The first week of the year was very much about welcoming the new year in the company of friends. Our office reopened on January 3rd, but since Three Kings’ Day is a public holiday in Spain, it was a quiet, three-day work week with plenty of time for life and cycling.
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I started the year with my usual morning bike ride. The first sunrise of the year over the harbour of El Campello was a bit hazy:
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The fishing boats were all in the harbour, nobody works on January 1st:
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It is our custom to get together with our friends for lunch on New Year’s Day, and this year was no exception. We were 18 people altogether, and we met at an Arab restaurant in the centre of Alicante called TK Arabesco, my first visit there:
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Our table:
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Dalaal:
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Arabesco is mainly Moroccan, and I loved the food. Here is one of many small dishes that preceded the main couscous:
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The main dish, the couscous:
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And the overwhelming sweetness at the end of the meal:
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A sort of environmental portrait of one of the cooks:
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On January 2nd, I was out again, stopping to take in the view of Busot, a place I always enjoy:
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An image 200 m from my house, a small roundabout with a palm tree in the middle:
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Then the following day I went back to work and did not take many pictures during the next couple of days. But then it was Three Kings’ Day and I could cycle and photograph again. I took a break on the Plaza da la Iglesia in Aigues. The lamppost in the centre of the square has been turned into a kind of Christmas tree:
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Aigues is a small village, and setting up such a tree and decorating it is very much a community endeavour:
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And people also decorate their houses:
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The rest of the blog is from our holiday lunch with friends, in La Nucía near Benidorm. This is also something we do every year on Three Kings’ Day, with everyone bringing some food and drink. The smorgasbord is set up outside:
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Some of the foods on the table, starting with my wife’s salad:
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Roastbeef with dressing:
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Leek pie:
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A selection of patés:
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The usual Spanish assortment of embutidos:
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Some fresh shrimp:
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And finally, my favourite, a selection of French cheeses:
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The hostess Mariluz putting the finishing touches, while our Algerian friend Mustafa is getting a sneak preview of the goodies:
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Then everyone digs in, with a very interested spectator:
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This cat is not a stray, she belongs to Mariluz (or vice versa):
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Mati, being colourful:
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As the afternoon wore on and it became colder, we moved inside for the traditional Three Kings’ Day dessert, Roscón de Reyes. It is an extremely seasonal dish, eaten only during this holiday:
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Meanwhile, some of the hardy smokers were still outside on the terrace:
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The party most certainly is winding down:
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And I finish the first weekly blog of my 23rd year of doing PAWs with the hills around La Nucía, illuminated by the setting sun:
