A nice week, starting with a private Oktoberfest on the Sunday and ending with my birthday party the following Saturday night. In-between just work but featuring our office hosting a major meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday which provided a few photo opportunities and a nice dinner Tuesday night.
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Winter is allegedly coming, so the chestnut stand outside El Corte Inglés department store is open for business again. The only thing is that the weather is not particularly wintry:
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I had a chat with the castañera about the weather; she said that regardless of the weather, it is time, so she is there:
On Sunday afternoon, I went to an Oktoberfest organised by a German artist, Jeni, married to a local man, our friend Carmen’s son Hilarión. The event took place in a small town 70 km south-west from Alicante, Rojales, which I had never visited before. The location was quite unique; it is a place called Cuevas de Rodeo. These are actual caves which have been converted into small artist ateliers, basically places to spend the day or even a weekend.
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The cuevas are located on a hill overlooking the town:
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The entrance to the Oktoberfest:
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Jeni and friends in front of a poster explaining the beer brewing process. They had brewed 40 litres of an excellent ale, and I was lucky to get one of the last bottles:
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A glass of something strong:
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Jeni wants more beer!:
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Pinning the beer badge of honour on a visitor:
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Hilarión with friends, doing a selfie:
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The interior of one of the caves:
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Looking in:
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Wall detail:
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Cave entrance:
The area around the caves is littered with sculptures created by the artists working there.
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Torso:
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Bicycle:
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Another bicycle:
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Umbrella:
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Piano:
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Back home, one of “my” cats eyeing me and Cheeta warily from his vantage point:
On Tuesday we were going to host a major meeting at the office, with representatives of EU member states, international organisations dealing with IP infringement, and private stakeholders. I did not take pictures during the event itself (I was busy) but the preparations and Tuesday night’s dinner provided some opportunities.
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Our main conference room on Monday afternoon, almost ready:
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Tamara and Stephanie discussing some detail:
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Claire checks her presentation:
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Our communications people were doing interviews with selected participants, here with Linda from Latvia:
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Same Linda a few hours later, at the conference dinner in a restaurant on the waterfront:
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In preparation for Saturday’s birthday party, I stopped by my usual beer temple, El Rincón de la Cerveza in Elche, to pick up some quality products from Belgium and the US, my two favourite beer countries. They were ready for Halloween:
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Saturday was my birthday, and I started the day with a morning bike ride in the hills, to Aigües and then Busot. The light over Busot was nice:
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Saturday night’s party; we were about 20 people, everyone brought some food and wine to complement the Indian spread I had prepared:
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I had done the cooking but my wife had worked really hard the preceding couple of days to decorate our backyard and organise everything. So I end this week’s blog with her taking a well-deserved breather:
