After coming back from Warsaw Friday evening of the preceding week, it was nice to have a normal week of work and cycling in Alicante. We are now in December, but the weather is still quite nice, and so the weekend cycling was really good. December also means that the city is decorated for the holidays, providing a reason to go to the centre to have a look.
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At the weekend I was of course in the mountains on my bicycle. During one of the rides I stopped for a break in the town of Agost, and I was being watched:
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A closer view:
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As I often do, I went back to the beach a couple of mornings to look at the sunrise:
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I love scenes like this:
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Walking towards the town of El Campello:
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Another morning I went to the beach before dawn. This is the street that leads there (and it is also the street on which we now live):
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The seaside promenade, completely empty:
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A lone walker, in monochrome for the Film Noir effect:
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Those who follow this blog will know that at my office, we have a lunchtime drink on the last Friday of each month. But because so many of us were in Warsaw on the last Friday of November, the festivities were moved to the first Friday of December:
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An animated conversation:
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A shared laugh:
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On my way home from work, I stopped in the city to have a look at the decorated streets. El Corte Inglés is the biggest department store chain in Spain:
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Avenida Maisonnave:
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Calle Portugal:
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Chestnuts, a sure sign of winter:
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The churrería opposite El Corte Inglés, eliciting wonderment on the faces of a group of Asian girls:
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On Saturday morning, my wife and I drove to the Mercado Central to buy some flowers and stuff. In the neighbourhood around the Mercado, almost all the shutters are painted like this:
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While my wife was looking at flower arrangements, I wandered around the Mercado. Another sign of Christmas was visible in this meat counter. Cochinillos (suckling pigs) are mainly eaten at this time of year (not by me, though!):
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Hanging hams:
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After coming home from the Mercado, I cycled to Aigües. As always, I enjoyed watching small-town life while drinking my Coke Zero:
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The football and the church service happily co-exist:
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The town of Busot is about 8 km from Aiguës, and it looked especially pretty this day:
And a quiet week came to an end.