The highlight of this week is the arrival of my sister and brother-in-law from Poland on Sunday evening. October 13th is my sister’s birthday, and it has become a family tradition that they spend this day with us in Alicante. By mid-October, the weather in Poland is likely to be cold and rainy while here in southern Spain it is still beach weather much of the time. So the timing of their visit is perfect. I was able to take a couple of days off during the week so as to spend some time with the visitors–and free time implies lots of photos, of course!
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Their flight from Wrocław arrived late Sunday night, so our first proper meal together was lunch on Monday; a Polish welcome lunch must include vodka, otherwise it would not be lunch:
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After lunch, we took a drive in the mountains and along the beach. It was a windy afternoon, and rain threatened as well, making for some spectacular clouds over the mountains:
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We drove back to the coast in El Campello and went for a beer in one of the beach bars. The kite surfers were out and about:
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We drove back to the coast in El Campello and went for a beer in one of the beach bars. The kite surfers were out and about:
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I looked for another way to photograph a windy beach:
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On Tuesday I took my usual bicycle ride to Aigües. I am not sure why this house on the square displayed the Stars and Stripes; perhaps they had some visitors from the US, I never found out (the flag has since been taken down):
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The orange cat I photographed the week before was there again, this time making it clear that he was guarding his house. He is not shy at all, and allowed me get quite close:
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On Thursday the weather became warm again, so I took Irka and Telesfor to Hostal Maruja, their favourite eatery around here:
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On Friday morning I was cycling along the beach, on my way to the foothills, when I came across a police block on the main beach road. The reason soon became apparent. The Moros y Cristianos festival was being kicked off with fireworks on the beach. In Spain, fireworks is something done both during the day and at night:
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Later in the morning, we went to the centre of El Campello to have a look at the Moros y Cristianos processions. As the name implies, the festival commemorates the Christian victory over the Moors in late 13th century (in the case of the Valencia region of which we are part; other parts of Spain were re-conquered earlier or later, ending with Andalusia in the 15th century). But it does so in a nice, non-triumphalist manner, and the Moorish past is also celebrated. The town hall was all decked out:
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We had come by car, others used different means of transport:
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The members of the various marching bands could be seen in the local bars, awaiting their turns:
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Time to get going:
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Grandmother with grandchild:
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We got a good table outside one of the bars and waited for the processions to start passing by. Each procession consisted of some marchers, either Moros or Cristianos, with accompanying music. At the head of the procession the banner of that particular society (membership is normally passed on through the generations):
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El Campello is a small town, and so in many cases the participants in the processions and the onlookers know each other:
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I concentrated on individual members of the various bands:
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A Cristiano:
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It is not that formal…:
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Full flow/blow:
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Jaume I was the Christian ruler who conquered Valencia:
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Looking after the little ones:
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A well-deserved rest:
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A Moro has infiltrated a Christian procession, and nobody seems to mind:
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Love declaration:
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The Moros are coming:
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Large flag:
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The work is done, it is time to relax:
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When these two guys saw me taking pictures, they insisted on posing for me:
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Wind instruments:
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In the afternoon, we went to our beach. Telesfor relished getting into the water:
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Saturday was my sister’s 73rd birthday, and I prepared the customary champagne breakfast to start the day:
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Later in the day, we drove to Tibi, the town in the mountains where I buy goat cheese from Lili and which provides some gruelling climbs when I go there on bicycle:
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Lili showed Monica the goat milk from that morning that she was going to turn into cheese:
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Lili rolling a cheese ball in a mix of paprika and oregano:
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We drove back via Jijona where we stopped to turrón ice cream and coffee:
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Afterwards, we walked around the town a bit:
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As usual, I was on the lookout for little details:
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In the afternoon, we went back to the beach so that Telesfor could enjoy another dip:
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I then pretended to be Martin Parr:
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