Week 5 was another week of work combined with a weekend of cycling. On Tuesday night we also had a nice wine tasting presented by one of Alicante province’s best bodegueros, Enrique (Pepe) Mendoza.
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This is one of my favourite cycling roads, leading from the village of El Altet, where Alicante airport is located, to the large town of Elche. It is part of my “flat” course, which I use when the wind is blowing hard from the west, as it was this weekend, making it too hard to cycle up into the mountains:
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A butcher shop in La Foia, a village near Elche. Like many family-owned businesses, it is closed for lunch:
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Central square of the town of Dolores. As always in these towns, it is dominated by the church, but at midday on a sunny Sunday there are far more people in the bars and restaurants surrounding the church:
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My “tatoo”:
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On Monday, my wife came to the office to meet me, and we went for lunch at Capricho de Raquel, a restaurant on the beach at Urbanova. This is what the sea looks like when you walk from the parking to the restaurant:
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One of the nice things about Capricho de Raquel is their excellent wine selection, at all price levels. There is no wine list; to choose a wine, you go inside the glass-walled bodega with the waiter and make your selection:
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An image taken during the morning dog walk. Some deep symbolism about the crisis, or maybe not:
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Tuesday evening wine tasting. Pepe Mendoza is passionate about his wine and can talk about his wine making philosophy for hours:
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He also has a lot of knowledge of the area, its soils and microclimates:
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One of Pepe Mendoza’s two helpers on the evening:
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Pouring the wine. We had the privilege of tasting two 2012 wines which are not yet on the market. Despite their youth, they were delicious:
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The two Mendoza girls share a laugh:
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Studying details of a planned wine trip:
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Robert with a glass:
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This week I focused a bit on morning light:
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Morning light and shadow on my terrace, colour:
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Morning light and shadow on my terrace, monochrome:
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Morning light and tree on my street:
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The first of two studies of Cheeta under the table in my home office:
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Cheeta’s tail:
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Our office typically has about 20 trainees from all over Europe. These traineeships are intended to give a few months of useful experience to young people, hopefully motivating them to pursue a career in the EU civil service. On Friday, we had the traditional drink to say goodbye to the departing crop and to welcome the new ones. Our house photographer, Mo, lines up the departing trainees for a group photo:
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Mo attempts multitasking:
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Finally, another cycling picture. A typical scene down here in late winter/early spring, a road filled with Dutch, German and other north European campers. There are plenty of campings around, but these people are self-sufficient (read: cheap) and so prefer to park where they do not have to pay:
