting to note that on 25th November at a meeting of the Junta
da Freguesia a Motion was passed deploring the state of the old ruin next
to the Turismo office in the square citing it as a pollution hazard. Maybe
something will happen on that after all and JAN ZEGER of PATIO/GRAND CAFÉ
will get his chance to tastefully develop it.
By the end of the month things were more or less at their lowest ebb from
the point of view of visitors. SMILERS BAR had closed for a while as had
COLOMBOS and the whole place was generally very quiet. The weather had
settled into bright sunny days and clear cold nights with temperatures
down around 5/6ºc.
Lets se what December brings!
Até logo
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