All I wanted to do was pick up some beer. Then I thought, maybe some punnets of fruit, too: strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries… you know the sort of thing. I love my berries, whether on their own or with some yoghurt. Either way, I enjoy them, and appreciate the fact that they’re good for me as well. I try to eat them as often as possible. Of course, these days, you have to rinse them thoroughly and pray that they haven’t been genetically modified, but in truth, all you can do is take what you can get – fingers crossed and all that.
So, that was my plan: walk into Olhão, pick up some Ramblers from Mini Preco, check the shelves for berries, and then, if I couldn’t find any, head to Continente on the way to the railway station and grab some from there. I’d then catch the train home.
I dressed appropriately (shorts, t-shirt, fleece), pulled on my socks and boots, stuck a cap on my head and grabbed my sunnies (yes, I do listen to my Australian friend sometimes) and headed out into the wild blue yonder.
The day was glorious, with a stunning azure sky, a warm sun, a gentle breeze and hardly anybody around. It was a perfect early February day, with just me, the salinas and the birds: birds wading through water, birds gliding through the heavens, birds calling to each other… bliss.
I walked for maybe an hour and forty minutes. I walked along the dirt track that heads west towards Olhão. I walked along the boardwalk that leads to Praia dos Cavacos. I traversed the new bridge that crosses the Ribeira de Quatrim. I walked past the Parque Natural da Ria Formosa and Olhão’s Parque de Campismo e Caravanismo – the local campsite. Then finally, I headed towards Olhão’s industrial estate, where I found Mini Preco.
Outside the shop, I removed my sunnies and sat them on the peak of my cap – I can’t see a bloody thing indoors if I keep them on. I then took my wallet from my rucksack and entered. I passed through the fruit department, noticing a lack of berries (Continente it was then) and headed straight for the drinks area. I stood opposite the pallet that holds (well, normally holds) a large stack of Ramblers’ twelve-packs, but it was empty. Well, not empty exactly, because it held other brands, but right now there was no Ramblers in sight. Bloody hell. Had they put it somewhere else? They must have done, since there wasn’t even a label denoting where the beer should have been. Bollocks.
I walked the length of the drinks department. Nothing. I walked around the store looking for a pallet of ‘Specials’. Again, nothing. No Ramblers for me then, it seemed. Mmmm… what to do? I ummed and aahed and decided I’d leave it for now. Maybe they’d have some more in later in the week? Fingers crossed once again, obviously.
I left Mini Preco and headed for the railway station via Continente. Continente is normally busy, with large queues for the tills, but today, I was lucky. Three tills were manned (or should that be womanned? Or maybe personned? I have no idea what’s right or wrong anymore…), with only a couple of customers at each of them. Bonus. I went inside and rather than strolling through the aisles, I headed straight for the fruit, and in particular, the refrigerated units where I normally find an abundance of berries.
I stood in front of the units and stared – forlornly. They were empty. There were no berries to be seen: no strawberries, no blackberries, no raspberries, no blueberries… bloody hell. What was it about today? Why was there nothing that I wanted? Were all the shelf-fillers on strike for some reason? Had there been some sort of crop failure? As I said, bloody hell…
I left Continente having failed miserably.
On the train home, I messaged a friend and told him about the Ramblers situation. A couple of minutes later, my phone pinged. My friend had sent a picture through to me. It was from Mini Preco’s online shop. It was a photo of a can of Ramblers and below it were the words: ‘Não disponível’ – Not available. Nooooo!!!! It can’t be!
Bloody hell! Have they really stopped producing Ramblers, stopped producing the cheapest beer around? For the price, it had been my favourite and actually, not a bad drop.
Bollocks!!
To summarise, it seemed that I’d failed with finding the two things I’d wanted. I’d not found any berries and it looked like my beer of choice was no longer being brewed. Sometimes life really kicks you in the nuts… but I suppose, at least I’d had a nice stroll in the sun.
I have to say, it’s days like this that you just need to put life into perspective. You just have to take what you can get, and forget about everything else. But bloody hell, no Ramblers…
Yesterday, I encountered a… well, what can I call it? Let’s just say, I came face to face with a Portuguese Moment. ‘What’s a Portuguese Moment?’ I hear you ask
Language is a strange thing. It’s useful if you want to communicate. Not so useful if you don’t want to or don’t need to communicate. But…
I was sitting on the platform at Fuseta-A train station, waiting for the train. I was engrossed in my phone, checking for messages and emails – as you do…
