Another week during which most of my photos were taken while out cycling. But there was also a portrait session with my lovely colleague Eri, and a visit to Hostal Maruja, the seaside restaurant south of Santa Pola with some of the world’s best seafood in unassuming surroundings.
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On Sunday I took the mountainbike to cycle on the Vía Verde. On the way to the start of the trail (25 km from my house), I stopped in the village of Verdegás, as I usually do. It is a good spot for a break, and there are cute kitties to keep me company:
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A few km later, I entered the town of Agost where the Vía Verde begins. I noticed a new feature at the entrance to the town, reflecting the town’s pottery heritage:
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Along the Vía Verde, just north of Agost, there are large grape plantations. These are not wineries, the grapes are table grapes. The bags are there to protect the grapes from hungry birds:
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Further up, around km. 14 (out of 22), there are large water reservoirs. We are a semi-desert here, so water is a resource to be cared for and used wisely:
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Around km. 18, some nice landscape and a touch of much needed shade:
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When I came home, we went out for lunch at a local restaurant. This was my wife’s main dish:
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We have a lemon tree in our garden, and it is a true luxury to just go outside and pick a lemon when I need one for cooking or for a drink. The tree is old, and the yield quite low, but enough for our needs:
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In the supermarket, lemons are all perfectly oval, but in a real environment they come in all kind of mutant shapes:
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More from the garden, my mother’s cactus was at it again, and I photographed it in backlight in the early evening:
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More conventional views of the open flowers the next day:
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Back in the office, Eri and I did a brief portrait session one day. The poses were chosen by her:
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I continued to look for cute dogs in the vestibule of our local supermarket:
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One day, Carolina and I introduced our Swedish colleague Kaisa to the joys of Hostal Maruja:
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The view from our table. The tide was high, and the water was closer to the terrace than I have ever seen:
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But we do not just go there for the views. It is about the food, some of the best seafood anywhere in the world. This is sepia a la plancha:
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Being Galician, Carolina got the job of dissecting the sepia:
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On Friday, we had one of the periodic fire drills at the office. It took place around 11 a.m., with the temperature around 35C, so unsurprisingly, we all looked for shade while gathering in the designated area:
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Eri is always on the phone, often to her daughter back in Greece:
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Finally, three images from Saturday’s bike ride. In Aigües, some of the benches on the square in front of the church have been painted in the rainbow colours as part of the pride celebrations:
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Aigües is at about 350 meters above sea level (where I live), and I continued further up into the hills, stopping at 500 meters altitude to take in the view of Aigües in the foreground and Alicante in the distance:
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This particular road is one of my favourites, and for many other cyclists too:
