Following last years successful trip to Mallaga B&M and his team of intrepid travellers organised another run in the sun to the Algarve, not as hot as last year but very pleasant weather none the less, more suited to physical activities. Everyone made their own travel and accommodation arrangements the majority of the group in the Boa Vista Hotel Albufeira, the others nearby, people arriving from Tuesday to Friday. We were joined by Berkshire hashers C5 and Legover and Back to Front and Rightly who we have not seen for sometime. The Hotel was high up so visiting the town or Marina, in opposite directions, was a bit of a challenge especially on the way back, the entrance to the hotel being up about 60 steps from the street.
Albufeira had long golden beaches and the first semi organised meeting was a beach cafe Sola Auga at the far end of the beach around lunchtime on Friday attended by many to be followed by a pub crawl in the evening starting at the Steps Bar. The organising of events and meetings was being organised on WhatsApp and over the course of the week there were some 260 messages from people wanting to know who, what and where with some photos and info. The Steps Bar, a favorite of B&M I think he was on commission, was cheap welcoming and boasted an excellent musician, Martin Jonathon, who played requests if he knew them so the pub crawl stayed in one place, more of a pub visit than a crawl, many staying into the early hours a little the worse for wear. Is it the way forward a drinking club without a running problem?
Saturday we gathered outside the Irish Bar on the marina for our first run laid by the hashaway team taking us along the coast with stunning views with a beer stop at Praia dos Arrifes and on to Restaurante de Praia de Sao Rafael for the on down.
Down Downs were awarded to the hares, I'm Three for helping the RA, leave him to struggle next time, Sun Dodger for doing nothing for two days to then front running and Biggles who went for a swim and had to be helped out of the water by an Australian. As it was an A to B run there was a couple of miles to walk back to the marina and a meal in the Fat Cat bar.
hares
Sunday and we gathered at the hotel reception at 10:15 for minibuses to Loule to meet Algarve H3 for their hash. We arrived a little early so had a wonder round the town, had coffee etc before returning to the car park meet Algarve H 3 it was a relief to see they had a similar demographic to us with some serious runners and a number of walkers some sporting sticks. The hash was laid by Comes Now and Then, Beep Beep and Summer Cummer and the briefing informed us laid in white powder, on if two drops or two arrows together and two runners loops. The trail ran on roads, tracks and some rough ground with plenty of confusion with unfamiliar trail markings keeping people together and a beerstop in the car park of Santuario de Nossa Senhora de Piedade, an imposing domed Catholic Church situated high above Loule. The trail continued back to the start mainly on road through Loule the longs covering a little over 6 miles and the shorts about 5 miles in around 2 hours.
After a circle with numerous down downs and hash beer we moved to a Rugby club with a small outdoor amphitheatre where a buffet and more beer was provided by the hosts along with a few more down downs and a few songs. Thanks to Algarve H3 for a great day.
beer stopcircle
The rest of the time was spent exploring the area and visits to Steps Bar and other eating and drinking establishments and a trip to Lagos that went horribly wrong when a minibus was supposed to do two trips to the station did not manage to get back in time for the second group to catch the train, so one group got to Lagos the other made their way to Silves a closer destination, before people started to leave for home or travel on to other destinations the last to leave being Trug and Kiss Me returning on Friday.
Thanks again to those involved in organising a memorable trip enjoyed by all.
There are many other stories but what happens in the Algarve stays in the Algarve.
Looe & Liskeard Hash House Harriers, Cornwall 