Prowling my world, camera in hand

Lots of pictures this week, because I was out and about a lot, my sister and brother-in-law were visiting from Poland, and we also had a trip to Gibraltar at the end of the week. And then of course there were the usual activities of working, cycling and walking Cheeta.

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I started the week with a bike ride to the Carrasqueta mountain pass. The views were stunning as usual. I photograph the view almost every time, simply because it is so pretty and because the light is always changing:

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There were a lot of other cyclists on this pretty autumn day. Here are some getting photographed under the sign indicating the altitude of the pass:

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Suddenly, a posse of mountainbikers appeared:

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I belong to the road cyclist tribe, but these guys were going to take the shortcut down:

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This is truly hardcore:

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In the afternoon, I drove to Villajoyosa with my sister, first stopping at Platja Bon Nou. There were still a few people but nothing like a month ago:

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Then we drove into town and walked a bit on the seaside promenade, where there is a statue of some great man from Villajoyosa’s past:

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My sister and brother-in-law enjoy a beer on the beach, quite a treat for mid-October for someone who lives in Poland, where it is now cold and rainy:

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We walked around some more. I liked these children sitting in front of one of the coloured houses for which Villajoyosa is famous:

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The streets behind the beach promenade are a bit less polished:

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My visitors spent much of their time on our downstairs terrace. My brother-in-law loves the pool, and my sister would just hang out with him there. Here she is, having a snack with a very interested dog looking on:

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Cheeta’s efforts were not in vain:

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Meanwhile, Telesfor does his thing in the pool:

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On Monday my team went for lunch at Moments, the excuse being that our Czech trainee Adela had completed her internship, so we wanted to give her a nice send-off:

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As usual, there was good food and nice conversation, here with Carolina and Michał, two very good economists that I am fortunate to have working with me:

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There was delicious fresh bread for us:

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…and for the birdies:

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Wednesday was a public holiday, so of course I started the day on two wheels. While passing El Campello, I came across a somewhat unusual sight–a group of camel drivers on the main road. They were getting ready for the town’s Moros y Cristianos festivities:

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In the afternoon, we went for lunch at Hostal Maruja, a place they love:

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The Hostal Maruja terrace as seen from the beach:

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One of the many pleasures about eating at Hostal Maruja is to watch the people on the beach. Couples:

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A family:

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My sister takes a swig of her beer:

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Of course, the food is what counts. Here are the patatas bravas, with sardines a la plancha and chipirones in the background:

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And here we have boquerones (anchovies) and sepia a la plancha:

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To finish it off, homemade flan:

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Continuing with the food porn, on my request my sister made pierogi, one of my favourite Polish dishes. Basically, dumplings stuffed with potatoes, fried onions and cottage cheese. Pure delight:

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Thursday was my sister’s 71st birthday. Hard to believe, but then again I am turning 56 in a couple of weeks…She is keeping well, and wakes up early, as I do, so most mornings we had coffee together around 6:30 a.m.:

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We were going to celebrate at home that evening, so on my way home from work I stopped by a vegan bakery called Tres Semillas to pick up a chocolate cake my wife had ordered. Monica had come over from Cardiff, so we wanted a vegan cake. My sister’s name is Irena, but in Polish we use diminutives a lot, so in the family it becomes Irka:

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Irka and Telesfor immediately after blowing out the candles:

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A few years ago Jim Shulman gifted me this great t-shirt. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I have lost about 25 kg since then, so it no longer fits me. But it fits my brother-in-law Telesfor perfectly:

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Monica has a cute outfit as well. This is Thursday evening, we are enjoying drinks on the back porch after dinner:

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Friday morning, while walking Cheeta, I had some nice clouds and light at sunrise over our neighbourhood:

Friday after lunch, we drove the 600 km to Gibraltar to meet my son and his girlfriend, who were there to attend a wedding. Since Moses now works on Long Island, we do not see him often; in fact, I had not seen him since Christmas, and I had never met his girlfriend Myrela (who is doing her PhD at Columbia University in New York). So we had a lot of good reasons to spend the weekend in Gibraltar.

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On the way south, we stopped to fuel the car with diesel and ourselves with coffee. There were a couple of resident kitties to photograph:

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We arrived at our hotel and turned in. On Saturday morning, I was out early as usual:

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I went for a walk along Main Street:

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To the very end:

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Somewhat seedy:

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Government building:

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Musketeer:

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Monica told me that this cute vacuum cleaner is a UK cultural icon:

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On Saturday morning, we met up with Moses and Myrela for breakfast at our hotel:

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Afterwards, we toured Gibraltar with Moses. Myrela was a bridesmaid at the wedding so she was busy prettying herself for the ceremony. On Main street, we ran across this:

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We took the cable car to the top of the Rock. This is the view of Gibraltar, including the airport runway right in the middle of the city:

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My daughter taking a picture of a fellow primate:

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In the afternoon, Moses dressed up for the wedding and we parted our ways for the rest of the day:

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But brother and sister continued to be in contact:

More pictures of Gibraltar can be seen here.