During the fourth week of 2024, I completed the ride to Carrasqueta that Lars and I did not complete when he was here the previous week. We also had some photogenic bad weather along the coast, and our book club met to discuss a Hungarian novel.
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Lars left on Saturday afternoon, and after I came back from the airport, Monica and I went for a drink at the beach bar 100 Montaditos, about 2 km from our house. It was windy and cold (by Alicante standards):
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The air was very clear and Benidorm was visible in the distance:
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I like this particular bar because the beer is cheap and I can look at the human and canine traffic passing by:
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A windsurfer was taking advantage of the wind:
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On Sunday morning I walked to the bakery to buy bread. After being told that it was still in the oven and it would be another 10 minutes, I walked down to our beach. It was deserted at that early hour, and the wind was blowing in. Here I am looking south towards Alicante and the Cabo de las Huertas:
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The waves, the light and the reflections were beautiful:
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Even though the beach was empty, there was evidence of earlier walkers:
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I added mine too:
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On Tuesday afternoon, I stopped on Plaza Seneca on my way home from work to buy something at the Eastern European grocery there. As I usually do, I checked what was going on at Espacio Seneca, the old bus station now converted into an exhibition space. And indeed, there was a new exhibition called 3 km Herbario-Collage by an artist called Marisa Maestre. For this exhibition, she collected plants and seeds while walking near her home in a suburb of Madrid and combined them with old photographs to produce interesting collages:
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An example of her work; it was difficult to photograph due to the reflections in the glass:
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On Thursday evening, the WeRead book club met to discuss the book we have been reading this month, Kornél Esti by Hungarian writer Dezső Kosztolányi. Here, my colleague Tina provides the background:
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Our Hungarian trainee Csenge who had selected the book. One of the nice things about our book club is its international composition, which means that we get exposed to writers whom most of us did not know beforehand:
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Ana, discussing a passage from the book (in her case, the French version):
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Eri, listening:
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Friday was the last Friday of January, so we had the customary drink in the office. These days those events are less attended than in the past because many people are teleworking on Fridays. But there are always enough of us in the office to make it pleasant. Here, my colleague Michał with our trainee Romy:
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Our Polish secretary Kasia:
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Eri serves beer to Stephanie, both very concentrated on the task:
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Antoine shows something to two of our trainees:
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On Saturday I decided to complete the ride to the Carrasqueta mountain pass that we did not finish with Lars due to his condition (or lack thereof). As always, I stopped at Venta Teresa, with about 6.5 km to go, and another 300 meters to climb. A good place to take a break. This was the place where we ended the ride with Lars:
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Across from the restaurant, Venta Teresa has set up some picnic tables and benches. Somewhat makeshift but the view is great:
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Besides looking at the big view, I also looked at the small details, like these wildflowers that look like bunches of tiny bananas:
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I continued up to the pass. The sign is plastered with stickers from various motorcycle and cycling clubs:
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On my way down from Carrasqueta, I stopped to photograph the almond trees, already in bloom in January, definitely not normal. In the background the curvy road is visible, one of the main reasons why this route is popular among motorcyclists looking to get their knee down:
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The bees were busy doing what they do:
