Vespa was created 80 year old, after World War II. Piaggio made airplanes, wagons and ships and factories were destroyed by the Allies and the way to lift Italy was through those mopeds.
Vasco Alves, founder and executive director of Vespa Vintage de Felgueiras (VVF), known as the “Mayan Bee”, has a curious definition: “the Vespa is the Ferrari of two wheels”.
Starting tomorrow and until Sunday, the VVF will hold the 11th Vespa Tour “Back to Alentejo… But slowly”, celebrating the 50 years 25 April and the 40 years of Ovibeja, along 20 of 47 municipalities in the Alentejo region, passing through the districts of Portalegre, Evora and Beja, having the base installed in a hotel unit in Estremoz.
On the road there will be 110 vespists, coming from Bragança to Faro, the organization having surpassed the initial idea of 80 subscribers. “We opened registrations on the day 17 January and 15 minutes later they were closed. For logistical reasons, we stopped at least 140 people, in particular from Spain, France and Italy”, justifies Vasco Alves.
This tour was scheduled for July 2022, but the remnants of the covid-19 pandemic led to its postponement. “The idea of slowness is not for nothing. It has to do with the beauty of the flower fields, gives time to nest, and only slowly can you enjoy all the beauty of the Alentejo”, supported the “Abelha Maia”.
The tour starts this Thursday, with the concentration taking place next to the Municipal Council of Arronches and the first big moment takes place from 15,00 hours in Campo Maior, where the waspistas will remember commander Manuel Rui Nabeiro, laying a crown of 50 rosas, rose heart, to honor “the Man, the entrepreneur, the Fighter is a pure Socialist”, explained the tour organizer.
Tomorrow, the tour will pass through Beja, with a tour of the city and then the group lunch taking place at Taberna do Cesário, in Porto Peles, in the parish of Our Lady of the Snows, then proceed to the Left Bank.
Get to know the land, the richness of its monuments, of its gastronomy and culture, with Cante Alentejano marking each lunch and dinner, These are experiences that the tour wants to leave. “After the Tour of Alentejo, Mainland Portugal is marked by wasps. We've been to Madeira, where we return next October and in 2025, will be the Azores, with the visit to São Miguel, to close the map of all Portuguese regions”, concluded Vasco Alves.
Created 2008, Vespa Vintage de Felgueiras was the first club to hold moped rallies and tours, is for 2026, the biggest challenge ever in its history is scheduled. During 15 days, two dozen VVF members will do the Route 66, the famous highway that crosses the United States of America and that along 4.000 kilometers connects Chicago to Santa Monica.
Teixeira Correia
(journalist)
