Three themes for the first week of February: cycling (as is the case every week), the dog Balu, and my colleague Eri.
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I continued my morning bike rides, and stopped once again at the old guard tower in El Campello to photograph the sunrise, just as I did last week, but this time using a wider lens, resulting in what I think is a better image:
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The view of our beach from the spot of the previous photo:
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I continued my “dogs of Consum” series when shopping at my local supermarket, this time getting two-for-one:
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I bought an adapter to use my Olympus lenses on my Panasonic GX80 camera. As usual, when acquiring a new accessory, I tested it on my favourite model, Eri:
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One afternoon I stopped on Plaza Seneca in the centre to buy some stuff from the Eastern European grocery store there. I noticed that there was something going on in the old bus station building, now used for exhibitions and events. So I went inside to have a look:
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There was an exhibition by an artist from the neighbouring region, Murcia, called “The Infinite Reflection”:
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Meanwhile, people were enjoying the urban space outside. Not much of a park, but there is not much other recreative space in this neighbourhood:
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On Sunday morning, I did a reasonably hard bike ride, 66 km with a lot of climbing. My first stop was after 26 km, for a brief break before tackling a 10% grade 1 km climb just after this tunnel under the motorway:
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Another 6 km of climbing, and I was at the parking lot of the mountain called Maigmó. Many people park here and go hiking. This time, there was a large group of motorcyclists who were just getting ready to leave when I arrived:
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From that point on, my ride was mostly downhill, descending to Agost along this beautiful road:
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The 10 km road from the Maigmó parking lot to Agost offers truly beautiful views:
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Looking down on the Vía Verde de Maigmó which I sometimes ride on my mountainbike:
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After my ride, we had one of our leisurely Sunday lunches at our friends Eliot and Assumpta. We enjoyed many dishes, among them these roasted artichokes:
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A totally simple plate of tomatoes; but these are locally grown tomatoes that have an unsurpassed flavour. This is what our famed Mediterranean diet is about–tasty foods that are good for you:
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While we ate, we had a very interested spectator under the table:
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Our friends live in Cabo de las Huertas, a peninsula of stony beaches off Alicante. After lunch, we took Balu for a walk, something he really enjoys. Here he is waiting for yet another tennis ball to be thrown for him to fetch:
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The sun was setting, and there was beautiful light on Playa San Juan:
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Balu takes a break from all his running around, showing off his impossibly long tongue:
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There was other wildlife besides the many dogs:
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And the walk finished with a gorgeous sunset over Alicante. In the distance one can see the small container harbour we have here:
