It was a week with the usual mix of activities but also some one-off events, including an interesting exhibition on Alicante’s main pedestrian seafront promenade, a friend opening a shop, and an unusual amount of rain for Alicante. The images are presented chronologically, starting on Sunday and finishing the following Sunday.
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On Sunday morning I cycled up to Maigmó, one of the harder routes on my cycling menu. I always stop at this spot, after about 25 km, to eat a banana, water the grass at the side of the road, and rest a bit before a gruelling climb that follows. On this day, the light was particularly nice when looking back towards Alicante:
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Later during the same ride, I stopped in Agost for another brief rest. The town square contains a few bars and the combined town hall and police station, which was being guarded by a cat:
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In the afternoon, as is often the case, we had another lunch with friends:
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Little Chloe waiting and hoping (not in vain):
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I did not take any worthwhile photos Monday and Tuesday. But on Wednesday morning I had to buy bread at the local bakery, which gave me an opportunity to take in dawn on the beach:
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The bakery was being guarded by this fearsome creature:
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On Thursday morning it was raining, and since the alicantinos are not used to driving in bad weather, the traffic was stop and go, which inspired me to try to make something out of nothing:
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On Friday I met up for lunch with my daughter. She has recently moved to an apartment just 5 minutes from my office, so it was very easy to pick her up and go to Capricho de Raquel on the beach. Monica eagerly dug into our appetizer, a mango salad:
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A nice meal of paella finished with this delicious dessert, turrón ice cream:
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Saturday morning I was out in the mountains again. In Aigües the wooden throne on the square was occupied:
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On Saturday afternoon, I drove to the centre to see an interesting exhibition on the Esplanada de España. This year is the 40th anniversary of Spain’s democratic constitution following Franco’s death in 1975, and there are many events to celebrate it right now (the date of the entry into force of the constitution is 6th December). Among them is an exhibition of front pages from the past four decades from regional newspapers owned by the company Prensa Ibérica:
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Among the papers owned by Prensa Ibérica is Diario Información, our local rag here in Alicante. This is their front page from 1993, when the decision was made to site the EU agency for which I work here in town:
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The coup attempt in 1981 and King Juan Carlos’s strong intervention against the renegade colonel:
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1989–the fall of the Berlin Wall:
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2001–the terrible event in New York:
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On the way back to my car, I stopped to take a snap of the surfer sculpture in front of the harbour. I have now lived in Alicante for more than 11 years, but I never get tired of this particular spot:
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On Sunday, I cycled the familiar Aigües-Busot-Jijona route again. The clouds were heavy and I did get sprinkled a bit but the views and the exercise were well worth it:
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Patriotic tractor in Aigües. Displaying the flag is much less common in Spain than in the US or Denmark; these days it is done mainly as a political statement, opposing the Catalan drive for independence from Spain:
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In the afternoon, we went to an informal reception. A friend of ours was opening a shop selling high-quality handmade thingies, and today was the inauguration:
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The first sale:
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Posing:
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A conversation on the sidelines:
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After lunch, I walked home along the beach, a couple of km, enjoying the emptiness:
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I came across this delightful couple, channelling their inner child:
And thus ended a quiet week.