In what has become an annual tradition, Lars came to visit me for a week right after the holiday period ended. I was able to take a bit of time off, and we also had the weekend, of course. As usual, we spent our time together cycling, taking pictures, and of course Lars made pizza for us one evening, since he is the King of the Rolling Pin.
2_1
We did four rides together during the week, not bad at all. Here is Lars, on the road between Aigües and Busot. I am usually faster than him on the climbs (since I live and ride here while he lives and rides in a country with some hills but no mountains), which allows me to get ahead and snap a photo him, like this:
2_2
The longest of our rides was a 77 km one to the Puerto de la Carrasqueta, a climb from sea level to 1020 m that occasionally features in the Vuelta a España. Here we are about halfway up, and Lars wanted to take a picture of the sign promising the pleasure that lies ahead:
2_3
After some considerable huffing and puffing, we were in a position to take this selfie. It symbolises our shared passion for cycling, and our friendship, which has now endured more than 40 years:
2_4
Every time Lars visits, he has some new photographic project. This time it is one he calls “take 5”, which basically involves taking selfies or portraits of others using 5-minute exposures (obviously, during the day this means using Neutral Density filters). I took Lars to Playa Bol Nou in Villajoyosa, a beautiful secluded little beach which I thought would be a good location for this type of images:
2_5
Lars makes his first 5-minutes selfie:
2_6
Then Lars moved to a different location on the beach to make another selfie and a portrait of me:
2_7
Once again, Lars sits for his 5-minute selfie:
2_8
Meanwhile, I took pictures of the setting sun, looking north-west towards Alicante, exploring different angles and light qualities:
2_9
2_10
2_11
The beach is quite secluded in the winter. The only people other than us was this couple:
2_12
Lars had me sit for a couple of the 5-minute exposures also. This is an example of the results–the rocks and other things that do not move are very sharp, the person being photographed less so (it is hard to sit still for 5 minutes), and the elements that really move, like waves, aquire a dreamy quality:
2_13
Another traditional part of Lars’s visits is a pizza evening. Lars is very good at all kinds of baking, whether bread, pizza or pasta. This time it was pizza. Lars had prepared the dough in the morning and left it in the fridge. Now it is evening, and he is getting down to business:
2_14
The main ingredient and the tool:
2_15
Instead of regular-size pizza, Lars decided to make mini-pies so as to provide more variety in terms of toppings:
2_16
Lars, working on the toppings:
2_17
A selection of toppings:
2_18
Putting on the goodies:
2_19
Ready for the oven:
2_20
Ready for our enjoyment:
2_21
Besides cycling, photography, and food, we also enjoy art. So we went to the local art museum, MUBAG, whose collection consists of mainly 19th and 20th century local artists:
2_22
Monica, looking at a painting:
2_23
On the last day of Lars’s visit, we went for lunch at Baobab. Lars has a bigger camera than I:
2_24
But he also used my little Fuji to make this portrait of me:
2_25
But then the food arrived, and as usual at Baobab, it was both delicious and pretty:
2_26
2_27
In the evening, we went to the centre and had a beer at my favourite bar, Malatesta:
2_28
On the way back to the car, we stopped to look at a newly installed sculpture on the main pedestrian street, Esplanada de España. I am not sure if the girl in the background is yawning or letting her jaw drop in admiration of the work:
