Prowling my world, camera in hand

The last week of the year was spent in the company of my children. This year, we were all in Alicante, and my wife insisted on a proper Christmas with tree, presents, turkey, everything. So many of the pictures are about that. But because my office is closed between Christmas and New Year, I also had plenty of time for cycling and for walking around the city, so there are lots of pictures, and not all are Christmassy.

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I went for a walk in the harbour of El Campello, to check on the cats living there:

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The cats seem to be thriving. I am not sure if these two are just playing or are about to make more cats:

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Here is another thriving cat, my own Taco, with a mouse:

The next 10 images are from my almost daily cycling escapades during the week.

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I have recently started a mini project photographing the “puticlubs” in the area. These are basically nightclubs whose only purpose is to bring prostitutes and clients together. Pimping is illegal in Spain, so rather than taking a cut of the prostitutes’ earnings, the club earns its money by charging extremely high drink prices. These places are far from being glamorous; most are located in out-of-the-way locations with conveniently discreet parking. But they have glamorous names and often extremely kitschy architecture, totally out of synch with their surroundings. Here is an example, the KISS club along the old Alicante-Valencia road:

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The XANADU in El Campello:

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The LOOK in Santa Pola:

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A kindergarten in Villajoyosa:

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Season’s Greetings:

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An image from Saturday’s cycling trip to Santa Pola, taking along my favourite stretch of road. It was a cool but extremely clear day. The island of Tabarca is visible in the distance:

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This was not a day for swimming, but there are other ways of enjoying the beach:

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I indulged in some “peeling paint photography”, trying to convey the end-of-season feeling on the beaches:

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Another end-of-season image, from the Varadero beach in Santa Pola:

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More peeling paint and faded sign:

And now to the Christmas activities.

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In preparation for the Christmas Eve dinner, I went to the Mercado Central to buy a few things, and as always, to take a few pictures:

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There were lots of people buying stuff, so the children had to entertain themselves as best they could:

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I bought 200 grams of the finest Iberian ham from my usual supplier:

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On Christmas Eve, my son got the honours of retrieving the turkey from the oven…:

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…and carving it:

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Brother and sister:

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Christmas morning. The presents are ready for distribution:

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My son unpacks his main present, a “voucher” towards the purchase of a new Macbook laptop (he had to make the actual purchase himself using his university account in order to get the 15% student discount):

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Moses also got some fun presents, such as this chef’s outfit–he is actually a very good cook:

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Monica had already scored a Nintendo DS something-or-other that morning, but there was another interesting-looking package for her:

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Indeed–Apple played a big part in our gift giving this year:

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My wife equipped the dog with reindeer horns:

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Later Christmas morning. The turkey leftovers are saved, while Cheeta looks on with great interest:

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Family idyll in front of the TV:

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Boxing Day started with a dog walk in the sharp morning sunshine:

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Later in the day, I went downtown with my son, who needed to buy some clothes:

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A rather bizarre decoration in the cosmetics section of the Corte Inglés department store:

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Finally, we came across the somewhat incongruous sight of a skating rink in front of Alicante’s town hall. I had forgotten about it; there had been some controversy in the local press about the city spending money on this at a time when more essential public services are being cut. In any event, it was fun to look at the many less-than-confident skaters:

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Father and daughter skating together:

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Inevitably, it ended like this:

And thus ended the last full week of 2012, completing my 12th year of posting these weekly picture blogs. On to 2013!