Jo’s Monday walk : Sáo Brás de Alportel, then and now

One Monday morning, earlier this year, I was wandering in the sleepy back streets of Sáo Brás de Alportel.  In a ruin mostly used for car parking I stopped to examine the remnants of old photos pasted onto the walls.   This is a town rich in tradition, where paper flowers are liberally used to decorate the streets at Easter time.  The scenes feature a quiet nearby street, the bombeiros or fire brigade, a local dance, and a lorry load of cork.  A museum in the town is dedicated to the cork industry, and piles of cork can often be seen drying in the surrounding hills.  The use of Monochrome can make a scene look ancient, but in Sáo Brás the past never seems very far away.

Until the council decided a change of image was needed.  New fountains on slick marble squares, and metal animal sculptures now grace the centre of town.  It’s surprising what a game changer this is.  The whole mood of the place is altered.

In the same way, replacing the colour in a photo with monochrome creates a change of mood.

It’s a gentle palette in Sáo Bras.  Washing adorns the wall as it must always have done.  Azulejo panels softly crown each doorway, predominately blue and white.  Modern art blends with old and crumbling buildings.  And in the countryside, bleached fields patiently await a turn in the season.

But it will take more than a few sculptures to separate Sáo Brás from its claim to antiquity.  You can follow a Roman road through the back streets of town.  And where better to savour that most traditional of Portuguese tarts?

My walk today isn’t at all what I intended, but I was having far too much fun on Saturday and left my camera and phone at a party.  I hadn’t downloaded my photos from last week’s adventure in Seville, so that will have to wait.  Not half so famous and a fraction of its size, but I think this little town in the Algarve hills has its own brand of charm.  I hope Patti will accept my contribution to the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge this week.

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Not too many shares this week, so please take the time to visit if you can.  Many thanks to all who participate.  Contributions are always welcome here on Jo’s Monday walk. Have a great week everybody!

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I love a leafy hollow in the woods.  Drake takes us speeding through :

Life beyond forestry

Natalie takes us through some very different woods to a beach :

Hiking the Tonquin Trail

Lots of leaves about this week.  Good to share a smile with Lady Lee :

The Weekly Smile for October

And linger a while with Irene :

Autumn on the Trail

A healthy splash of colour from Eunice this week :

Dublin street art

And a city I’d love to revisit.  West coast with Alice :

San Diego Waterfront- Seaport Village

How much do you know about Waterloo?  Denzil takes us through some of the history :

Walking the Battlefield of Waterloo

While Cathy is still on the Camino, but the end is in sight :

(Camino day 41) Triacastela to Sarria

Who doesn’t like to end on a high?  Thanks so much, Gilly  🙂

A glorious November day

I’m easing off this week after a slightly manic time.  Many thanks to all of you for following along and for your good wishes.

108 comments

  1. Jo, you forgot your camera and phone! 😀 You must have felt lost without them! Oh, I’ve fallen for Sáo Brás … the haunting postcards at the top drew me in, evocative of past times, a theme you continue perfectly with the monochrome photos. It’s fascinating the difference these black and white photos make, adding a certain pathos and atmosphere.

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    1. It’s typical of many small Portuguese towns, Annika, but I’m afraid I react badly to change. Gradually the ‘new look’ has grown on me. 🙂 🙂 And the camera was left in good hands, and returned to me the next day 🙂

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  5. Thank you for the guiding, Jo! Love the animals…living or dead…and everything else too of course! Those first photos of olden days are wonderful. Hope you get your camera and phone back…soon!

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  7. You always find and share amazing art photographs dear Johanna, I loved them, and also black & white too… I wished to walk with you… 🙂 Thank you, Love, nia

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  11. What an interesting post, Jo. It’s really remarkable how monochrome completely changes the feeling of the scenes! Sáo Brás is so interesting with the history also in contrast to the art and fountains and more modern artistic additions. I hope you were reunited with your camera and phone! 🙂

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    1. Some friends kindly brought the phone, camera and my sunglasses along to our walk the next morning. Photos all downloaded and good to go 🙂 🙂 Glad you enjoyed this in the meantime, Debbie.

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  14. Pingback: Not my usual south bank walk – Travel with Intent

  16. Excellent. I like the photos of old photos, something I sometimes do. The oldies have a certain quality hard to reproduce. I also like the fountain in B&W. The statue and people jump out.

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