Week 30 was a bit slow after the excitement of the family reunion in France. The children left for the UK and the US, respectively, and so there was a tinge of sadness. But the photos reflect the good times.
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After we came back from France, we had a couple of days with Moses here at home. One day we went to shoot some balls at the practice range:
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Me and my son. In Alicante July heat, even golf makes you sweat:
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The last afternoon before Moses and I leave for Madrid. I took a series of portraits of my children using medium format black & white film:
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Moses was flying to New York from Madrid Friday morning, so on Thursday afternoon we drove to Madrid to spend the last night of his visit there. After checking in at a hotel near the airport, we took the metro to the centre. The first thing to do in Madrid was to go to the Carmina shoe store where Moses wanted to look; unlike me, he is into nice clothes and especially shoes, and sure enough we left the store with a shopping bag:
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We then walked to Casa de las Américas on Plaza Cibeles, where I had reserved a table for dinner at their excellent restaurant Cienllaves. Along the way, we saw this nice scene–a motorist had a flat on Plaza Colón, and the Madrid cops stopped to put on the spare wheel for him:
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The Cienllaves restaurant. It is stylish, the food is great, the wine list is ample and the prices are reasonable. What else can one want?
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The amuse-bouche:
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Tuna tartare:
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Salmorejo:
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Grilled fish:
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After our nice dinner, we took the metro back to the hotel, where we enjoyed a Belgian beer to finish off the evening (we had brought it with us). Moses’s favourite is Kwak, so that is what he had:
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On Friday morning, we drove to the airport and said goodbye, once again…I then went back to the centre of Madrid to look at some photo exhibitions and to visit the Mercado San Antón which had been recommended to me by a colleague. At the mercado, I saw these two dogs waiting for their humans:
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On Saturday, I spent part of the afternoon watching the Tour de France with Cheeta. Although I cannot say she took much of an interest in the race (like many old humans, she has bladder control issues, so we put on a diaper on her when she is inside):
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A scene from our local supermarket. Two guys at the fish counter:
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Same fish counter; the fishmonger is cleaning a fish for a customer:
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My wife has convinced me to try my hand at golf, and a couple of months ago I started taking classes. This week I ventured onto the course proper (as opposed to the practice range) for the first time, playing 9 holes with my wife. Of course, I had my camera with me, and used it to take this pseudo-selfie:
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This is the basic setting of our golf course–it is surrounded by houses and apartments, which provides many opportunities for broken windows and golf balls in swimming pools:
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My wife hits the ball:
On Saturday night, we met up with friends at a beach bar in El Campello. Those bars are seasonal and are called chiringuitos. People around here love them, and often one has to wait for a table.
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The beach promenade gets quite crowded at night, when the temperatures are more pleasant than during the day:
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Overall view of the chiringuito:
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The music:
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Our Argentine friend Elio uses his phone as a flashlight to see what food is on offer:
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A morning dog walk picture–father and son on the playground:
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As usual, I was out cycling in the mountains during the weekend. Just outside Jijona, there is a homemade billboard. The message on it is somewhat cryptic, but basically it tells a couple that the rest of the family will accept whatever agreement they reach:
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In the centre of Jijona there is a building which I have photographed many times during the past 5-6 years. There used to be a sign advertising three homes for sale. It looks like they did not sell and the building is in danger of collapse:
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Later that day, I drove to Busot to take some film pictures of the landscape. But I also had my little Ricoh with me which I used for some test images:
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My analogue rig–the Fuji GW690 loaded with Fuji Provia 100:
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Sunset over Busot:
