This week’s blog begins on the last day of 2018 and ends on the first Sunday of 2019, when I was waiting in Alicante airport for the arrival of my friend Lars from Denmark, who was coming to visit me for a week. But of course, the main focus of the week was to celebrate New Year’s Eve with our Spanish friends, in style and informally at the same time.
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I wanted to see the sunrise on the last day of 2018, and it was a glorious one at that:
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It was crisp and cold, but other people were out enjoying the beach also at this early hour:
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Later in the day, I cycled to Agost. As always, part of the pleasure of the ride was the landscape:
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On the square in Agost, holiday decorations of a different kind:
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Outside Agost there are a number of outlets selling garden ceramics. Mostly kitschy stuff, but strangely impressive:
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And then evening arrived and it was time to welcome the New Year with our friends. The party was hosted by Roberto and Mariluz in Benidorm:
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There was lots of delicious food:
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Iñaki, getting ready:
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Nereyda, enjoying herself:
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Preparing for midnight:
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A lovely smile:
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Then the clock struck midnight, we ate our 12 grapes of luck, and wished each other a Happy New Year:
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Since I was not going to drive the 45 km back to Alicante after celebrating New Year’s Eve, we took advantage of our hosts’ kind offer of a bedroom for the night. On New Year’s Day I got up early and went for a walk in the neighbourhood. This suburb of Benidorm is called La Nucía and is built in the hills above the city:
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I walked around a bit, taking pictures of this and that, including these wild cacti:
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I had taken the bicycle with me in the car, so I was able to start the new year with a ride. I cycled to Platja Bon Nou in Villajoyosa, one of the nicest beaches in the area:
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On the way back to the house, I photographed this anti-multiculturalism message on a garbage container:
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Back at the house, the aftermath of the party was beginning. Roberto was peeling the vegetables for the cocido:
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Mariluz’s cat, a most dignified creature, allowed me to make this portrait:
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The cocido in the works:
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Roberto serves the broth:
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And then the vegetables:
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Ready for us to enjoy:
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My kind of dessert:
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Looking for her share:
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Just a random photo of trees illuminated by the setting sun, taken in a nearby park:
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I went back to work on Thursday, for two quiet days. I took the opportunity to air out my Leica M8 by making portraits of some of the few people who were at the office, such as our secretary Kasia:
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Tamara:
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On Sunday I found myself at Alicante airport, waiting for my friend Lars to arrive from Copenhagen. As I usually do on such occasions, I turned my camera towards the other people waiting in the arrivals hall:
