The summer is still with us here in southern Spain. In fact, September is a nicer month than July or August; no more 40C afternoons, 30C is more like it–warm and nice to go to the beach, but in the morning it is cooler, and cycling in the mountains is a more pleasant proposition.
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I started the week by cycling to Villajoyosa, about 25 km north of here. I stopped for a brief look at one of the most beautiful beaches around here, Playa Bol Nou just south of Villajoyosa:
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I then stopped at the main beach in the centre of Villajoyosa. As has been the case all summer, the beach is not crowded, since there are hardly any tourists. A woman was sort of meditating under the palm trees:
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Villajoyosa is famous for its colourful houses along the waterfront:
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One of the locals, looking at me:
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Sunday afternoon, we got together for lunch with our friends Eliot and Assumpta, as we do virtually every weekend. Eliot’s son Lucas and his girlfriend usually come as well:
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Balu was supervising procedures at the BBQ:
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His efforts did not go unrewarded:
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Later, in the dining room:
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At home, a tiny visitor (about 3-4 cm):
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Now that the days are getting shorter, during my daily morning bicycle outings, which always start with 6 km along the beach, I get to see nice skies shortly after sunrise:
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I have recently decided to give golf another try after a hiatus of a couple of years, with a couple of private lessons each week–much better than the group lessons I used to take. This is the driving range at our golf course:
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At the weekend ending the week, I decided to do serious bike rides both Saturday and Sunday. It was the last weekend before going back to the office the following week, so I wanted to make it count. On Saturday, I climbed the Puerto de la Carrasqueta mountain pass. Along the way, I had a nice view of Jijona from the road on which I was cycling:
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After about 25 km, I stopped for a Coke and a snack at Venta Teresa, a roadside bar very popular with people on two wheels–both with and without an engine–about 6 km from the mountain pass, at an altitude of about 700 meters. Across the road from the bar there is a small informal rest area, usually full of motorcycles:
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Sign of the times:
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After my snack, it took another 1/2 hour to climb up to the pass at 1020 meters. On the way back down, I stopped for a moment to photograph the road:
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I also photographed Jijona again, from a much higher vantage point (the town is at about 450 meters):
The final six images are from a walk on the beach promenade in the centre of El Campello.
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An amusing Russian sign in the window of a butcher shop. The sign is in Russian, but the first two lines and the last line are simply Spanish words written in Cyrrilic (“Jamón ibérico” etc.). Only the middle lines are in proper Russian, “the best in Spain”:
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An annoying new feature in the street picture. People are just pigs:
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Some people were playing beach volley, with fans looking on:
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They were actually very good and quite intense:
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A better view of the onlookers:
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There were people on the beach, but not crowded by any means. I took a snap of this young mother with her baby. Only later did I notice that I actually had eye contact:
